Open Carry Oversensitivity

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  • JoeLiberty

    Well-Known Member
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    Oct 1, 2014
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    United States
    This was an enjoyable and informative converation and I appreciate everyone's input. Give me a few weeks to get over the culture shock :D

    Good luck.
    Random thoughts in no particular order:
    I think people should open carry, but I'm not going to. Too many stories of people being targeted and having their gun stolen.
    The crimes that are deterred don't become stories I guess, but it is therefore impossible to assign any value to it.
    It is rare in NO, and may irk some people. Other parts of the "sportsman's paradise" should be fine.
    Wear a retention-style holster that is not a SERPA. Please spend more than $30 on the device that retains your handgun for Pete's sake.
    Again, good luck. And Welcome!
     

    dantheman

    I despise ARFCOM
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    Jan 9, 2008
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    Here's another hidden potential disadvantage to open carry. You have to be careful disagreeing with someone, even if you are in the right.

    Here's a made up example. You go to a store and buy something. When you get home and open it, you realize it's defective somehow. On the following day you go back to the store and the manager tells you all sales are final, even though there is no sign posted. (That is a civil issue, outside the normal scope of law enforcement.) You ask about the lack of sign. The manager gives in and credits your credit card. You leave. The manager then calls the cops and tells them he felt threatened because you had a gun and you were demanding a refund.

    Sounds farfetched? Here's a real world example. A police sergeant was in charge of organizing some officers for an off-duty detail. A while after the event, the officers had still not been paid what the company had agreed to pay them. The sergeant goes to the company to ask about the delay. He tells the company the officers worked what they were supposed to work and they deserve to get paid what they were supposed to get paid. The company pays the officers. The company then calls Internal Affairs and makes a complaint. Internal Affairs then begins an investigation as to whether or not the sergeant was guilty of armed robbery. Armed robber is defined as "the taking of anything of value belonging to another from the person of another or that is in the immediate control of another, by use of force or intimidation, while armed with a dangerous weapon." The guy at the company reported he only paid the officers at that time because he felt intimidated.
    Except in both cases there is no evidence to support either accusation and I highly doubt any Prosecutor would go that far out on a limb to take a case like that to court .
     

    thperez1972

    ESSAYONS
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    Except in both cases there is no evidence to support either accusation and I highly doubt any Prosecutor would go that far out on a limb to take a case like that to court .

    There is evidence. There’s the sworn statement from your accuser. That may not be enough for a prosecutor to pick up the charges but that may be enough for a visit from the police and maybe an appearance in front of a judge or, in the worst case, a warrant. A number of businesses have video. The police will see you walk in with a gun on your hip and will see you arguing with the employee. That will back up the employee’s story. It may not get picked up by the DA but that doesn’t mean there won’t be an investigation and possibly a summons or an arrest.


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    Fred_G

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    The disadvantage to open carry is you will be the first target for the BG.
    The real advantage is carrying concealed.

    I carry concealed most of the time, but have always wondered if there is examples of open carry people being targeted by a bad guy. Just playing devil's advocate.
     

    SMR412

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    May 30, 2014
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    P-ville
    I OC regularly in the Gonzales, Prairieville and South B.R. area and have done so for a while.
    Have yet to have a negative interaction.
    I do so as discreetly as possible, black gun, black retention holster (NOT serpa) and typically with a black shirt.
    It goes mostly unnoticed. I have been in the presence of LEOs and while they DO take notice I just carry about my business and if I am close enough to them I will politely ask how they are doing.
    That said, there are places I feel OC isn't the best choice and conduct myself accordingly.
    I understand I am in the minority, I don't do it to make a statement or attract attention, I'm very much an introvert.
    Freedom is scary.
     
    Last edited:

    wcweir3

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    Apr 26, 2015
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    Gonzales, LA
    I OC regularly in the Gonzales, Prairieville and South B.R. area and have done so for a while.
    Have yet to have a negative interaction.
    I do so as discreetly as possible, black gun/holster typically with a black shirt.
    It goes mostly unnoticed. I have been in the presence of LEOs and while they DO take notice I just carry about my business and if I am close enough to them I will politely ask how they are doing.
    That said, there are places I feel OC isn't the best choice and conduct myself accordingly.
    Freedom is scary.

    I do the same but I do carry in a double retention holster. CCW in LA is to much trouble I had CC in Alabama $25.00 and a back ground check I was good fro 1 year also was done in any county sheriff's office in and out is about 10 minutes.
    Wingate
     

    Robbie

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    Nov 8, 2011
    2,210
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    Elmwood, LA 70123
    So... Your part of the band Green Day?


    I OC regularly in the Gonzales, Prairieville and South B.R. area and have done so for a while.
    Have yet to have a negative interaction.
    I do so as discreetly as possible, black gun, black retention holster (NOT serpa) and typically with a black shirt.
    It goes mostly unnoticed. I have been in the presence of LEOs and while they DO take notice I just carry about my business and if I am close enough to them I will politely ask how they are doing.
    That said, there are places I feel OC isn't the best choice and conduct myself accordingly.
    I understand I am in the minority, I don't do it to make a statement or attract attention, I'm very much an introvert.
    Freedom is scary.
     

    thperez1972

    ESSAYONS
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    Dec 28, 2015
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    I carry concealed most of the time, but have always wondered if there is examples of open carry people being targeted by a bad guy. Just playing devil's advocate.

    I've heard 2 or 3 calls of people open carrying in New Orleans at night while walking by themselves when some people ran up from behind and hit them with something. They knocked the guys to the ground and either jumped on them or held a gun to them and robbed them. The victims were too surprised and stunned after getting hit by something. The robbers stole the victims' weapons. Although I can't say they were targeted because they were open carrying. It's likely they were targets of opportunity due to time/place/being alone and just happened to be open carrying.
     

    Brawny

    lol
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    9   0   0
    Sep 3, 2015
    879
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    Anderson, SC
    This answer just won the internet. Anyone want to organize a gunburger group?

    If n4sir is cooking I'm in.

    This was an enjoyable and informative converation and I appreciate everyone's input. Give me a few weeks to get over the culture shock :D

    As you can see from the responses it's primarily a cultural thing. LA has not reached the level of comfort that AZ has with OC.
     

    LACamper

    oldbie
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    Jun 3, 2007
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    Metairie, LA
    My real problem with OC is that many of them (certainly it seems that way online) are there for the attention and to cause problems for the police. They seem to want the police to be called so they can make a video of an uninformed officer. Worse yet are the ones fishing for a lawsuit for an improper arrest (What was that guy's name in Gonzales? the one that used the money to buy a new harley? Michael?).
     

    nolaradio

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    Sep 8, 2012
    2,213
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    Parts unknown
    I OC regularly in the Gonzales, Prairieville and South B.R. area and have done so for a while.
    Have yet to have a negative interaction.
    I do so as discreetly as possible, black gun, black retention holster (NOT serpa) and typically with a black shirt.
    It goes mostly unnoticed.

    Which holster is that, if I may ask?
     

    dantheman

    I despise ARFCOM
    Premium Member
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    65   0   0
    Jan 9, 2008
    7,440
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    City of Central
    There is evidence. There’s the sworn statement from your accuser. That may not be enough for a prosecutor to pick up the charges but that may be enough for a visit from the police and maybe an appearance in front of a judge or, in the worst case, a warrant. A number of businesses have video. The police will see you walk in with a gun on your hip and will see you arguing with the employee. That will back up the employee’s story. It may not get picked up by the DA but that doesn’t mean there won’t be an investigation and possibly a summons or an arrest.


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    A summons or an arrest ? Wow ...
     

    oleheat

    Professional Amateur
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    May 18, 2009
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    Open carry being legal is a good thing. You just have to use your head and realize the "there's a time and place for everything" rule applies to it.

    As others have said- don't be an attention magnet; be the guy who blends in- not stands out. Just my humble .02- free of charge. :D
     

    Blue Diamond

    sportsman
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    10   0   0
    Apr 12, 2014
    944
    16
    Metairie, La.
    Open carry being legal is a good thing. You just have to use your head and realize the "there's a time and place for everything" rule applies to it.

    As others have said- don't be an attention magnet; be the guy who blends in- not stands out. Just my humble .02- free of charge. :D

    You could wind up like Alton Sterling.
     

    cwolff09

    Member
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    0   0   0
    Sep 11, 2017
    14
    1
    New Orleans, LA
    If n4sir is cooking I'm in.

    As you can see from the responses it's primarily a cultural thing. LA has not reached the level of comfort that AZ has with OC.

    The concept behind gunburger was to support restaurants and businesses that are open-carry friendly. We met every couple of weeks for dinner at a participating establishment, packed the house with 50 hungry lead-heads and kept a lot of restaurants in business. After we had 40-50 restaurants participating we were very welcome anywhere.

    Everyone dressed business casual and were well behaved which didn't hurt either.
     
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