Yet another discussion on open carry vs concealed or don’t be a jackass

I know… I know… every time you turn around, you see the people bickering about whether you should open carry or concealed carry, but I rarely see one argument for open carry… normalization of guns in the public eye.

A brief background on myself: at various points in my life, I’ve been associated with goths (before, during, and after the Columbine shooting… and yes, I have a black trench coat), scifi con geeks (you’d be amazed at the crap scifi con goers have gone through), white hat (ok, maybe grey hat) hackers, LARPers, those weirdos that dress up for ren fair, and probable a few other sub-cultures that the main stream has looked down upon/vilified at one point or another.  Sure, a few of these groups just have to put up with being made fun of, but others have had the cops called on them because they looked funny or were “obviously up to no good.”  Heck, there have been times that being a goth meant that some folks were trying to figure out ways to force psych evals onto you.

One thing that all of these groups have learned is that it’s best when people around you decide that what you’re doing is within the realm of “normal” and “safe” to them.  This won’t happen with gun owners that only carry concealed.  Sure, you blend in with everyone else, and no one notices you, but that also means that no one sees you as a responsible gun owner.  We have to remember that there’s a lot of folks that get the entirety of their knowledge from TV.  You know, that place that makes it sound like all guns must be registered for our safety, and anyone wandering around a store with a gun tucked away is automatically either a bad guy or a cop.

The only other way they find out is from us.  There are folks that take that to mean that they should wander the streets trying to cause a scene and then scream that they don’t have to ID themselves to the cops because they’ve done nothing wrong, or that the cop doesn’t have reason to inspect his semi-auto that looks a hell of a lot like a full auto that folks commonly see in action movies or that SWAT typically carries.  Yes.  These people may be technically right, but they’re also, to use a technical term, jackasses.  Being a jackass means that even when you’re right, you still lose.  Maybe not right then, but you just gave credence to the belief that gun carriers are either up to no good or jackasses with something to prove.

Naienko was someone that believed this when I first met her.  She wasn’t against gun ownership, but she saw guns as dangerous items that need to be respected at all times.  Which, to her, included keeping them locked in a safe until you planned on using them.  The only people she knew that carried guns were people that she felt shouldn’t own them.  They were the loud brash types that carried one because it made them feel more manly etc.

Then she started hanging around Wizard and I.  While I didn’t carry a gun(and don’t all the time now), I have carried multiple knives for a long time.  Including at least one that would be suitable for down and dirty fighting.  Wizard has pretty much carried a pistol on him since the day he got his permit.  He often carries a fairly full sized pistol on his hip which, even though he uses a IWB holster, is visible when he’s hanging out and relaxing.  That right there has changed her mind about people carrying guns.  Not right away, but it went from “I don’t like it because these are the types that carry,” to “well, you and Wizard are good, but I don’t know about the rest,” to finally “oh, ok… there are cool people that carry and jackasses, just like any other group of people,” as the number of known non-jackasses that carried increased.

This is how you change people’s minds.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not advocating that everyone carry OC and CC is horrible.  If that’s the way you’re comfortable in carrying, good for you, that’s fine.  I’ve gone the CC route for one reason or another in the past, and I will again.  If you’re comfortable with OC’ing, taht’s great too.  I’ve gone that route for one reason or another as well, and will again.  What I am saying is that OC has its advantages, and one place that it does is long term and you might never notice.  If everyone CC’d, then no minds will be changed.  OC’ing creates opportunities to do so.

Just remember, if you decide to open carry, don’t be a jackass.  I’m not saying you have to go to extremes and let people trample you, but be on your best behavior.  It might just influence the right person the next time a gun rights bill comes up.