Open Carry vs Conceal Carry

I have a license to CONCEAL carry.

Says, Kielma, “in jurisdictions where it means I can OPEN carry or in places where you need no permit to open carry, I do not openly carry my firearm. That’s my choice. It’s my plan and it works for me. Please remember always have a plan and execute if and when necessary.

That said I do wholeheartedly support open carry. If people want to open carry, and it’s the law, that’s ok with me. It helps desensitize people to people carrying guns. Perhaps it encourages bad guys considering bad things to go elsewhere. It also educates people who want to come up to them and talk about guns.

I absolutely prefer OPEN carry laws. In places where open carry is NOT legal, someone can call the cops if they think they saw your gun. For example, at Walmart reaching for an item on a top shelf and your shirt rides up and exposes the tip of the holster. Or perhaps they see an outline in your shirt (printing) and they call the cops because they can see your gun.

Example: A busy-body, non-gun person or a liberal democrat called the cops on me because I had a machine gun mounted on my Jeep. Turns out what they were referring to was my High Lift jack mounted to the roof rack. There problem was I did have an AR in a case because I’d been at the range. The case was behind the seat locked up and no one could possibly see it. I was initially detained, guns (my AR and carry pistol) confiscated, and seriously thought I was in a whole lot of trouble. The person who called the cops on me came over to gloat and proclaimed that they were the ones who called the cops. It was a good thing an evil gun owner was getting what they deserved. But then asked why they left the machine gun still mounted to my Jeep (which was being hooked up to a tow truck). The cops told her that they’d taken my guns already and she pointed out the jack. The cops then questioned her for a few minutes. They came over to me, got me out of the car, removed my cuffs and said I was free to go. I had to come to the police station to get my guns back the next day. As I was leaving, they were writing the woman a citation. She had to pay a $1500 fine. 

Open carry laws prevent this type of issue. If my pistol accidentally shows, it’s still legal even though open carry is legal for me. 

Says Kielma, “I choose not to openly carry. I conceal carry everywhere I can legally. I don’t have the temperament or tolerance for those who would challenge me or create drama. I conceal carry so I have the element of surprise in the event I was put in a life-threatening situation.

Example: Armed robbers stealing money from the cash register at Walmart. If in my subjective opinion they really aren’t a threat and they are going to run away after they get the cash, I could possibly choose to leave my gun right where it is, concealed in my holster. Let them run away totally unaware that I could have shot them both. That would be my choice because I had one. If openly carrying, the robbers may have seen my gun. Another bystander could say out loud “why don’t you stop them”.

I want the choice, and I want the advantage should I believe I needed to use lethal force to defend life.