David West
Regular Member
imported post
Hey guys, I'm newly registered here but I've been reading this occasionally for a few months now. I live in Medford. I graduated from high school about a week and a half ago, so last Friday I used my graduation money to pick up a fullsized Springfield 1911 Operator and a SERPA holster. I'm leaving for Army basic training this coming
Monday, so I've been spending alot of time visiting friends and family, which kept me from getting to the range until yesterday. After putting 100 rounds through my gun yesterday I decided to go out and open carry it (it seemd kind of weird to carry a gun before you've ever even fired it).
Today I went out with my mom to help her run some errands and cash in a couple more checks from my graduation money, and I decided to open carry to show her that people wouldn't react as negatively as she thinks they would. First we ran by the place where she ges her hair cut to drop off some stuff. The lady working there commented on my carrying, but that's only because she knows me and her husband likes guns (she told me about his AR after I got mine a couple months ago, and she said that he usualy carries, albeit concealed). There was only one other older woman in the room and she said nothing. She didn't even start at my gun or anything.
After that, we picked up some groceries in Winco but I stayed out in the car
because I was talking to some friends on the cell phone about some plans we were making. I helped her load the groceries into our van when she came back out, and then I put the cart away. I passed several people on my strong side and noone even seemed to notice that I was carrying. After that, we headed over to the bank so I could cash in my last few checks of graduation money. I'd checked a couple weeks ago to see if they had a "no guns" sign up so I knew that they didn't. I walked in and got in line and had to wait a few minutes because all the tellers were taken. While I was in line no one seemed to so much as notice that I was carrying. The teller I ended up getting was a young guy, maybe in his mid 20s. When I walked up the first thing he said was, "Off duty cop?" "No," I replied. "Concealed Carry License?" "No," I replied, "I'm just open carrying." For a second I was worried he was going to start making a scene, but thankfully I was proven wrong.
"Oh, that's legal?" "Yep," I said, "even without a permit." "Oh, thats the nice thing about living up here. I might have to try that sometime!" He told me that when he moved from California to Oregon one of the first things he did was buy an AK. "Nice looking 1911," he told me, "I've got a Springfield G.I. model." I thanked him for the compliment and told him mine was a springfield as well. We chatted for a minute about our guns, but there were other people inline so I didn't talk for long. As I was leaving I opened the door and passed a middle aged man. I thought I saw his eyes dart to my hip and he had a strange, surprised look on his face. As he passed he turned back to look at me, and seemed like he was about to say something. I wonder what I he thought when he saw that I was standing there holding the door for a hunched over little old lady who was having trouble rolling her walker over the uneven cobblestones! At this point my strongside was to him and since I was holding the door my arm was out of the way, so I'm positive that he saw my gun. I'm pretty sure the guy was going to say something about my gun, because he seemed to hesitate and look at me funny before saying, "You're gonna hold the door for her?" It seemed like an awkward thing to say, because it's not like he was acting as if he was going to hold the door. Heck he'd walked right through right in front of her without stopping to hold it! The lady thanked me and commented on how they really hadn't thought of walkers when they made the cobblestone path in front of the door. I'm not sure if she noticed I was packing, but I hope so. I figure it's always good to make open carriers look good.
After that I went home, but I think it was a pretty good start. I was pleased with the way things went at the bank, and I was glad to hear my teller was so pro-gun. I'll probably open carry a few more times before I leave Sunday night (I need to be at MEPS on Monday), so I might make a few more posts to this thread before then.
Hey guys, I'm newly registered here but I've been reading this occasionally for a few months now. I live in Medford. I graduated from high school about a week and a half ago, so last Friday I used my graduation money to pick up a fullsized Springfield 1911 Operator and a SERPA holster. I'm leaving for Army basic training this coming
Monday, so I've been spending alot of time visiting friends and family, which kept me from getting to the range until yesterday. After putting 100 rounds through my gun yesterday I decided to go out and open carry it (it seemd kind of weird to carry a gun before you've ever even fired it).
Today I went out with my mom to help her run some errands and cash in a couple more checks from my graduation money, and I decided to open carry to show her that people wouldn't react as negatively as she thinks they would. First we ran by the place where she ges her hair cut to drop off some stuff. The lady working there commented on my carrying, but that's only because she knows me and her husband likes guns (she told me about his AR after I got mine a couple months ago, and she said that he usualy carries, albeit concealed). There was only one other older woman in the room and she said nothing. She didn't even start at my gun or anything.
After that, we picked up some groceries in Winco but I stayed out in the car
because I was talking to some friends on the cell phone about some plans we were making. I helped her load the groceries into our van when she came back out, and then I put the cart away. I passed several people on my strong side and noone even seemed to notice that I was carrying. After that, we headed over to the bank so I could cash in my last few checks of graduation money. I'd checked a couple weeks ago to see if they had a "no guns" sign up so I knew that they didn't. I walked in and got in line and had to wait a few minutes because all the tellers were taken. While I was in line no one seemed to so much as notice that I was carrying. The teller I ended up getting was a young guy, maybe in his mid 20s. When I walked up the first thing he said was, "Off duty cop?" "No," I replied. "Concealed Carry License?" "No," I replied, "I'm just open carrying." For a second I was worried he was going to start making a scene, but thankfully I was proven wrong.
"Oh, that's legal?" "Yep," I said, "even without a permit." "Oh, thats the nice thing about living up here. I might have to try that sometime!" He told me that when he moved from California to Oregon one of the first things he did was buy an AK. "Nice looking 1911," he told me, "I've got a Springfield G.I. model." I thanked him for the compliment and told him mine was a springfield as well. We chatted for a minute about our guns, but there were other people inline so I didn't talk for long. As I was leaving I opened the door and passed a middle aged man. I thought I saw his eyes dart to my hip and he had a strange, surprised look on his face. As he passed he turned back to look at me, and seemed like he was about to say something. I wonder what I he thought when he saw that I was standing there holding the door for a hunched over little old lady who was having trouble rolling her walker over the uneven cobblestones! At this point my strongside was to him and since I was holding the door my arm was out of the way, so I'm positive that he saw my gun. I'm pretty sure the guy was going to say something about my gun, because he seemed to hesitate and look at me funny before saying, "You're gonna hold the door for her?" It seemed like an awkward thing to say, because it's not like he was acting as if he was going to hold the door. Heck he'd walked right through right in front of her without stopping to hold it! The lady thanked me and commented on how they really hadn't thought of walkers when they made the cobblestone path in front of the door. I'm not sure if she noticed I was packing, but I hope so. I figure it's always good to make open carriers look good.
After that I went home, but I think it was a pretty good start. I was pleased with the way things went at the bank, and I was glad to hear my teller was so pro-gun. I'll probably open carry a few more times before I leave Sunday night (I need to be at MEPS on Monday), so I might make a few more posts to this thread before then.
