On Open Carry (With a Personal Anecdote)

I apologize for yet another gap in service. I have had a few articles in mind, but I decided to hold off for a few due to some recent events, as I prefer to educate rather than alienate.

The topic I am going to cover will be what I believe is my first political opinion brazenly stated on this blog. Open Carry: not a big fan. There. I said it. Cat is out of the bag. It can’t be put back in. Sally forth!

The reason is simple, and relatively agreeable, so I am playing it safe with this political op-ed of mine. I am not a fan of Open Carry as a practice for two reasons. The first and foremost reason is that you get stupidity like this:

That picture was taken at a Smash Burger, reportedly in Texas, during one of the recent Open Carry demonstrations. There are so many things I take offense to in this picture, but we will start with what I consider the most aggravating from a safety/security standpoint: That is five unsecured firearms. Sure that guy is sitting right next to them, but would he be fast enough if criminal ran up from behind, grabbed one and started blasting away? Or what about a curious child pulling one of the rifles over the booth? Secure your stuff guy.

Secondly: Educate rather than alienate. There is, believe it or not, a more proper way to accomplish an Open Carry demonstration. Carry a smaller gun, a handgun, in a secured fashion, and just be a normal person. If someone asks you about it, politely and calmly explain your intentions. A calm, courteous discourse beats panic inducing imagery every time. You cannot educate someone on a topic if you’re standing in burger joint loaded up like a SWAT team. SWAT teams are not for calm discourse, thus not for educating.

When I was living in Colorado, where Open Carry is allowed by law, I used to see people Openly Carrying Firearms all the time. I know it probably happened, but I never personally witnessed someone carrying anything bulkier than a Desert Eagle, and the vast majority of the Open Carriers I saw were just going about their day, but with an openly carried firearm. The guy carrying the Desert Eagle, coincidentally (or perhaps not) was one of the few I ever saw acting like a jackass.

The second reason I am not a fan of Open Carry is a matter of strategy. If you are carrying a firearm, as I do, to potentially protect yourself and others from a violent crime unfolding at a moments notice, carrying your firearm openly could very well make you a target. I understand the concept that it probably will deter a villain if they see the gun, but what if you are not paying attention, and they think “Sweet, pop this idiot and now I have two guns“?

And in terms of the Educate rather than alienate perspective, many people are still going to be uncomfortable with a person just waltzing into the Jiffy-Lube with a pistol strapped to their hip, even if the person is polite and the firearm is properly secured. I believe that the venue for furthering understanding of firearms and the firearm culture is best attained in a safe, friendly atmosphere. A safe atmosphere cannot be attained when one member of the discourse has only seen firearms through grisly evening news, and the other member refuses to at least put the gun away for a little while. How hard is it, really, to get a permit and stow the piece under your jacket? (Very hard if you insist on carrying a rifle, actually.)

In Texas, there has been a lot of buzz about the impending legalization of Open Carry, and to be honest, I do not get it. You still have to get a permit, so seriously why not just tuck it into your freaking pants? I get that I am in Texas, and this is good because Texas, but if the process is the same, why not conceal the handgun, rather than cause a commotion every time you walk into the Dairy Queen? I have seen many people on forums or Facebook posting about how excited they are for Open Carry in Texas so that they can finally go buy that 1911 .45 and just walk around with it. I do that nearly daily already. I just do not show anyone, and thus have not been asked to leave any restaurants or places of business for alarming the patrons.

To perhaps explain part of why I hold this opinion, let me give you a personal anecdote, as promised in the title. A few months ago I was in Alabama for an educational trip. I have a Concealed Carry Permit that is valid quite a few states, and Alabama is one of them, so I brought a concealed handgun with me on my trip. A few days into my stay in Alabama, I realized that I needed an oil change, so I went down to the hotel front desk and ask the attendant where she would recommend.

The font desk attendant gave me an address to a mechanic she said she used all the time, that they were fair and worked quickly. I thank her, got in my truck, punched the address into my GPS, and drove off.

I drove for maybe fifteen minutes, jamming out the whole time, and arrived at a Firestone in what was, decidedly not the greatest part of town. However, the parking and the garage was empty, so what the heck, it will be fast. I parked, told the manager (with the exact same last name as the hotel front desk attendant) what I needed, and settled in to wait.

Darkness had fallen about an hour before I got there, so there wasn’t much to look at besides the TV, and I ended up chatting with the manager while I waited. After about a half hour, the manager said they were finishing up my truck. While the manager went back onto the shop floor to get my keys, I went to the water cooler to get a drink.

With my back to the door I heard the door chime and turned to see a tall, scrawny man dressed in baggy sweats and a baggy sweatshirt enter the store. While this alone is not reason to be alarmed, the man had one of his hands up under his shirt, like he was hiding something, and looked agitated that nobody was at the front desk to greet him.

As a sense of uneasiness hit me, I positioned myself so that my right hip was partially obscured by the water cooler with my hand resting on my belt line. The manager walked in within maybe a minute of the sketchy man, called over to me to tell me that my truck was ready. The manager kept looking nervously over at the sketchy newcomer, and I just stood there for a moment. “I’m in no hurry,” I said, “He can go first,” gesturing to Mr. Sketch with a nod.

“Nah man,” Sketchy McSketcherson replied, sketchily, “you go ahead.”

“I insist,” I calmly urged, locking eyes for a brief moment.

So he went first, and said he needed to make an appointment for his car, but that “he didn’t know when he could do it cause he didn’t have it yet.” And then he took a furtively glance around and left the store, all while never having removed his hand from under his shirt.

So, assuming Sketchy McSketcherson came with the intent to rob the Firestone, how could that have played out differently had I been open, rather than concealed carrying? Two ways really. The first is that since he was dissuaded by a firm but polite insistence on his place in line that he would have seen the openly carried firearm and been even more firmly dissuaded by its mere presence, in which case I have no story to tell you because Mr. Sketchy probably would not have even come through the door.

The second way is that he sees my gun, sees that I am not paying attention, waltzes through the door, shoots me in the back, takes my pistol and robs the place, possibly killing more people in the process. In this instance I have no story to tell because I met a terrible, avoidable end.

That, in a nutshell, is why I choose to conceal rather than openly carry a firearm, even when the law says I may carry openly.

Whether you agree or disagree with me, I encourage a polite discourse in the comments below. Remember, educate rather than alienate.

-Spencer

P.S- Sorry mom for going to bad parts of towns I do not know very well.