Planning On Open Carrying? – Educate Yourself First


There are those who make the rest of us look bad. Such as the following recent incident where a customer at a McDonald’s in Phoenix got robbed of his OC pistol. I’m all for open carry just as much for concealed carry. But it all depends on several factors. If you’re in an urban area, and places such as grocery stores, 7-11’s, fast food chains, Walmarts, shady neighborhoods and large crowd gatherings. You’re better off carrying concealed. Tactical advantage wins here. This are just some examples.

Open carry is more practical if you’re hiking in the woods, at state parks, national parks, in rule areas, small towns, open carry gatherings, groups and meetings. Also for political purposes, a right not practice is a right lost. That being said, it doesn’t mean you should never open carry. Get proper training and practice, even some basic hand-to-hand combat skills will greatly help you out here.

If you’re going to open carry in urban areas, you better have proper training, which includes handgun retention skills, a retention holster, maybe a backup gun, and most important is to be constantly vigilant of your surroundings. Although such occurrences are rare, but sometimes such incidents occurred every now and then.
A thug sees a $600 item sticking out of you. He knows for sure you have his paycheck. Unlike a person not showing their values, if you exhibit such values, the bad guy might not be able to resist the urge and take that risk of robbing the gun from you.
If you CC and look just like anyone else, the thug doesn’t know how much money you got with you, and what valuable items you might have. With a visible gun, it’s clearly there, the thugs knows for sure, and it’s worth the risk. Think what these criminals are thinking. On the other hand, we had incidents where less brave criminals saw an open carrier maybe thinking that’s a cop, then quickly runs off.
When you’re concealed carrying, please make sure it’s concealed, meaning minimize printing or no printing at all and make sure your gun doesn’t be come expose in pubic. When you do your duties in the bathroom, there is no need to handle your gun. You don’t want to be another statistic just like with that Air Marshal who left his pistol on the toilet tank cover in the airport bathroom There are instances where those who are so called, “concealed carrying” got robbed of their gun, get spotted out by mall security or bypasses.



18 Replies to “Planning On Open Carrying? – Educate Yourself First”

  1. Speaking of educating oneself first, this is not a case of open carry. This was a case of concealed carry becoming unconcealed. The gun carrier was carrying the firearm in a pocket holster in his back left pocket. When his arms were raised on the counter, the gun became exposed.

    1. Then that became open carry. Open Carry means the firearm is visible to common observation. It doesn’t matter if it gets exposed briefly.
      If he was CC, he surly did a horrible job in doing so and carrying a gun in his pocket without the holster is full can of worms,

      1. I don’t understand those that buy a expensive firearm but are to cheap to buy a holster. Pockets are not a good place for your gun. Pocket lint can cause the gun to malfunction.

        1. I plainly stated that the gun was carried in a pocket holster. That might not be your preferred method of carry, but it has served well for others for decades.

      2. For a firearm to be openly carried it must be visible to persons approaching the bearer of the arm from the front.

        A handgun carried in one’s back pocket or in the small of one’s back is concealed.

      3. Concealed carry does not “become” open carry because your shirt lifted up. You know the distinction, and are trying to defend a poor effort at shaming a fellow gun carrier based on your initially incorrect assumption of carry method. He had no intention of that gun ever being visible. Also, I plainly stated that he *did* have the gun in a pocket holster.

    2. After closely watching the video, I clearly see a good amount of exposure of the pistol grip. I will say this guy was open carrying.

      1. The grip was exposed because his shirt was lifted when he raised his arms to the counter. This is clearly a case of concealed carry going badly.

  2. Agreed, this is not Open Carry, especially seeing as how people have been successfully prosecuted for carrying concealed in this manner.

    There are a few “cases” out there where someone was allegedly OCing and had their gun taken, or was targeted. The problem is, I have yet to see an example of someone what was legitimately OCing.

    I wish the people who write about these cases would be honest about them. Sure OC has drawbacks, but it had benefits too, just like CC.

    1. I’m not surprised that you have yet to see an incident where someone was allegedly Ocing and hand their gun taken away since it’s quite rare but it happens.
      Here is another case
      And there is another case I recalled last year. OC sure has it’s does have benefits which already mention. This article is not a OC vs CC. Just an overal summery and recommendations for OCing.

  3. “… This was a case of concealed carry becoming unconcealed…”
    Apparently the original poster of this article is unaware of the difference between an openly carried firearm and a concealed firearm that becomes visible.

    “Planning on Concealed Carrying? Educate yourself on pitfalls first” would have been a much more honest headline.

  4. I wonder how many OC people do it cause it gets them attention or have a cop wannabe syndrome. I understand that there are appropriate times to OC but in the big city just not smart. If I was a BG and going to rob the store or just shoot us the place the OC guy would be my first target.

  5. I’ve always had the opposite view of OC vs. CC… Imagine you forgot to get tomorrow’s lunch money out and you have to visit a walk-up ATM at midnight some night. At the same time, some tweaker is riding around looking for someone to rob. Who’s he going to pick on – me with the visible firearm on my hip, or you with your CC – the defenseless-looking dude at the next bank?

    I view OC as a deterrent, and I’d much rather that tweaker go pick on you and your CC. I’ll be home in bed while you’re still dealing with the fallout from your shooting.

  6. Tjats why I carry inside waist band..’s close and only fingers can get a grip on the handle
    .my fingers..anyone else fingers is a problem. ..

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