EDIT: Dangit Liko, you stole ma thunder!!! Maybe next time I'll read the whole thing before hitting "reply":mrgreen:
Honestly frankie, how do you find time to do anything else in life when you're constantly defending yourself here??
Anyways, to refute your "the bad guys will blend in" idea, consider this:
Person A is an upstanding citizen. He pays his taxes, follows the rules, and is a genuine, all around, good guy.
Person B is a thug. Has been in jail before and not afraid to go back. Doesn't care about society in general so long as he gets his.
Assuming licensed open carry were implemented:
Person A carries a gun on his hip, exposed for the world to see.
Person B carries a gun on his hip, exposed for the world to see.
You, a police officer, see A and B walking down the same street.
Do you stop them both and ask for their license to carry?
Do you stop only one of them?
Do you have the authority to stop either of them?
No, you don't. You have no reason to do so. Just as you can't pull over a car, at random, to check for a DL, you can't stop a random person, legally carrying a gun, and ask for proof that they aren't a felon.
Unless an officer is investigating a crime, they have no reason, nor authority, to ask for ID.
Person B has effectively "blended in", right?
Ok, now. Throw a jacket on both persons. The firearms are now concealed. Person A has a CHL. Person B obviously does not.
Same street, same officer, same questions as above.
SAME ANSWERS AS ABOVE!
The BG will blend in REGARDLESS of the environment.
So, you are not keeping a criminal from doing anything when you say you would only want "licensed" open carry.
An officer can't ask to see such license without cause.
Remember, criminals don't care about the law. That's why we call them law-breakers.
In effect, you have only limited the law-abiding citizen. In the same manor that CHL currently limits those with class B and A misd. for 5 years. What if they need to protect themselves from the mugger they will meet tomorrow? Tough cookies, huh?
And you think that's ok?