Open Carry Of Firearms: Yea Or Nay?

Carrying a pistol for specific work-related tasks, only when "on the job" is fundamentally different from carrying a pistol other times (all the time?).

Carrying solely "on the job", and being able to willingly separate from the weapon at all other times, demonstrates a totally different (much less dangerous; much more stable) relationship with the weapon.

yeah, that's what i mean. you should be worried, but that doesn't mean they will be worried lol. they might be more worried that someone could kill them easier and be fast on that trigger pull.

but people still do stupid ***. if everyone was smart there wouldn't be people in prison

I was not aware that humans have been around for millions of years... actually I was pretty sure that we haven't been around for even a million years. Then you have to delve into the definition of "human" and such.

The internet isn't necessary, we had a perfectly functional postal system :P

Honestly Elana it really does seem like your the one gripped by fear. You're so afraid of someone owning a gun you think that no one should be allowed to own one ever! If you really are not afraid then you should give up your campaign against gun ownership and just live your life. What are you so afraid of?

but that's not what keeps people honest. what keeps people honest is the unknown factor of your skill level with the weapon.

just because you have a gun doesn't scare me. if i see you shoot an asprin from 100 yards away, that scares me. the only thing that matters is if you're better than the other guy.

i don't get how having a gun makes you feel safe. it would make me feel paranoid. it's pretty easy to get a gun away from someone if you really wanted to.

like i don't see how this would stop a mugging. the way to stop a mugging is to recognize the situation before it happens, which the gun does not help with. if i mug you, how do you know i'm going to mug you? you don't, until i pull my gun out and point it at you.

now what are you going to do? reach for your gun so i shoot you? basically, it's over unless you wanna chance that i'm slower and won't hit a vital area with the bullet before you can pull your gun, aim and pull the trigger.

i don't really see how this happens without it being a bad ending for the person being mugged.

Like someone said earlier. A criminal usually (not always) is going to take the path of lease resistance. Mug the guy with the gun or the guy w/o one?

As a criminal choosing a target, they have to weigh the unknowns. They don't know the mental state of a potential victim or their ability to handle the situation they are about to be put into.

Even if you could possibly render the gun useless when you mug them, it is still an extra (and very dangerous) variable. A variable thats easier just to avoid then try and deal with.

Open carry water pistols!
I will fill mine with Everclear!
A weapon and a strong drink!

Effective weapon too if you manage to get them in the eye!

you could always cut someone and then shoot em in the wound with everclear

TAKE THAT POSSIBLE INFECTION!

Or you could douse em in Everclear and then strike a match and toss it their(the said assailant) way. That would be tough as hell.

I like how you think!

In my experience, tequila will do the trick. Somehow I think maybe a little Barcardi 151 would be a good option too, assuming you have a lighter handy.

EDIT: Are we going to turn this to the molitov cocktail thread?

Hmm the "all or nothing" argument again? So in your world the choices are, you either aren't afraid and paranoid or you own guns? There's a whole rainbow of colors out there, please open your mind to the possibility of ones other than black and white.


Ashamed to hold a firearm? You're not ashamed, you're cowardly. You don't want to admit that the world is dangerous, or that there are dangerous people out there. Do you really think everyone would have been safer in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina if no one had any guns? I mean how many crimes were stopped because the criminal didn't want to screw with a guy holding a gun?

Hey! You're raining on our parade. The conversation just turned to booze weapons.

Kind of like the Always Sunny marketing episode. Girls with big breasts and guns that shoot alcohol lol.

Couldn't help but think of FG.

Just because he goes the all or nothing route doesn't mean you have to do it to. ;)

I *** hate my State sometimes, I hate Jerry Brown with a passion. It literally makes my blood boil when I find out about some of the legislation he is working on.

My grandfather popped into my mind when I read that. Imagine a cantankerous eighty-year-old with a shoulder holster at church. LOL!

for those of you not in California here's some more BS I have to deal with that Jerry Brown is working on

elanabelle you need to open your mind a little bit broski

I never owned a weapon growing up. I never needed to. I've always felt secure. now I'm married & have 2 daughters. 3 three lives that are solely dependent on me for sustinance, & protection. I am a compassionate, non violent man. I do not hunt. I take my respect for life to the extreme of the catch & realease of spiders in my house.
Am I naive enough to think that everyone shares my beliefs? of course not. If someone who has no concern for his fellow humans decides my place is a good spot to rape/kill, & I am not prepared to protect the 3 lives that rely on me for that purpose, I feel like I would be just as guilty as the perpetrator.

fear does not enter the equation. It's reponsiblilty. maybe when you have more responsibilities than making dynamis on time, some of these things will be more evident to you.

Guns don't have to enter the equation necessarily. :D
/devilsadvocate

lol it was hard enough to write that without insults/profanity! quit poking at my better senses....

that's non-sense anyway. I could maybe take out 1-2 with my Kbar. the AK knows no bounds. anyways you don't know what the other guys bringing to the table, so a firearm is definately part of the equation

What if they don't bring a gun?
I can understand the whole protect your family concept well enough though, I live alone so my baseball bat serves for me. It's much more intimate beating someone down with your fists though. ;)
That last line wasn't for sakes of the argument or anything though.

MMA time!

Laughable.

I'm not afraid of people owning guns. I'm concerned about people deluding themselves into believing they need guns.

In general, I do exactly what you suggested: just live my life. I only contributed here since there was a discussion going on, and I have an opinion on the topic. If you don't want to read varied opinions on this topic, then go hang out at the NRA website.

Furthermore, my most recent post in this thread described how I do believe there are valid and legitimate reasons to own a firearm. That post focused on specific employment-related needs, which I agree with. Also, hunting game, and hobby collections, within reason, are also valid and legitimate reasons to own a firearm. My gripe and the most important part of my "message" is that "self-defense" should NOT be lumped-in with those other valid/rational reasons to own a gun.

I digress. I started the last paragraph because you said
I: "think that no one should be allowed to own one ever!"

Obviously, you can't read.

Let him take your wallet then when he turns to run away shoot him in the back of course! :)

My views on this are evolving. I grew up in the south where it is just a normal part of life to have guns. One of the experiences that made me think a little more was when I took a trip to Israel. Everywhere you go people have guns. At the holy sites, outside the hotels, on the street corners. And not just handguns, but fully automatic weapons.

Now some of these are private security, most are military. But when you consider every person has to serve in the military (I think for two years?) it's pretty much just like citizens being armed. These are 18-20 year old kids with automatic weapons. Everywhere. And as an unarmed person I felt totally safe over there. It was definitely safer than nights I have spent in New Orleans.

The major difference between the on duty security in those areas and civilians here, of course, is the unlikelihood of them being under the influence while on duty. Anyone can do something really dumb when you add alcohol/drugs into a situation with a firearm present.

Or Bacardi 151 flame thrower? Huh? Huh?

/grins and nods head

O hells ya.

Total failure.
I have a family, and I guarantee I take responsibility and the safety of my family just as seriously, or potentially more seriously, than you do.

Maybe as you grow older, perhaps to the point when you no longer call people "broskis", you'll realize that you completely contradicted yourself when you said that you'd feel guilty as a criminal if something bad happened to your family, but then claimed that "fear does not enter the equation".

You're living in fear of the guilt you could potentially feel if your wife or daughter was harmed and you "didn't protect her well enough" just because you weren't packing heat.
Granted that's a VERY heavy potential source of guilt. But by living in fear of that guilt, you're arguably suffering (long-term) just as much as someone who actually suffered the trauma.