imported post
Hi all,
I'm new to this site and I am the guy who responded to Skip RE: this topic and caused this poll to happen in the first place... This poll is so highly unscientific for so many good reasons, the skewed results are literally laughable in reality...
You see, my summation about open carry being unnecessarily dangerous IS 100% valid... Legba's "non-funny joke" replyis a PERFECT example of what I intimated with my question to Skip... The guy who tookLegba's gun was drunk, and thank goodness the gun was unloaded... Now put yourself in a situation where the perp is not drunk (this even more coordinated), is an aggressive gang banger/drug dealer/punk type, and he is intent on taking your openly carried pistol away from you.... It CAN and WILL happen... You turn the corner in a mall/shopping center/grocery store/anywhere you feel "safe" and BAM, you can be disarmed and you are now his next victim with your own gun. Worst of all, through your arrogant actions of needlessly carrying in the open, that perp now has your gun to be used on who knows what other innocent bystanders... All of which could have been easily avoided if you were just carrying concealed...
Since open carry is not very widely executed by the average civilian, the only stats that I can draw upon (no pun intended) to substanciate my point would be to use the ones collected about armed law enforcement officers (LEOs) during their course of duty. According to info I found on the LEAA site; there are approximately 60,000 assaults on law enforcement annually. Also, recognize that every attack on an officer involves at least one gun in some way (the same as it would be in the civilian "open carry" perspective), except that LEOs in a dangerous situation usually have a partner or "backup". We civilians do not have this luxury usually (that's why we carry our guns in the first place, right?).
Important stat to remember: Depending on the year, as many as 10-20% of the officers killed in the line of duty are killed by bad guys who take the officer’s gun and use it against them. Interpolating that data to the above number of attacks on LEOs, that means 6,000 to 12,000 LEOs PER YEAR, DIE at the hands ofthe criminal who disarms them!
Another facor which officers are aware of when dealing with repeat offenders that we civilians usually don't train for is that bad guys routinely practice dis-arming techniques in while serving time in prison -- often while they are ‘bulking up’ with prison weight lifting equipment. An LEO that is aware and trained for this will STILL get their weapon stripped and die from that weapon in the percentages presented above. The odds of civilians who open carry, dying by the same aggressive confruntations HAVE TO BE EVEN HIGHER, given our lack of training/understanding of these very valid threats...
Now, I've heard lots of "tough guy" talk in this posting about learning other defensive measures so that youR gun doesn't get taken from you when you open carry, but all of that extra/necessary training is 99.9% USELESS if one just carries concealed!!! Use your training time to master proper shooting techniques, other valuable clearing drills, and quite frankly learning how to RUN FAST to avoid trouble!
Now, before the blugeoning starts on me, let me tell you that I "pack" EVERY DAY and have so since 2001. But no matter what my rights are, my state is "Shall Issue" so I ONLY carry concealed for all of the above reasons... I am not looking for trouble by open carrying, but if trouble finds me, I CAN neutralize it with my big SURPRISE the thug doesn't know about until he's 185 grains heavier (the weight of my bullet in his body)!. For those that aren't lucky enough to live in a shall issue state, but still have the right to open carry, then I say "OK, if you HAVE TO", but please realize that you make yourself a target of sorts, especially in a state which doesn't recognize "gun rights" very well because the local criminals ALSO feel the weight of being descriminated against on the "gun" issue, so your handgun is even MORE VALUABLE to them in those localities...
"I can carry openly, so I will", is not the best logic when considering how a deadly weapon can be carried... Look at the lady who recently was prosecuted in PA for open carry at her kids soccer game... She even had a CCW so what is the logic behind open carry that day? She was just asking for trouble, that's what. And, she's lucky that trouble came in the form of "legal trouble" via an LEO arresting her than some punk hiding behind her car with atire ironto smack her on the back of the head, take her gun, and possible kill her AND her kids! Yes, it IS that easy to happen, even to a 225lb 6' 1" tallguy like me! To think otherwise is very dangerous and equally short sighted....
Rant off now... What do you think?