Reply #167: First you must note that I live in a state where legal concealed carry is very common ...

[spin]

and open carry by a civilian in public illegal.

When I was a child growing up in Northeastern Ohio, I remember seeing an older fellow walking down Main Street in Ashtabula, Ohio with two Pearl handled revolvers on a gun belt. I asked my father why he was carrying such weapons and he replied, "It's legal and he is just a harmless old codger."

The one time I did see a person open carrying a firearm in Florida was in 1985 when Hurricane Elena was approaching the Tampa Bay area. My wife and I were in a grocery store stocking up on supplies when I noticed an individual in a camouflage outfit strutting around with a holstered Colt .45 auto on his belt. Another customer said that he was a member of a militia group. He struck me as somewhat of an asshole with an attitude as he was serving no purpose in the situation and he looked as foolish as all the people who were filling up their carts with frozen food. My wife and I picked up our canned goods, water and beer and left the store. The place was a madhouse.

Needless to say, this individual left me with a bad impression.

Yet I was reconsidering open carry last night due to our posts and after I came across an article that the Florida open carry movement was sponsoring a march in Venice Florida.

Gun owners plan march in southwest Florida
Posted on Saturday, 07.23.11

VENICE, Fla. -- Gun owners in the southwest Florida city of Venice are marching for what they say should be their right to bear arms in public.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that as many as 100 people are planning to march in Venice Saturday morning displaying their weapons to protest Florida's "open carry" law, which has prohibited the unauthorized display of firearms in public since 1987.

The marchers will be toting fishing gear to exploit a caveat in the Florida law that allows for the public display of firearms for people who are hunting, fishing or camping, or traveling to and from those activities.

The activists say they want to educate uninformed gun owners about their Second Amendment rights in Florida, one of only seven U.S. states to ban "open carry" of weapons.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/07/23/2327271/gun-owners-plan-march-in-southwest.html#ixzz1T2boDnIr

Personally I can't come up with a lot of reasons for why I would want to carry openly except for the fact that it would enable me to carry a fairly large firearm in a belt holster without having to worry about wearing a covering garment such as a vest or a jacket. This could have advantages when the temperature is in the high 90s and the humidity is oppressive.

The drawbacks that I can see are:

1) Carrying openly could make me a target.

Some fool might decide that he can grab my firearm. Therefore, I would have to get a good retention holster and practice with it until I was very proficient. It is also possible that if I was in a store that was being robbed, I might be shot because the bad guy sees my firearm and views me as a threat.

2) Open carry removes my advantage of surprise.

I remember one time at 11 pm when I was in a the liquor store portion of a Walgreens Drug Store (buying cigars) when I noticed two younger gentlemen behaving in a suspicious manner. One was running around the aisles in an erratic manner and as the other approached the counter and appeared nervous, He asked me if I would like to go before him and I politely refused and said that I was in no hurry. I placed my right hand in my front pant pocket on my S&W snub nosed revolver and backed off several feet near an aisle and watched.

The guy at the counter fumbled around and announced that he had forgot his wallet. He walked out to his car and returned several minutes later and bought his items and both men left. I talked to the clerk for a few minutes, bought my cigars and headed off to work. I was about 10 minutes late but since I was the shift supervisor that was no problem.

I have no proof that the two guys intended to rob the store, but they did set off my internal alarm system and that is extremely unusual.

If the guy would have pulled a weapon, I most likely would have simply observed unless the situation looked like it might result in violence. If I had to draw my weapon, I would have been able to do so faster than if I had it in a holster on my belt as it was already in my hand. I was also in a position to move quickly to cover.

3) In a state like Florida where open carry is illegal, if it is legalized in the future it will still be fairly unusual and could attract negative attention. I personally prefer to be viewed as a polite harmless older man with a bad limp than an old fart with a gun.

However, in the area of Florida where I live, it is not unusual to see a person with a hunting knife on their belt. I usually carry a fairly large fixed blade and only one time in the last five years have I noticed anyone who seemed to be interested in the fact that I had one on my side. I suspect he was more interested in who was the manufacturer of the knife than the fact that I had it with me. I was carrying a Bark River Classic Lite hunter with a 4" blade.



While carrying such a knife where I live is not unusual, it may attract more negative attention in a larger urban area such as Tampa. If I journey into such areas, I carry a folding pocket knife such as a Benchmade 710.



Or I carry a smaller less noticeable fixed blade such as the Bark River Bravo Necker II with a 3.5" blade in a Kydex sheath on my belt.



My thoughts, after consideration, is that is it somewhat hypocritical of me to suggest that those who carry firearms openly, in areas where it is common, intimidate others. After all, I commonly open carry a knife which I consider merely a tool but others may view as a dangerous weapon.

To the best of my knowledge, my knives have have intimidated anyone and I doubt that the firearms you openly carry have either.