NC OC experience reports

[Infantryman]

A few days ago I went into autozone to get power steering fluid. The employee at the register stepped out in front to do something, as he saw me approaching he noticed my gun, and joking put his hands in the air and said, "Oh no haha don't shoot don't shoot! I'll give you my money!" All while smiling and joking, he put his hands back down and began to ring me up. Now understand, he is somewhat yelling this, I guess to show his friends his joke. It caused a minor scene, as the store was pretty empty.

I explained how if a cop had walked in, there could have been a serious issue, especially if all he saw through the window was a guy with his hands up. Anyone ever have someone do something this stupid?

 

[Grapeshot]

Had a young female McDonald's employee do much the same thing. Immediately, politely but firmly requested the manager's presence.

Explained to him that such words/actions are worse than yelling the "the sky is falling" - at the least it startles customers, at the worst could get me shot and I'd possibly own the franchise when the dust settled.

Actually had to back off a bit on my outrage, as he was going to fire the young lady on the spot. The poor young thing couldn't seem to stop apologizing - think she learned a lesson about hollering wolf......don't.

 

[SGT Sword]

BRAND NEW to OC,

I just sent Raleigh PD an Email stating who I am, that I am open carrying, that I have no malicious intent and gave them my personal cell,

They responded with Thank you for stating your intentions and that Their officers should know the laws enough to not give trouble and also stated that my intentions were recorded for my safety.

Was pretty good to have a positive interaction now rather than a negative one later.

 

[Grapeshot]

BRAND NEW to OC,

I just sent Raleigh PD an Email stating who I am, that I am open carrying, that I have no malicious intent and gave them my personal cell,

They responded with Thank you for stating your intentions and that Their officers should know the laws enough to not give trouble and also stated that my intentions were recorded for my safety.

Was pretty good to have a positive interaction now rather than a negative one later.

Meaning you no personal insult, sir, but did you also notify them of your intentions on any other legal things your might do?

 

[SGT Sword]

ROSS Wilmington NC

I OC'd today, Only my 3rd time ever, and already the nervousness is mostly gone..

McDonalds for Breakfast, no comments other than a guy who saw my jacket and said "thank you for serving"

After that myself and the fiance went to ROSS in Wilmington, (she goes to UNCW)
After trying on some clothes this older lady simply asked "may I ask you a question?" I knew it was coming so I turned around and waited.

Lady: "are you a cop?"
Me: "No, ma'am I'm a soldier, why?"
Lady: "well are you allowed to carry that in here?" Points to my EAA .45
Me: "Yes, ma'am I am, so long as it is not posted on the door"
Lady: "okay, just had to ask, heard something about the new laws"

I gave her my little speech on what the law was where and when you can carry.


5 Min later waiting for my Fiance to come out of the dressing room I was approached by a friendly petite woman that works in the store.

She smiled and I smiled back and greeted her "how are you?" 'fine, you?"
She noticed my pistol and walked straight up to me.

Lady: "can you do me a favor?"
Me: "ma'am?"
Lady: "can you put that away?" -points to my EAA Witness .45
Me: "ma'am, with all do respect, I didn't see anything posted on the door"
Lady: "Yes, I know but you can't really have guns in here"
Me: "well ma'am according to the constitution and North Carolina law, I can, so long as it's not posted"
Lady: "well I just took over this store and ordered a sign, but it hasn't came in yet"
Me: "well ma'am I can leave if you want me to, I mean.."
Lady: "oh, no, no you don't have to leave"
Me: "well ma'am just so you know I OC because generally when they see a guy wearing a US ARMY Jacket and carrying a pistol they tend to leave me and my family alone." "I hope that by me carrying this, it will keep the bad guys out of your store"
She looked at me a little understandingly and we both thanked eachother and hand no other problems in the store.

After went to TJ Maxx and no problems whatsoever.

Is this normal? how often do you guys get approached? did I handle the situation well?

 

[SGT Sword]

Meaning you no personal insult, sir, but did you also notify them of your intentions on any other legal things your might do?

I get what you mean, looking back It was kind of unecessary, I'm just a little paranoid, when you YouTube OC all you see is unlawful detainment.

 

[WalkingWolf]

(snip)

Is this normal? how often do you guys get approached? did I handle the situation well?

I have been OCing in NC for years, very seldom is said. Most encounters are positive. Last year I was told I could not carry in a flea market, I promptly left, while the supposed owner tried to talk me into staying. I am not confused for a cop by any means, I have long hair to the middle of my back, and until recently a beard almost as long. A couple weeks back we were OCing in Raleigh, ate lunch at Garner IHOP, and nobody even bothered to stare.

 

[dmatting]

Me: "well ma'am according to the constitution and North Carolina law, I can, so long as it's not posted"
Lady: "well I just took over this store and ordered a sign, but it hasn't came in yet"

You need to get in touch with the regional manager and find out from that person what their policy is and talk to that person about it. That lady is simply the manager of the store - she does not own it - so she needs to follow the corporate policy. I've carried in Ross stores in both Durham and Brier Creek and have had no issues. Once talked to one of their security people about my pistol and recommended him to my LGS and once talked to an associate there who was clueless about gun rights and laws. So i would hazard a guess that she is creating a store policy that is likely against what the corporate policy is and she needs to get schooled if she is wrong. If she is in line with policy, then we can take our money elsewhere.

 

[dmatting]

I get what you mean, looking back It was kind of unecessary, I'm just a little paranoid, when you YouTube OC all you see is unlawful detainment.

Watching a video of someone walking around performing their daily rituals without being accosted would be pretty boring to watch. I doubt anyone has posted such a thing, but the reality is that most of the time, that is all that happens.

 

[Bernymac]

You need to get in touch with the regional manager and find out from that person what their policy is and talk to that person about it. That lady is simply the manager of the store - she does not own it - so she needs to follow the corporate policy. I've carried in Ross stores in both Durham and Brier Creek and have had no issues. Once talked to one of their security people about my pistol and recommended him to my LGS and once talked to an associate there who was clueless about gun rights and laws. So i would hazard a guess that she is creating a store policy that is likely against what the corporate policy is and she needs to get schooled if she is wrong. If she is in line with policy, then we can take our money elsewhere.

I have had one loss prevention personnel kick me and my wife along with my son out of a Ross store here in Las Vegas just this weekend. This guy had the audacity to tell me that it is corporate policy to have no guns allowed in any of their stores. I never had such an encounter in other Ross stores here in Las Vegas. And until that is cleared up, if I ever hear back from corporate, our money will go somewhere else.

 

[papa bear]

A few days ago I went into autozone to get power steering fluid. The employee at the register stepped out in front to do something, as he saw me approaching he noticed my gun, and joking put his hands in the air and said, "Oh no haha don't shoot don't shoot! I'll give you my money!" All while smiling and joking, he put his hands back down and began to ring me up. Now understand, he is somewhat yelling this, I guess to show his friends his joke. It caused a minor scene, as the store was pretty empty.

I explained how if a cop had walked in, there could have been a serious issue, especially if all he saw through the window was a guy with his hands up. Anyone ever have someone do something this stupid?

i have had some people do this and jokingly too. i quickly explain to them that i carry for my safety as well as theirs. usually this gets the point across

 

[jtitus07]

Had my first real encounter the other day, which still wasn't much.

Went to Zaxby's for dinner and got to the counter and ordered and as I reached for my wallet to pay the cashier (couldn't have been older than 19) sort of gasped and said "oh my, I didn't even realize you had a gun" I sort of achknowledged that and she said "Are you a cop or something?" to which I replied No, I Was just a law abiding citizen. She ran my card and nothing more was said.

 

[solus]

visit goldsboro's zaxby regularly and never had any problems OC'g. In fact was there today as well as visited springfield outfitters in Selma, and shelton's HD, Cycle World in raleigh as well as personal protection gun shop down the road from Cycle Road...

only persons who had a problem w/me OC'gwere the state troopers in springfield outfitters who quivered, stared, and wasn't sure what to do and finally left...

ipse

 

[Justin Titus]

Another great day of open carry! Went to several places around Monroe NC yesterday and no problems as usual. Went to several different businesses including discount tire, auto zone, lube express and of course Gander Mountain to pick up some ammo. I was approached by a family from south Carolina that was curious about open carry and directed them to this site. All in all a great day!

 

[carolina guy]

Another great day of open carry! Went to several places around Monroe NC yesterday and no problems as usual. Went to several different businesses including discount tire, auto zone, lube express and of course Gander Mountain to pick up some ammo. I was approached by a family from south Carolina that was curious about open carry and directed them to this site. All in all a great day!

+1 I bet they were! SC is not an OC state, unfortunately.

 

[Justin Titus]

+1 I bet they were! SC is not an OC state, unfortunately.

Yeah they said they live in pageland which is only like 15 min drive in to Monroe , so they do all their shopping and stuff in north Carolina as opposed to south carolina I guess that's why they were asking.

 

[ron73440]

Got my hair cut at the Main Gate Barber in Havelock, the barber asked what I was carrying and we had a discussion on Glocks compared to 1911's, 9mm vs. .45 vs. .40, was the most entertaining haircut I've ever had.

Went to Moore's BBQ for dinner and got a strange look from one customer, but she didn't say anything.

Went to Chic-Fil-A in New bern and there were two NC Highway Patrol vehicles in the lot, made me nervous, but I went in anyway, thinking if I duck them now, it'll be easier to duck them the next time. While at the counter, a local cop qame in and I know he saw my pistol since I was standing strong side to him, nothing was said.

I went to where the kids had found a seat, we were right beside a pair of State Troopers. I thought to myself, "Here we go" and walked past them and sat down, once again, I was nervous for no reason.

Went to Mum Fest on Saturday and there were cops everywhere, but the only person who sid anything was one vendor who roped me into a raffle for a Ruger rifle.(I'm gonna win that sucker!)

 

[papa bear]

great to hear RON, i went to Chick-fila today with my grand kids. there were several in there i thought was LE, and one that had car and badge, so i know he was. if they seen nothing was said. even had one of the guys that roam the dinning room come up and talk to me about my carry. his 21 birthday was to day and we talked about the CHP, and OC. i told him about GRNC (with my tongue in my cheek) and about this site. hope he joins us

got stopped by a guy at Tractor supply. we talked a good while about carry and things that were happening in the area. he was a truck driver and had moved here from CO.

talked to a guy at Wally world this morning. talked about carry and Garands.

all in all a lot of positive conversations

Hope GRNC doesn't mess it up

 

[Bahabandit]

Mum Fest

I went to the Mum fest and only had one person talk to me. He was asking if I like my FNX-45 and that he was thinking about buying one. There sure were a bunch of hoodlums there.

 

[JayT]

Rented a U-haul truck (from an OCDO member) and traveled to Fayetteville (OCing my .45ACP). Dropped off our stuff to a charity in SW Fayetteville, and then had some lunch at Five Guys Burgers on Raeford road. No issues whatsoever. BTW, the staff at FiveGuys was awesome (not to mention the food!).


BTW, if anyone is interested in that kind of thing, TheBicycleMan Foundation is back in operation and needs some bikes for the kids! What a cool warehouse!

JayT