I have a CC license and have carried a small concealed pistol for a while now and the county I live in is known as one of the highest CC counties in the nation. I went to town yesterday and noticed something new going on. I saw several men wearing their larger more powerful pistols on their hip out in the open. I think this is in response to the Vegas shooting and it got me thinking. Why hide my little snubby 38? Why not just openly carry my Colt 45? If it offends or scares people so what,screw em. I may just start doing that from now on.
I noticed this about 2-3 years ago in my area, many visible sidearms can be spotted throughout the day. I do it myself with no gaulking or sneers but this area of Colorado did long before I arrived.
Seems like a good way to get shot in the back. For warned is for armed. This isn't the wild west where men use to have some honor and shooting a man in the back was looked down upon. Now it is considered cool.
Are you trying to say that people with just randomly start shooting people because they are carrying? I don't open carry because if you are ever in a situation where you would need your pistol, open carry has a higher chance of making you a target.
Lots O'People talk tall talk about what they would LIKE to do or like to see happen or what SHOULD or MIGHT happen to People that open carry. I do not open carry. However, all those scenarios they propose are illegal anyway, Murder and Assault is not justified against someone simply because they open carry. Some people just hate open carry.
I don't personally open carry (it's illegal where I currently live), but even when I lived in places where it was legal I rarely open carried any firearms. The only time I really did was when heading out to shoot and needing to stop by the store to buy ammo. I never wanted to leave my firearms in my vehicle so I would sling the rifle over my shoulder and head into the sporting goods store. I wouldn't go grocery shopping with it slung over my shoulder or anything. I don't have an issue with folks who do that but it's just not something I do.
I have open carried for the past 15 years. I quit giving a s#!t about others sensibilities about guns along time ago. The only time its concealed in in my vehicle or when a coat is required.
Congrats on your CFP. I hope you will carry always as do I -- 24/7/365. There are pro's and con's to CC and OC each one. I prefer CC because nobody can see your gun. My CC pistol is a full sized 45ACP by CZ. It is a large and heavy gun and by carrying it at the 3 oclock position IWB I get great concealment for it. OC is most appropriate while hiking through the woods. It is also most appropriate for police and security officers. Otherwise CC is vastly superior because it protects the weapon from prying eyes.
Note that CC or OC of a pistol or revolver is going to do nobody any good against a sniper perched high above and far away. Pistols and revolvers are only accurate out to 50 yards or so. A sniper rifle works out to 500 or more yards. Duck and cover is the only appropriate response against any sniper. Then let the police do their work.
Yours and other post on this subject make good points on CC being better in some ways. In defense of OC at least in a small community like mine I'd say that if some nut was looking for a soft target and came to my town and saw a high percentage of men with pistols on display he might just look for another community to stage his massacre in.
I see comments like this regularly, even from people I know are relatively knowledgeable shooters, and it always makes me raise an eyebrow. I've fired handguns at far longer ranges than that and gotten quite good accuracy out of them. Sure, they've been heavy caliber handguns, or highly tuned custom pistols, but still. I have witnesses who watched me shoot a 9-inch group at 200 yards with a .41 Magnum revolver; easily within the confines of the chest of a man. I have a custom tuned Glock 9mm with which I've hit a torso-sized steel plate at 300 yards, and not just one hit among a plethora of tries either; admittedly a pistol with a reflex sight on it, and it took me two rounds to get the hold-over, but after that I could hit it repeatedly and consistently.. Handguns are far more accurate than most people give them credit for.
Too bad nobody let me know this fact, I have been violating this law of physics for many years regularly taking accurate shots way past 50 yards with Revolvers etc.... Pistols are any short barreled firearm, Pistoles ( archaic term ) for a short barreled matchlock, flintlock etc.. Also to include Revolvers vs Autoloading or self loading family of short barreled Arms / Pistols.
I could shoot quarter, to .50 cent piece, size groups with my out of the box S&W Model 28, one handed, with reloads, at 100 yards, consistently. Of course that's shooting paper at a range. The real world is a little different.
Snipers "perched high above and far away" are not the norm though. Most times it's some fool walking up hallways shooting into rooms and at people fleeing. In that scenario a pistol is extremely effective.
The reason that you carry a pistol is to defend yourself against a thug. If the thug is not armed or only with a knife then you are in jackpot city. If the thug is armed but you are a better shot then you are also in jackpot city. If the thug is a moosleem with a suicide vest and you let him/her get too close to you (45 feet) then you can kiss your azz goodbye.
Good reloads (reloads that you did a good job on) should have an moa of 1/4. That means 1/4 inch at 100 yards, 1/2 inch at 200 yards, and 1 inch at 400 yards.
For a small town where everyone knows each other, sure, you are right. The other thing is that if there are a lot of others O/C then this essentially forces you also to O/C since O/C has about a 1/4 to 1/2 second advantage on the draw. I don't live in a town like that. I live near a big city. In my suburbs 10% CC, 0% O/C.
I always CC 24/7/365 and on leap days. I O/C when I am hiking in the woods/mountains, hunting, or when someone else somewhere walks in and is themselves in O/C mode -- then I move my shirt above and behind my pistol and tuck it in so that I am O/C too. I don't want to lose the 1/4 to 1/2 second advantage to him/her that O/C gives.
Why do you believe this? I am not claiming to be the best handgun shot in the world by any means, but I know for a fact a handgun is good for far beyond 50 yards. People use handguns to hunt game at further than 50 yards.
Lol. I regularly take shots with either a Revolver or a Glock 17 way farther than 50 yards. Look at Hickock 45, He really stretches out handgun ranges. The 50 yard maximum accurate handgun range is a Myth. Jerry at 200 yards target with a snubby held upsidedown.