Please to explain for the hard of understanding...

[BigV]

Right.

The times, the standards of where I live here and now do not include very many open carries. Shock, rattle? *shrug*, it depends on the person, on the circumstances. But it's certainly the case that they attract attention, in my current locale. Back in the day, ... that was back in the day.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Yes shock and rattle, so much so you immediately sort the person into perp or attention whore, because they couldn't possibly have a legitimate reason to do it.

[footfootfoot]

Both Glatt and V are city folks. Part of my everyday reality is farm vehicles running up and down main street and the smell of manure in the air. A person with a gun on their hip wouldn't be that out of place apart from NYS doesn't have open carry, but 5 miles away in Vermont, you can uy a handgun with a driver's license.

It's VERY rural here.

[Aliantha]

I know I'm not a US citizen and things are different here, but I was raised in a family where rural life was pretty entrenched. My father owned a number of guns, as did/do a number of other relatives. I have learned to fire and care for pretty much all of them and have been taught to have respect for them. I don't fear guns is what I'm trying to demonstrate.

Even if the laws here in Australia were similar to those in the US in that a majority of people owned firearms, I still would think it strange for someone to feel the need to be armed when they go to the shops to get milk and bread. Yes I have been part of communities where guns are used almost daily as a means to hunt food for animals and as protection from things like deadly snakes etc, so yes, I've travelled in vehicles where there's a gun behind the seat at all times, and everyone knows where it is, and how to use it in case of emergency. Usually a shot gun with a range of ammunition to suit the purpose.

I would still think it was odd if someone took that gun out of the truck and felt the need to walk down the street with it.

[BigV]

Http://mobile.reuters.com/article/id...40805?irpc=932

What do think about this guy? He fits my definition of attention whore.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by BigV

Http://mobile.reuters.com/article/id...40805?irpc=932

What do think about this guy? He fits my definition of attention whore.

V,

People have been known to get so wrapped up in a cause that they become over zealous and behave inappropriately, sometimes even criminally. When that happens the person both distracts and detracts from the cause they advocate. In this case, it seems more likely that he was trying to draw attention to his cause when his untoward behavior, secondary to poor judgment, made him the focus of attention. I'm inclined to call it an affective behavioral disorder; or, say he's an idiot (as Aliantha implied) rather than simply call it attention whoring. There are too many other ways of gaining just as much attention without the toll this incident will take on that person's future.

There are attention whores who use firearms as a means to that end to be sure; but, not everyone who would open carry is one of them. There are valid reasons for open carry and there are misguided reasons that people have for open carry. Neither automatically constitutes attention whoring. Look at it this way: most of the people who would open carry believe it would be fine for everyone to open carry in which case they would just blend into the crowd, without distinction. It's only because they're in the minority that they're getting the attention and it's often unwanted attention. Just don't make the mistake of thinking you can get them to abandon their principles by labeling them attention whores because of it. That makes you no better than the idiot who showed up at the airport with a rifle.

[Aliantha]

See, to my mind, he just fits the definition of idiot. Mostly because airports are tricky places as far as security goes in the first place. Why would you deliberately do something like that.

Yeah yeah, I read the article about why HE says he did it. That doesn't mean his reasoning is sound.

[Pamela]

Okay, perhaps I will inject my opinion here.

I am pro-gun, just to get that out of the way. Concealed or open.

A gun is a tool, a particularly deadly one, yes. But still a tool. I have guns. I have ever since it was legal for me to own them. I am a careful, conscientious (sp?) user. I cannot currently carry concealed due to the fact that my PA permit expired and I am unable to jump through Texas' hoops due to my job. I also camp.

Ever had a boar charge at you? I have. Nasty, brutish animals they are. For me to draw a handgun from concealment takes approx. 1.2 seconds. From my hip, approx. .5 seconds.

When a dangerous animal is charging you at 35 mph (their approximate running speed), they can cover a considerable distance in .7 seconds. In brush, you cannot see them until they brek concealment, roughly ten feet from you. Someone who is good at math, tell me how long it takes for an angry boar to go ten feet while I have to see it, react and draw, aim and fire. That 3/4 second suddenly becomes very long indeed. Enough to get you gored badly.

When out camping in the brush, I carry openly, including trips for food and other supplies. No one blinks here. If I were to try to conceal a large handgun in Texas heat, I would be required to completely cover the weapon, necessitating a cover garment such as a jacket or the classic photog's vest. Not a very smart thing to wear in 100+ heat. And likens one to carrying a sign reading "concealed gun here!"

Most of the discussion so far has been predicated upon the need/desire to shoot PEOPLE. Not all dangerous predators have two legs. There are several here. Coyotes, boars, mountain lions, snakes and more. They won't listen to a warning or brandishing. You either shoot them or they git you. No quarter given.

The argument that open carry in some areas is a bad idea has some merit. It is, or should be, up to the individual to exercise good judgement in choosing open or concealed. Unfortunately, not everyone chooses wisely. For example, in a quiet suburb, running to the 7-11 for a soda and bread is probably not a place to carry the old .45 openly. Going to visit grandma in North Philly for supper might be a better place to have it readily accessible. But then again, bringing the family to Luby's for supper sounds like a pretty safe thing and leave the hogleg at home, but you might be wrong. Dead wrong.

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by glatt

... Yes, it's more burdensome to get a concealed carry permit, so there are logistical reasons for doing an open carry, but the point of open carry is that all can see that you are armed. It's about being noticed. ...

Originally Posted by henry quirk

Seems to me, there are only two reasons -- if you're not law enforcement -- to openly carry a firearm.

1-You live in a place or circumstance where there is a great likelihood you'll need to self-defend.

2-You desperately want to be noticed.

To hear glatt tell it, the advantages of not having to draw a weapon from a concealed position on your body, when there's a great likelihood you'll need to self defend, does not exist. Only your second rationale exists.

Originally Posted by henry quirk

... As for concealed carry: I'm against it. If Joe wants to carry (for whatever reason) let it be openly.

To hear glatt tell it, being opposed to concealed carry as a rationale for open carry does not exist. Only your second rationale exists.

Originally Posted by glatt

... Yes, it's more burdensome to get a concealed carry permit, so there are logistical reasons for doing an open carry, but the point of open carry is that all can see that you are armed. It's about being noticed.

To hear glatt tell it, a concealed carry permit, some states in which all associated costs can equal a week's worth of groceries effectively depriving poor people of their 2nd Amendment rights, will be called just a logistical burden; so, it might as well not exist either.

Well it seems that glatt has summarily dismissed anything other than "the point of open carry is that all can see that you are armed" which now allows him to equate that solely with "It's about being noticed".

Let's not dare get into the fact that military and police open carry even when they DON'T want to be seen, that the advantages of the technique increases their chances of survival, and that civilians may want to follow suit to save themselves and their families. No no no, don't consider adversity, transparency, technique and tactics, or anything else glatt knows nothing about relative to carrying firearms. Civilians aren't supposed think about these things: they're just supposed to be ... like him ... not an attention whore!

Originally Posted by glatt

People doing open carry are attention whores.

Originally Posted by glatt

... Of course. I made a very blanket statement that is easily proven wrong with any number of examples. ...

Of course, of course.

[henry quirk]

With all due respect to glatt: poop on him.

[glatt]

*shrug*

Wedge issue will be a wedge issue.

[henry quirk]

A car in every garage, a chicken in every pot, (atomic) wedgies for any one still wearin' drawers.

[footfootfoot]

I think we are talking about the differences between inconspicuous and alarmingly conspicuous carry, both of which fall under the generous umbrella of "open."

[Pico and ME]

Question...Where or when is open carry really a necessity ? In all of my 52 years living in the Midwest (mostly Indiana), I haven't yet seen a gun being carried or used in a public setting.

[Carruthers]

Originally Posted by Pico and ME

Question...Where or when is open carry really a necessity ? In all of my 52 years living in the Midwest (mostly Indiana), I haven't yet seen a gun being carried or used in a public setting.

It's ten years (for shame!) since I was last in the US, but I have a vivid recollection of seeing a gent walking in Cody, Wyoming, with a gun on his belt on a June evening.

I have to say that I found it an 'eyebrow raising' moment.

A couple of minutes after I'd seen him, I heard gun shots and naturally feared the worst. Thankfully, it turned out that it was a gunfight reenactment which is performed six nights a week.

We're just not used to that sort of thing over here. ***

Cody, Wyoming: Daily Street Gunfights

*** Open carry, that is.

Clarification: The gent I had seen wasn't a participant in the reenactment. He was a private individual just going about his business.

Posted in a bit of a hurry. Apologies.