What are your reasons to OC?

[rooster]

I open carry for the safety of my wife and son. I carry when we go to wal-mart because we go at night. I carry to the mall because there is a high crime rate around their. Other than that I don't really go anywhere. I don't have a CC because I don't really care to spend the money and go through the hassle but if CC was legal without a permit then I would do that. Again because it would give me a better chance of protecting my family.
Here a good video [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-iCATcdK-Y"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-iCATcdK-Y[/ame]

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

How many people that OC have insured they have adequate training to employ the fire arm they carry on a regular basis. Seems like we spend a whole bunch of time around here talking about Arrows and not Indians. I would love to see MEM, under duress, draw and present that pistol he carries. The fire arm is a supplemental weapon. If your mind and body aren't up to the fight your fooling yourself.

 

[bravo3]

I do not have a reason to OC.

I have my CHP and use it everyday. The only thing even close to OC I do is to carry my 1911 OWB under a windbreaker.

I do not much feel like being hassled, and don't really wanna have to worry about it.

Seems like we spend a whole bunch of time around here talking about Arrows and not Indians.

Wait, I thought we were talking about handguns. In that case, I hardly ever open carry my bow and arrow.

 

[rooster]

How many people that OC have insured they have adequate training to employ the fire arm they carry on a regular basis. Seems like we spend a whole bunch of time around here talking about Arrows and not Indians. I would love to see MEM, under duress, draw and present that pistol he carries. The fire arm is a supplemental weapon. If your mind and body aren't up to the fight your fooling yourself.

Well, I never have been in combat, never had to shoot anyone, never had to fight for the life of my family but training is not a requirement for providing protection someone. That being said I on a personal level think the more comfortable I am with my weapon, the better I will react. This is on a personal level and goes past the basic right of protection. I know this has turned into a "should argument" and I don't really like those.

 

[James Cannon]

From what I've seen in my short time on earth, only the GOOD folks BEND. Then what happens is we BEND right over and get screwed by the very folks we tried to yield too.

I think I saw that in the Kama Sutra once.

 

[James Cannon]

Well, I never have been in combat, never had to shoot anyone, never had to fight for the life of my family but training is not a requirement for providing protection someone. That being said I on a personal level think the more comfortable I am with my weapon, the better I will react. This is on a personal level and goes past the basic right of protection. I know this has turned into a "should argument" and I don't really like those.

Training is not a requirement to provide protection. Training is a requirement to provide adequate and effective protection.

 

[Hitman]

Training is not a requirement to provide protection. Training is a requirement to provide adequate and effective protection.

Not even LEO's get to train enough to accomplish adequate and effective protection. We've all seen the accuracy stats from LEO and Civilian encounters, it's not pretty.

The folks that train hard enough to matter are light years ahead of the average daily carry civilian and most aren't paying for their ammo out of their own pockets.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

I think your crazy wrong. Shooting cans off fence post no more prepares you for defending yourself then cutting up a steak prepares your for Neuro-Surgery. If your gonna wear the Magic Talisman openly for all the world to see you damn sure better be able to use it.

 

[TomTerrific]

How many people that OC have insured they have adequate training to employ the fire arm they carry on a regular basis. Seems like we spend a whole bunch of time around here talking about Arrows and not Indians. I would love to see MEM, under duress, draw and present that pistol he carries. The fire arm is a supplemental weapon. If your mind and body aren't up to the fight your fooling yourself.

Well said, and true.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

Not even LEO's get to train enough to accomplish adequate and effective protection. We've all seen the accuracy stats from LEO and Civilian encounters, it's not pretty.

The folks that train hard enough to matter are light years ahead of the average daily carry civilian and most aren't paying for their ammo out of their own pockets.

Thats just not true man. For instance; everyone that attended the Tom Givens course last weekend received training that will make a difference. Now it is up to them to practice and maintain the level of training they received but it will absolutely make a difference.

There are people on this board with thousands of dollars worth of guns they have no idea how to employ so the paying for ammo argument is kinda thin. Im sure their are exceptions but I still think even if you can only shoot 25 rounds a week that if you do it right and maximize what your doing you can make a difference.

 

[derf]

I OC so that people think I'm cool, so that bad guys know who to shoot first, so I may be mistaken as a cop and shot by a criminal that I never saw, and to frighten the general public and cause enough scenes so that it will eventually draw enough attention to the laws and give anti-gun people the ammo they need to change the laws and make it illegal.

Not really but sometimes it seems like that is the agenda of many OCers.

 

[James Cannon]

Not even LEO's get to train enough to accomplish adequate and effective protection. We've all seen the accuracy stats from LEO and Civilian encounters, it's not pretty.

The folks that train hard enough to matter are light years ahead of the average daily carry civilian and most aren't paying for their ammo out of their own pockets.

I think you don't give enough credit to LEOs.

I think you over-estimate what it takes to get decent training. Have you had any formal training?

 

[olivs260]

Once when I was getting out the car, I think my shirt rode up and showed the butt of my M&P for a minute... does that count?

I'm of the school of thought that open carrying is liable to make me the first target for the bad guy. There are basically two different situations where I may have to defend myself while in public- either from a targeted attack like a mugging, or from a stickup at McDonald's. OC'ing might deter the mugging, but by the time the bad guy walks into mickey d's, he's past the point of reconsidering, and he will take me out first as I pose the greatest threat.

 

[oleheat]

I must say, I'm not sure I'd use the "not enough training" angle, either......That almost smacks of the "if you have a gun in your home you are 100 (paraphrasing) times more likely to injure yourself or a loved one" schtick that the antis are still pathetically clinging to, IMHO.

At the very least, it's somewhat presumptuous....

Yes, you should know how to handle your weapon. But that kind of goes for all guns- and all methods of carry.

 

[derf]

Training is not a requirement to provide protection. Training is a requirement to provide adequate and effective protection.

You sound like a "trainer".

Situational awareness and conflict resolution are "training" that are not required, but might be more important than other forms of "training".

Good, well trained, smart cops get shot all the time. Their uniform, complete with OC holster, makes them targets.
Just something to think about.

I do OC on occasion, though, but rarely.

 

[Vanilla Gorilla]

I agree with that Derf.

 

[James Cannon]

Cops get shot because they are required to enter into the fray. They don't -get- to run away. THAT is why they get shot. Because they chose to take up a badge and get in the way of bad guys so that the average civillian doesn't have to. Yes they are made a target, but I'm pretty sure the majority of murdered officers are probably murdered because they stayed in the fight rather than because they were sniped or ambushed.

I sound like a trainer?

****, man, I went to one class (not counting my CHP class)

Opened my eyes, that's for sure. A decent class costs less than a month's worth of some people's ammo expense!

and I 100% agree that conflict resolution is a vital skill. I also think that NON-firearm combat training is important. You're not always going to be able to get your gun out, or be in a safe situation to draw, etc. Hand to hand fighting is also a likely skill required. I never said you should -only- get firearms training.

I said if you think you're going to carry a gun with the thought that you will need to employ it for the defense of yourself or your loved ones, that you are KIDDING yourself if you don't take advantage of the wide array of training choices available. I don't get why so many people are adverse to the idea of a simple class.

 

[biggin215]

LEO's that aren't prepared are not prepared by choice. Every department has a range. Anyone in the US can seek out and find adequate firearms training with very little effort.

The vast majority of the students at Givens - I think 17 or 18 out of 21 - paid for their own ammo and tuition. It cost less than $500.

I'd wager that *every single first time student there* would tell you that you are better off spending the $500 on education and ammo than yet another gun.

Just MHO.

Yeah I will +1 to that. My money was much better spent on that training than some SBR upper that I was actually saving up for. I am also saving up for Tiger's class in April/May.


I don't understand why you would argue against training. Would you want to fly in a plane flown by a self taught pilot on a flight simulator game? Before taking this class, I thought I could deploy my sidearm quickly and effectively against a bad guy... now I know I can and I can do it faster and more accurately than 95% of the people out there with guns.

You are kidding yourself if you think training is worthless and doesn't engrain good habits and develop instinctive motions. The key to training is being able to do what you have trained to do without THINKING about it. The thinking part is what gets people shot. If you had trained enough so that the side-step and draw were complete instinct then you have already beat the bad guy in two phases of a defensive encounter. If you have practiced at all (using proper technique and fundamentals that your average bg has never heard of) you just won the fight.

There is no amount of ammo and standing there shooting at paper targets that amounts to a day's worth of formal training. That's not my opinion, that's a fact.

 

[biggin215]

Let me make it clear that I do not think training with your gun is the end all. There are scenarios where you will have to use your hands first or just train yourself to be aware enough to avoid an incident all together.

Still, when you carry a gun you need to realize that you might have to use it. Train properly to use it effectively in many different scenarios.

 

[LSUrifle]

the only reason i open carry is because im not old enough to legally conceal. next year when i turn 21 and get my permit it will b a completely different story tho