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How I spent my Independence Day

Skippy

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2007
Messages
133
Location
Indianapolis, ,
imported post

Just thought I'd relate this little story for my first oc.org post:

North-central Indiana (suburbs outside of Indianapolis):

This year, as part of our 4th of July celebrations, I decided to open carry for the first time in my life.

We have a young daughter and I have taken her to the range many times to teach her to shoot. She has a Crickett rifle of her own and even at eight years old is a pretty good shot with my .22 pistol. As far as I know, her friends' parents do not know that we have guns in the house. I don't know how they would feel about it, but up until now we've chosen to keep them concealed because we don't want them to disallow their kids from playing with her. Whether that was the right decision or not is obviously debatable, but I would do anything for my daughter and I don't want to see her life disrupted unnecessarily.

My wife and I spent some time discussing my decision to open carry. We talked about the pros and cons, about how her friends or friends' parents might react, about how our neighborhood and community might react, and so forth. I also spent some additional time studying Indiana statutes to make sure I was legal. Ultimately, we decided that i would try it. What better time to openly exercise my Constitutional Rights than Independence Day, right?

With a not-inconsiderable amount of nervousness, I placed my Springfield in my cheap paddle holster on my side, and my wife and I went to the movies (Live Free or Die Hard, incidentally). I chose the movies because there would be a small to moderate number of people, and it would be fairly dark during most of it. These were mostly psychological crutches for me, not the people around me. :) During this time, I was painfully aware of my sidearm. I noticed that I was unconciously avoiding touching it or adjusting it. When reaching for my wallet, I tended to move slowly and deliberately. I assume it's because I didn't want the people around me to think I was "going for my gun".

By the time we got home, I was astonished that the world hadn't come to an end! No one even batted an eye. I didn't get any dirty looks, no panicked whispers. Most people didn't even notice. Thusly encouraged, I have taken many more opportunities over the past few days to open carry whenever practical. Other than a brief incident (which I will relate below), it has been nothing but a positive experience for me. I have not yet had an encounter with local law enforcement, but hopefully that will be just as positive.

I would be interested in hearing stories of other people who have or do open carry in my local area. I'd be especially interested in hearing about your first time as well.


The "incident":

This was something stupid, but it didn't help my OC nervousness any. :) We were at Meijer and after making our purchases we started to leave. One of the cashiers, trying to make smalltalk, asked me which jurisdiction I was with. I had no idea what he was talking about. After asking him to repeat himself, he asked me if I was a police officer. I politely responded that I wasn't, and then walked away and left the store. I guess I should have been more prepared for questions like that, but it was enough to make me skittish and want to return to concealed carry again. I'm here to report, however, that I am continuing to open carry whenever I can.
 

Citizen

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
18,269
Location
Fairfax Co., VA
imported post

Yes! Welcome to OCDO.

Yep. You'll want to plan for a variety of questions, both friendly and not. Maybe even obnoxious police.

Its a little like staying in Condition Yellow. When you are in White about questionsis when the question will come.

There are a few threads around here where people have traded ideas on what to say. You might try the search tool.
 

HankT

State Researcher
Joined
Feb 20, 2007
Messages
6,215
Location
Invisible Mode
imported post

Skippy wrote:
My wife and I spent some time discussing my decision to open carry. We talked about the pros and cons, about how her friends or friends' parents might react, about how our neighborhood and community might react, and so forth. I also spent some additional time studying Indiana statutes to make sure I was legal. Ultimately, we decided that i would try it.

Great story, Skippy.

I'm impressed by the thought and caring you put into the decision. Not just the technical/legal stuff but the other stuff you mentioned. When people actually think carefully about the decision and all (or most) of its aspects and consequences, then things will be alright. Emotion and passion are all alright but OCing, how and where, etc., ends up being a pretty substantial deal.

Things will get much easier when OC diffuses more widely.
 

usafe7ret

New member
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
Messages
9
Location
Greencastle, Indiana, USA
imported post

Skippy,

Welcome! I'm approx 50 miles west of you. I've OC on and off for the past year around this area with no problems or notice taken if appears. (Not too many others are)

With the hot weather OC more, it is hot to cover it. Carrying a Glock 26 in Fobus paddle and a double mag paddle by same Easily seen.

During deer season I've carried my Tarus 357 (Looks like a cannon!) while shopping and no one has made comment :D
 
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