Guns

Open Carry vs. Level of Training

/ hsoi / 2 Comments

Newport News police are investigating after a man reported he was pushed to the ground and had his handgun stolen late last week…. He was wearing his handgun in a holster, open carry, on his hip, Eley said.

Emphasis added.

Full story

The article continues telling about an informal survey about open carry vs. training.

Among those who responded, there was a clear trend.

A significant percentage of open carriers had no formal training at all (no, the various required concealed carry permitting classes are not training), and those who were serious students of armed self defense (most attended at least one defensive firearms class a year) almost never open carried by choice.

The more professional defensive firearms training someone had, the less likely they were to choose open carry.

So yeah… take from that what you will.

File it under “the more you know, the better decisions you can make”.

Also file it under “you don’t know what you don’t know”. But it seems the less you actually know, the more you think you know. Y’know?

As I’ve said before, I see no particular advantage to open carry (at least for myself), and I see a lot of downsides. It’s good to have the option, but just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Stay safe. Be smart. Get smarter (get training, get educated).

We each draw our lines differently

/ hsoi

Where do you draw your line (in the sand)?

When was the last time you articulated where that line was drawn?

When you articulated that line, have you subjected it to scrutiny? Have you read stories, considered scenarios, applied it (as a training exercise, in your head) while you go about your daily life? Does it hold up? Does it need adjustment and refinement?

Over on pistol-forum.com “LittleLebowski” recounted his experience of when he had to defensively use a knife in a Hawaii hotel. It’s a very detailed story, including details of his arrest, references to news media reports, and all that he went through. I empathized and identified with a fair portion of what he went through.

What was more interesting to me was flipping through all the forum discussion of his account. The majority of it was comments such as “you shouldn’t have gotten involved”, or “wasn’t your fight”. But there were also counters such as “JV_” saying:

It’s interesting to watch incident videos, like the thug beating up on a big bus driver (who won in the end) and many people seemed surprised that no one stepped in to help the bus driver.

And here we have an incident where someone does step in to help out, and we’re back to the “it’s not my fight”. On the other hand, it’s a domestic incident, and if she turned on the helper, he’d still be in jail.

I don’t look forward to living in a society where everyone stands around and watches bad things happen.

And the discussion raged on, as Internet forums do, tho was overall quite civil.

Still, the armchair quarterbacking was interesting for me to observe and it mirrors responses I received in regards to my own incident.

It’s not really that people are trying to tell me or LittleLebowski that we were right or wrong (tho yes, some are certainly trying to scold or correct), it’s more that people are articulating their own feelings against the backdrop of our event. They might be saying “you shouldn’t have gotten involved” but they really mean “I wouldn’t get involved”.

Really, it’s tough to tell someone they shouldn’t have gotten involved – especially after the fact. “Gee, thank you for pointing out my mistakes… as if I’m totally unaware of them.” You may mean well, but think about what you’re really trying to say and why you are saying it. Someone telling their story is making themselves vulnerable, in hopes of helping you (including learning from the mistakes made). Don’t punch them in the gut over it.

And from that, work to learn. If after hearing the story you find yourself (re)assessing how you would respond to such a situation, good! That’s the point of sharing. You should be using the story to figure out where you stand, and if you need to adjust, if you need to change yourself, if you need to further your education.

Remember: as a result, we will all draw our lines in different places. What’s right for you may not be what’s right for me. It’s good to help guide people towards finding, improving, and making articulable where their line is drawn; just don’t look down on them or chastise them for drawing their line differently from yours. So long as they have a clearly defined and defensible line, so long as they can reasonably articulate where and why, that’s what’s important.

An unorthodox drill – my results

/ hsoi / 5 Comments

Grant Cunningham proposed “An unorthodox drill”:

How do you internalize the idea that it’s the other stuff you do that really keeps you safe? How do you get over the irrational notion that it’s your CCW that does this? As I’ve told more than one class, I think a valuable drill is to occasionally practice NOT carrying your gun. I know it sounds odd, and I know the overly-shooting-oriented defensive training community will excoriate me for saying that, but I believe there are benefits to be had by occasionally doing such an exercise.

About a week ago, I responded to a Letter to the Editor about how “My gun kept you safe” saying “No, it didn’t. My original response to that letter had nothing to do with Grant’s proposal, but Grant’s proposal came in while I was composing and it was good food for thought, so I changed my response. As well, I figured that it’d be worthwhile to partake in the drill myself. I already have times when I don’t carry a gun, such as when I go to concerts. While I lose the use of a tool, I don’t necessarily feel “unarmed”. Again, it’s not the gun keeping me safe, it’s me keeping me safe. But I thought it’d be good experiment to try in a different context.

Different Context

I spent the past week on a business trip. Due to the nature of the trip and the events that would be participating in, having a gun on my person was going to be complicated. I’m sure I could have found ways to manage it, but I thought this would be an interesting context in which to try Grant’s drill. So I made the decision to leave the gun at home.

I also started going “naked” a couple days before the trip, just because I could. But those couple days started to give me my first insights.

Alternative Tools

There are other tools one can utilize.

Knives are a good example. Pepper spray is another. There are times I have a hickory or oak cane. What I might have can be affected by circumstance and situation, but realize there’s more out there. And if you opt to handle one of these others, it behooves you to obtain some sort of training and skill with that tool. Yes, even pepper spray. No, you don’t have to spend 10 years and become a black-belt in it, but knowledge and skill will aid you if you have to use the tool.

One downside? I lost a good ranged tool. While typical self-defense incidents happen in the 0-5 yard range (within the length of a car), there’s still more than enough data on incidents happening at longer ranges. But even 0-5 can be out of reach for some of these tools. A knife is really only useful if the person is WITHIN arms reach, which is already too close. Pepper spray has a degree of reach, but it’s limited and even more so if there’s wind blowing (which there always is to some degree). That is one thing that I was bummed about losing was the ranged weapon.

Change of Habits

For years I’ve carried my keys in my left front pocket. I’m right-handed, but use my left hand for keys. Why? Because it keeps my right hand free for other things. When I started carrying the ASP Defender (pepper spray, and quasi-kubotan), I actually retained my existing habit of the left-hand pocket. Well, going naked for those couple days made me think more about the Defender being a primary tool, and I realized I needed to switch and put my keys (and thus the ASP Defender) into my right-front pocket. Granted I could still work it from my left if needed, but it makes more sense for me now to have it on the right. The unorthodox drill forcing me into this different paradigm paid that benefit of having me rethink and improve my strategies.

Awareness of Awareness

One of the biggest take-homes from the drill was regarding awareness.

For sure, you perk up your awareness. What does that mean? That you weren’t running as aware as you thought you were.

Throughout the week my awareness went to various places.

When I was walking the dog, I realized how easily she caused distraction and my focus to shift. Same thing would happen when I’d be walking around with other people, talking to them. There just are times you have to pay attention to other things, to have the majority of your focus on something else. Your attention is easily divided, and you likely don’t realize it.

This is reality, I’ve known this, and anyone that denies slipping into Condition White from time to time is dishonest with themselves.

I did find myself paying more attention to things. Had one opportunity for some light MUC (Managing Unknown Contacts) practice. Being in semi-familiar surroundings, I spent time looking, watching, orienting myself in ways to survey what was going on and adjust behavior. But that’s another thing: when you’re “just passing through” there’s only so much you can fully assess.

The bottom line is: we can never be 100% dialed in, 100% aware, 100% knowledgable of all things. So what can we do to help manage that reality? How can we make decisions, have behaviors, etc. that, if they can’t help us gain advantage, at least minimize the loss.

There’s no single answer here. It’s just something to think about. It’s something to seek solutions on.

Sometimes you gotta go

There’s sayings like “don’t go to stupid places, with stupid people, and do stupid things” (Thank you, John Farnam). For sure, that’s a valuable piece of advice to keep you out of most trouble. But sometimes, you have to go to less than desirable places. For example, the place I had to go on business, I had no control nor choice over. Is it in a bad part of town? Not really, but for sure there are elements of “less than desirable”. Even speaking with other people working in the area, they all had minor reservations about the area. In fact, I spoke with someone else during the trip that said he was walking to get lunch and came onto an encounter with some dudes, a gun, and something “going down”. He immediately removed himself from the situation (he was no way involved; just walking down the street), but still.

Or on a more mundane note, some of the evening activities were known to be “unfriendly” to someone carrying a gun. For example, attending a Dallas Stars hockey game denies licensed firearms carry by law, and also requires passing through a metal detector. Or having a happy hour at a microbrewery that would have 51% signs posted. How to manage your carry gun, on a business trip, in such situations?

Sometimes you gotta go. And if you gotta go, what can you know ahead of time to help you with your decisions and course of action? The more you can know, the more you can learn ahead of time, it will be helpful in determining your course of action.

Drill Conclusion

I’m back home. My gun is back on my hip.

Of the drill, Grant writes:

If you find yourself feeling different, more careful or less confident without the gun, that’s your cue that you haven’t been paying nearly enough attention to your real safety. It means that you’ve assigned too much of your well being to a device of very limited utility. Your gun is a talisman, not a tool. It also means that you need to devote some of your training resources to those other skills I listed above and integrate them into your life.

If, however, you feel completely confident and change nothing about your routine or your habits, then you probably have a good understanding of your concealed gun’s real place in your personal security planning. That’s how you know you’re at a point of balance, which means you’re safer overall than someone who isn’t.

Strive for balance.

I didn’t feel too different. I changed a couple of things, I was given opportunity to think about some things from a different angle. But overall? Didn’t feel too odd or weird, I didn’t feel naked, I didn’t feel vulnerable.

I’d say, at least in terms of how Grant summarizes things, I have a good understanding of my gun’s real place in my personal security planning.

Of course, there’s always room for improvement, and I’m happy for having undertaken the drill.

Thanx, Grant!

9mm vs. .40 S&W vs .45 ACP – this is still a topic?

/ hsoi / 3 Comments

I can’t believe that this “debate” is making rounds again.

Yet, I guess I can see why. I know better than to read the comments, but sometimes I’m a sucker for punishment. From that it’s evident that even today, with mounting evidence – both anecdotal and scientific, with technological progress, and with so many other factors today, that there’s zero reason to have this “debate” any more.

But you know… some people still believe the Earth is flat and wish to continue that “debate”.

Can we please discuss things that actually matter and merit discussion? Nah.. never mind. Doesn’t get clicks.

Why do USA cops shoot so many people?

/ hsoi

Greg Ellifritz posted this on Facebook:

My friends from outside the USA often ask me “Why do cops in the USA shoot so many people?” The answer is that we deal with violent crazy people who are trying to kill us or someone else. Take a look at this National Review study on all the police shootings across America last month. Read the short narrative on each case. Sure, there are a couple of shootings that look unjustified, but in almost all of the others, the cops were being attacked by an armed criminal at the time of the shooting.

Here’s the study Greg references.

Throughout time there have always been people that don’t like the police/law-enforcement, but it’s become rather a popular topic as of late. The narrative/spin that tends to be promoted/hyped is that cops just like to kill people, or something along those lines.

But when you really look at the facts behind most OIS (Officer-Involved-Shooting), you find most are quite justified and there’s really no other way to solve the problem.

Facts are pesky things, especially when you don’t ignore them.

So like so many things in the world, if you’re upset about the symptoms, stop trying to just address the symptoms. Look deeper. What’s causing these people to commit their crimes in the first place? Can we solve those deeper problems? Solve those root causes and you’ll solve both their base problem and the issue of cops having to shoot people.

I know. It’s easier to get angry and outraged and Tweet about it, than to actually work to solve the tough problems. But solving the tough problems is the only way to make things better.

“My gun kept you safe” – no it didn’t

/ hsoi / 6 Comments

Over the past few days, a letter to the editors of the Boston Globe has been going around.

TO THE man I sat next to on my way in to Boston:

When I boarded the commuter rail, you were already in the midst of a spirited phone conversation and didn’t seem to care about how loud you were talking. You were talking with someone about the Paris train attack and the growing epidemic of gun violence in America.

You spoke about the “murderous NRA” and “bloodthirsty gun nuts” who were causing our schools to “run red with blood.” You spoke profanely of the Republicans who opposed President Obama’s call for “sensible gun control,” and you lamented the number of “inbred redneck politicians” who have “infiltrated Capitol Hill.”

I found myself amazed at the irony of the situation. While you were spewing your venom, I sat quietly next to you with my National Rifle Association membership card in my wallet and my 9mm pistol in its holster.

I see where this letter is going, and frankly I do understand and agree with the general tone and sentiment of the letter.

However, there’s one thing I strongly disagree with. The letter poetically ended with (emphasis added):

Your liberal self-righteousness and ignorance may have made you feel superior and comfortable, but during that 40-minute train ride to Boston, my gun kept you safe.

No it didn’t.

Your gun didn’t keep you safe. It didn’t keep the other guy safe either.

“Our side” likes to parrot how “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”. That guns are inanimate objects and they (alone, in and of themselves) can’t kill.

Well then, by the same token, guns can’t keep people safe. It’s the same inanimate object.

But then by the same token, what keeps people safe are people willing to keep people safe, be that keeping yourself safe, or keeping others safe.

The author of the Globe piece does tacitly admit this, and I grant the prose is constructed and presented for artistic impact. However, let us not blindly parrot the phrase lest we suffer from the sting of our own words used against us.

When I first sat down to write this piece, this second part was to go in one direction. However a couple days after I started writing, respected firearms trainer Grant Cunningham wrote an article Do you carry religiously? You may not be as safe as you believe which actually dovetails perfectly.

The firearm is a very limited-application device in the totality of self defense situations and, being a reactive tool of restricted application, doesn’t keep you safe because it doesn’t prevent an incident from unfolding. It simply gives you a tool to defend yourself once a very specific type of event has occurred.

This is apparently a new concept for a lot of people, even (maybe especially) for those who have been in this field for a while! With such limited application there is no way the gun can really keep you safe — it’s all the other stuff you do that keeps you safe; the gun simply gives you a way out when things go horrendously bad. The gun has often been compared to a fire extinguisher: does a fire extinguisher prevent fires? Of course not. It’s just a tool to allow immediate response in case one breaks out.

Grant’s article was nourishing food for thought, and so I opted to change the rest of my article because of what he wrote.

Grant asserts:

I submit that if you find yourself acting differently, more cautious or fearful, when you can’t carry a gun you have a problem that results in you not being truly prepared for violence. The gun has blinded you to both its proper use and what actually keeps violence from being visited upon you.

And he’s right.

And I know a lot of people believe they are tuned in and “get it”, but this is NOT a place for ego. If any life-context requires humility, it’s the context of personal safety. You need to be humble, you need to be honest, even if it bruises or destroys your ego. Put it in check, step back and truly examine yourself within the context of Grant’s assertion; you probably suffer from it to some degree. Better to be hurt now and have a chance to correct the problem, than to be hurt later and forever denied the chance to correct.

Grant suggests “an unorthodox drill”. I think it’s a good one. I get some degree of practice in it when I do things like go to concerts. But I tend to only do this when I’m put into such specific contexts. Why not other contexts? So I’m going to do that from time to time. I know learning will occur, and I know I’ll be overall better for it.

Put it this way:

If, however, you feel completely confident and change nothing about your routine or your habits, then you probably have a good understanding of your concealed gun’s real place in your personal security planning. That’s how you know you’re at a point of balance, which means you’re safer overall than someone who isn’t.

Strive for balance.

If we can say anyone is a master of balance, it’d be an Olympic gymnast. Even an Olympic gymnast stumbles, even an Olympic gymnast can improve – that awareness of self is part of what brought them to the Olympic level. Have that awareness about yourself. Work to improve.

Accidents DO happen

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

A few days ago, an accidental discharge – not a negligent discharge – did happen.

It happened during an advanced class at KR Training. I wasn’t out there, but my friend and fellow assistant instructor, Dave Reichek, was and gave this informative write-up of the situation.

Interesting thing about it. The write-up is being shared far and wide in just a few hours it’s been up, and I’ve already seen the comments, the what-ifs, the armchair quarterbacking, the people who obviously know more and know better. Not earnest input and feedback, but “this would never happen to me because I’m hyper-dialed in” or other sorts of “superiority” types of commenting.

If there’s one thing I’ve had really reinforced to me in the past year it’s to be careful with armchair quarterbacking – you don’t know the full story, and even if you think you do, you don’t.

Some people are still wanting to argue negligence here. Why? Leave the semantics aside, stop strutting your ego around, and focus on what happened and what we can learn from it.

One that stood out to me?

Regular inspection of your firearms before and after each use is a really good idea!

True enough. We don’t do enough of this.

But even if we do it, is it enough? I mean, how many gun owners/users actually know their hardware well enough to be able to give it a proper inspection? Sure, we can give it a look over, but can we really tell what’s right and what’s wrong? How much do you know about how your car works (from top to bottom, end-to-end)? Will we always be able to detect finer issues? And even if we do this, there’s still no promise nor guarantee it will avoid all problems. I mean, even a mechanic’s car fails from time to time.

That reinforces in me:

  1.  We’re human. Things will always be imperfect. There’s always going to be things that break, things that fail. Including ourselves. Steps we can take to minimize negative consequences are good, but accept we can’t eliminate 100%.

  2. Continue to work to gain knowledge. Maybe taking an armorers course can help here. Take the guns you use regularly to a gunsmith for a “checkup” once a year. There’s all sorts of things you can do.

There are lessons to be learned, so learn from them.

ASP Street Defender – first impressions

/ hsoi

So I just gave the ASP Street Defender (pepper spray system) a try.

Slight history: thinking about pepper spray, ASP Key Defender – first impressions, ASP Key Defender – second impressions.

While my evaluation of the ASP Defenders got off to a rough start, I’m feeling more and more assured and willing to use this platform.

I don’t think I’ll use the ASP Palm Defender (small) because it’s just too small for me. The ASP Key Defender (medium) has been riding with me daily for about a month now. It carries just fine for me, and while the spray tests left me a little unsure, I still felt it was a fair choice. But I wanted to try out the ASP Street Defender (large), just because.

Ordered one, got some Heat and some Test inserts. Also ordered some grip tape (instead of skateboard tape) to try texturing the “safety” for better deployment. FWIW, I don’t like the grip tape as much — it’s a nice texture, certainly adds more grip without shredding your skin (unlike skateboard tape). But the skateboard tape is more “grippy” precisely because it’s more like sandpaper and thus a lot more friction and “grab”. The grip tape isn’t bad, but I’ll probably replace it with skateboard tape.

Then, time for spray tests.

The Test insert sprayed well, better than the Key Defender. First, it functioned. 🙂 Second, it certainly had more distance, more volume, more sprays. I mean, it stands to reason given the insert canister is larger — it’s not just longer, it’s a larger diameter. It’s advertised at 30 sprays vs. the Key’s 6.

That said, I also noticed that if you actually stuck to VERY short bursts, there was better performance. Long sprays of course work, but short blasts seem to work better. Not sure why, not an aerosol engineer. Just what I observed.

Then the Heat insert. This performed better than the Test insert, and WAY better than the Key insert. This is the sort of performance I was looking for. It’s one hell of a blast. It’s not some cloud, like a bear spray would be, but for the size and what it is, it’s sure a good dose. There’s a lot more oomph behind it, more “stream” (tho it’s still technically a cone/cloud). More reach.

I’m happy with this.

And again, the wind shifted and I got a good snoot full. So not fun.

I’m growing to like this platform. I’m going to swap out my Key Defender for the Street Defender and see how carrying it goes.

More later…

 

 

Yes, they do want to take our guns away

/ hsoi / 8 Comments

In discussing “sensible gun control”, a common refrain is: “no one is wanting to take your guns”.

Bullshit.

From the Georgia General Assembly 2015-2016 Regular Session – HB 731

Bill summary/introduction:

To amend Article 4 of Chapter 11 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to dangerous instrumentalities and practices, so as to prohibit the possession, sale, transport, distribution, or use of certain assault weapons, large capacity magazines, armor-piercing bullets, and incendiary .50 caliber bullets; to provide for crimes involving the possession, sale, transport, distribution, or use of certain assault weapons, large capacity magazines, armor-piercing bullets, and incendiary .50 caliber bullets; to provide for criminal penalties; to designate certain weaponry and ammunition as contraband and to require seizure of such by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation; to provide for enhanced penalties for the possession and use of machine guns; to provide for definitions; to provide for exemptions; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Emphasis added.

“Seizure” sure sounds like wanting to take my guns away. Maybe you use a different dictionary.

From the bill’s text:

210 16-11-119.1.
211  (a) Any assault weapon, large capacity magazine, armor-piercing bullet, or incendiary .50
212  caliber bullet possessed, sold, or transferred in violation of this part is contraband and shall
213  be seized and destroyed pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section.
214  (b) Notwithstanding any other provision of the law, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation
215  shall seize and take possession of any assault weapon, large capacity magazine,
216  armor-piercing bullet, or incendiary .50 caliber bullet as provided for under Code Section
217  35-3-8. Any such assault weapon, large capacity magazine, armor-piercing bullet, or
218  incendiary .50 caliber bullet seized or taken by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation shall
219  be destroyed, and a record of such destruction shall be maintained by such bureau.

In terms of how the bill defines “assault weapon”, there’s a lot, but here’s a relevant portion (there’s MUCH more to the definition):

(C) Any of the following semiautomatic center-fire rifles: the AK-47; AK-74; AKM; AKS-74U; ARM; MAADI AK47; MAK90; MISR; NHM90; NHM91; Norinco 56,56S, 84S, and 86S; Poly Technologies AKS and AK47; SA 85; SA 93; VEPR; W ASR-10; WUM; Rock River Arms LAR-47; Vector Arms AK-47; AR-10; AR-15; Bushmaster Carbon 15; Bushmaster XM15; Bushmaster ACR Rifles; Bushmaster MOE Rifles; Colt Match Target Rifles; Armalite M15; Olympic Arms AR-15, A1, CAR, PCR, K3B, K30R, K16, K48, K8, and K9 Rifles; DPMS Tactical Rifles; Smith & Wesson M&P15 Rifles; Rock River Arms LAR-15; Doublestar AR Rifles; Barrett REC7; Beretta Storm; Calico Liberty 50, 50 Tactical, 100, 100 Tactical, I, I Tactical, II, and II Tactical Rifles; Hi-Point Carbine Rifles; HK-PSG-1; Kel-Tec Sub-2000, SU Rifles, and RFB; Remington Tactical Rifle Model 7615; SAR-8; SAR-4800; SR9; SLG 95; SLR 95 and 96; TNW M230 and M2HB; Vector Arms UZI; Galil and Galil Sporter; Daewoo AR 100 and AR 110C; Fabrique Nationale/FN 308 Match and L1A1 Sporter; HK USC; IZHMASH Saiga AK; SIG Sauer 551-A1, 556, 516, 716, and M400 Rifles; Valmet M62S, M71S, and M78S; Wilkinson Arms Linda Carbine; and Barrett M107A1;

Those aren’t “assault weapons”. Those are common, popular, semi-automatic rifles.

But they look scary.

Millions of US citizens own them, and many other firearms that would fall under the bill’s definitions.

Read the bill’s text.

It’s flat-out confiscation. Seizure.

Yes, they are wanting to take our guns.

Of course, that’s always been the goal, but finally they’ve stopped lying about it.

And now you should stop lying – or at least being ignorant – about it as well. They certainly do want to take our guns away.

Even more, I see no reason for me to open carry

/ hsoi / 4 Comments

Since Texas enabled licensed individuals to openly carry handguns about 2 weeks ago, I have public openly carried twice.

And honestly, I don’t see myself doing it again.

Why?

Well, first, I should explain why I open carried in the first place.

It’s because as a firearms instructor in Texas, I should be able to speak with some first-hand experience about such matters. Having to actually do something, having to actually go through it and being forced to consider things you hadn’t considered before, it’s enlightening.

And so, I carried twice in particular environments for the learning.

The first was on my way to/from the first KR Training Open Carry Concepts class. I figured given the nature of the day, it was appropriate.

The second was when I attended the 2016 Paul T. Martin Preparedness Conference. One of the topics was covering open carry, and Karl, Paul, and I figured it would be good for a few of us to open carry to demonstrate what we believe good, responsible open carry is and should look like — because we don’t want “that guy”. We were dressed in business casual clothing, carried ourselves professionally, and worked to give the impression of someone “with their act together”, not the “derp” that the media wishes to see and portray.

So each time I carried, it was because there was purpose, because there was reason.

And so, that’s where it’s going for me.

What advantage does Open Carry give (me)?

And the conclusion I’m coming to is: none.

Now, that’s a blanket statement, made for some poetic impact. In reality, it’s “almost none”.

When Karl gave his presentation on Open Carry, he listed the following advantages:

  • Faster access to your pistol
  • Potential deterrent
  • Easier to carry a larger pistol
  • More comfortable in warmer weather
  • “Normalization” of right to keep and bear arms

As blanket statements go, they are advantages. But at least for me? I don’t find them to be advantages. (and for the record, Karl’s pretty much in the same boat as I am — you had to view his PowerPoint slide within the context of his presentation).

Faster access to your pistol. Yes, technically an open carry draw is faster than a concealed carry draw. If concealed carry was faster, then the fastest competition pistol shooters in the world would be shooting from concealment – but they don’t; they all use open carry holsters. There’s no clothing to get out of the way, to foul the draw, to slow things down. But on the flip side, if you’re openly carrying you should be carrying in a retention holster, and having to deactivate that retention mechanism will cost you time. The more retention mechanisms to deactivate, the slower things get. And believe me, you can fail to deactivate the mechanism and totally foul your draw. So while certainly an open carry draw is faster than a concealed draw, a retention draw is going to be slower than an open draw. Advantage lost.

FWIW for me, my retention draw is slower than my concealed draw, from a level-2 Safariland ALS holster. I’m sure I could get faster in time, but my thumb is going to hate me. But even tho I am can get faster, it’s still going to be slower.

Potential Deterrent. Maybe. I covered this before. There are stories of crime being deterred, but there are also stories of open carriers being attacked for their gun — flat out inviting crime. So does the potential for deterrence provide a compelling enough advantage to me? Not really. I think it’s more of an advantage to leave ’em wondering and let my gun be a surprise, not an invitation.

Easier to carry a larger pistol. This is certainly a fair point to reason. It’s easier to carry outside the waistband than inside, and when you don’t have to consider the need to hide bumps and bulges under clothing, that matters too. Granted, while some Texas residents were always concerned about getting in trouble for printing or concealment issues, it was never a legal problem. And certainly now, it’s even less of a legal problem. Still, strictly speaking, open carry can permit the carry of a larger gun. Thing is, I carry a full-sized S&W M&P9 on my hip, inside my waistband, every day for the past many years. Works out just fine. But I know this doesn’t work for everyone because body shapes and styles are different. And interestingly? I find it more of a pain to carry in my Safariland 7377 ALS because it sits the gun out so far from my body, it balances weird, and my arm keeps banging into it all day. As well, because it doesn’t hug my body, it’s this big lump of steel sitting in an awkward place, and no, sitting in a desk chair all day just is not as comfortable. So, I’ll say to this point, it’s a personal issue, but for me, it’s not any advantage.

More comfortable in warmer weather. Hard to call since OC went legal in Texas in the coldest month of the year. 😉  But for sure, not having the gun pressed up against your body will probably be nice when it comes to sweating. Thing is, clothing choices start to matter more here too, and the clothing choices necessitated by OC may negate any summer advantages. However… I was joking with a friend that OC requires you to tuck in your shirt… unless you had no shirt, or even better – a belly shirt. Please, no, don’t do this. 🙂

“Normalization”. This is a political matter, not a practical one. While I certainly involve myself in gun rights matters and politics, I don’t carry a gun for political reasons. I might carry from time to time because of this or some other similar reason (e.g. the two times I’ve OC’d so far; not political, but for a reason other than practical, self-defense), but as for offering me some sort of advantage, there is none.

Other reasons. Having to put myself in a position of a responsible open carrier, I had to think about some things and make some changes that I didn’t like.

For example, I have to tuck in my shirt. I don’t like tucking in my shirts, because of body shape, comfort, preference, and so on.

But another important reason for an untucked shirt? I conceal a lot more than a gun. I wear a lot of things on my belt, and if my shirt is tucked in, I cannot conceal them. I lose a lot of useful tools, or I have to cram them into my pockets (and I may not be wearing pants that can support that extra load; and it’s uncomfortable). This is a loss of functionality for me, and that’s certainly not an advantage.

Another is I don’t need the attention. While at the conference I spent some time just walking around the Cabela’s. Now if any place should be friendly to OC it’d be such a store with such a clientele, and for the most part there it was a mundane issue. But for sure I saw a few looks, heard a few passing comments (nothing bad, just evident people noticed because Joe commented on it to Fred as they walked by), but otherwise uneventful. But even that small bit of attention wasn’t something I wanted. I prefer to keep to myself, to go about my business, and frankly drawing attention to myself just gets in the way and wastes my time. My time is precious, and if I’m going to spend it on OC-topics then I want it to be because I chose to engage in it, not because someone else drew me into it and interrupts my day.

And now with the proliferation of 30.07 signs, that’s certainly going to be an interruption of my day to have to weave in and out of contending with that. But if I’m just always concealed, I can just go about my business and have one less hassle to deal with.

Are there reasons to openly carry? Certainly. There can be times when it will be an advantage to do so. And I am thankful that, as a law-abiding citizen, I am enabled with options. In general, for me, open carry causes me more hassle than gain, from a practical, every-day standpoint. I may do it from time to time, and I appreciate that I can. But in general?

I’m going back to untucking my shirt.