Open Carry Of Firearms: Yea Or Nay?

Do you think that open carry of firearms would be a good or bad thing?

Would armed citizens have been able to reduce the death toll at Columbine? The Killeen Texas Luby's cafeteria massacre? The Virginia Tech shooting? Would armed citizens make crooks think twice about mugging someone?

Would a plethora of firearms result in more road rage shootings? Impulse shootings when tempers flair? Innocent bystanders caught in crossfires? "Friendly Fire" incidents as one armed citizen mistakes the guy shooting the bad guy FOR the bad guy?

Not putting out my thoughts, just wanted to see what y'all would think on about a breakroom discussion we had at work today.

Yea.

Keep in mind that it is legal right now to open carry.

umm..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_carry_in_the_United_States

I have my license to carry a concealed firearm wherever i go, even in school.
I do a refresher course at our local Community College every year. Speaking about that i need to sign up for the spring semester lol.

In the 7 years i have had it, i have only pulled it once 3 times, all with probable cause of course.

Ok fine where I live..it is 100% legal to open carry.

The only thing a CCW(concealed weapons permit) allows you do to is put a jacket over it so it's concealed. And lowers the Mechanically movements required to get the firearm into firing positions. Without CCW it's 3 or 4 and with CCW I think its 2.

Where I live by the book its more legal to have a firearm on the front seat of your car(because its not concealed) than to have it completely unloaded, locked in a gun safe and locked in your trunk(<--this is illegal because you are concealing it.)

If you can exclude blacks, sure, lol. Other than that, you're ***.

Most ppl think it's illegal to carry on campus or say in a bank but nope you legally can.

~Stay away from anything government owned..that will end up being a bad day.

People who don't give a damn about the law will carry and use guns anyways, personally, I'd rather be able to carry my own, legally.

It's not like when someone pulls a gun on you, you can say "can you hold on a minute, I need to go find a cop, I'm not licensed to carry my own"

I think if everyone had a gun it would make the world safer in theory. However, it would require a lot of education and very very strict laws surrounding the use. Most experts think that the next wave of terrorism will come in the form of public shootings. If everyone in the public has a gun the terrorist is going to die very quickly. However, the public needs to be sure of when it is acceptable to use a gun and when it is not. Police have different tiers of force they need to use, and it is not acceptable to bring a gun to a fist fight. I believe that the average American would be capable of these resonsibilities but I also acknowledge there will be many who are not. Sadly, we see retards killing people with inproper use of their vehicle every day. These would probably be the smartest rules of usage:

1. Guns must be carried in plain sight.

2. Guns must be surrendered at the request of an officer or they will have the authority to shoot you.

3. You may not draw your gun without justification and testimony to support that justification. If you violate this then it's life in prison.

4. If you have a record of violence you may not own a gun.

5. If you have a criminal record at all you may not own a gun.

6. Keep the 21 for hand gun permits law.

Anyone else have thoughts?

Why exclude blacks? I can see excluding felons, the "mentally challenged", and perhaps non-citizens, but not simply based on skin color.

Easy to dress as an officer yo

That's dangerous cause then you'll have people arguing that kids with ADHD can't own a gun because they'll shoot somebody by mistake.

It's not done that often, but yes there have been crimes where they dress as police.

lol,

fake cop: Give me your gun
You: ok
Fake cop: k now give me your money, too.

noty. i dont wanna get shot.

I was trying to be nice and not say "HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE." I'd rather folks who can't think coherently don't carry a weapon or drive a car, for that matter. ADHD just makes you easily distracted, not judgement impaired. You'd pull your weapon and then focus on the dog barking across the street, forgetting to shoot the guy raping your grandmother.

especially at bachelorette parties

something to keep in mind.. the majority of ppl that would do bad with firearms, are carrying them anyway! legal or not!
Whens the last time u heard of a street gang sitting around on the front steps bitching cause they cant carry leagaly... They already got em...
Their are more armed crimals out their then their are law abiding ppl.


(Sidenote: i find it ironic that as i type this the ad to the right of the text box is a firearms training institue ad...)

That's how it is now..

If you get pulled over and have a CCW you have to disclose that.
You can't pull your gun on anyone expect for the defense of yourself or family.
Back ground check.
Back ground check again.
Can't buy a handgun til your 21 anyway. (I think I can't remember.)

why even bring this up, the only thing you're suggesting excelior is to incerase the gun laws, there's no reason to throw somebody in jail for life for pulling a gun(if not used) nore is there reason to exclude all violence or for any criminal record. Also no, retards shouldn't own guns (which would include a lot of rednecks, which is funny)

<3 poupee

you obviously never heard of cookies.

Also true I can make a phone call and have a gun in my hand within 45 minutes, that's why restricting people who legally own firearms in the world today is short sided and more of a feel good measure than practical.

this doesn't even make any sense to the context of this thread.

Sorry Jet. Rednecks aren't necessarily mentally HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE. Socially, maybe! I live in Georgia and work with quite a few rednecks. They're bright enough, just kinda funny. Bless their hearts.

Oregon where I live is an ope carry state, So I take my GKT with me

In CA, open carry laws allow for unconcealed weapons but they must be unloaded. Speed loaders are allowed, and clips can be carried along with the weapons in question, which I (personally) think is a decent compromise. So long as private citizens do not lose control of their side-arms to some criminal (kind of an ironic concept, I know) things tend to work out.

Trying to second-guess intentions or reliability or state-of-mind of gun owners is quite tricky. The Fort Hood Major that shot his fellow soldiers legally bought his weapons at a gun shop in the weeks prior to the shootings, and practiced at a range quite often. One would imagine that a military base would have MPs on duty to address the shooting spree, but it was civilian police that arrived on the scene first to dispatch the shooter.

Had those military personnel had issued sidearms on them, it might have been a different situation, but again it is almost impossible (without in-depth case studies) to second-guess whether some random stranger who has legally purchased a firearm might decide to attack people. I would imagine the fact that while workplace shootings in the US have made a lot of headlines recently, the fact that it is not occurring all the time with (non-gang-related) private citizens raging gun battles against each other might be an indication there is usually a rational mind behind the legally-owned sidearm.

I didn't say all, now did I?

and you.

ah back to the fun avatar

I'm legally allowed to own a gun, thank you.

you said shouldn't.
which is should not.
which is not cannot.