montgomery wrote: ↑Mon Feb 25, 2019 8:41 am
Open carry is great until you are ambushed and outnumbered
OR until someone calls the police with claim there is an active shooter or you threatened someone with a gun. Do some research, and don't be a liability.
That was my primary fear about OC initially. I had been on social media where quite a few threatened to "swat" anyone who they saw with a gun. I spoke to our police chief about that problem. He held seminars open to the public where he told everyone that his department had trained dispatch about how to handle "I see a gun" calls. While there still could be a person who blatantly lies about seeing an un-holstered gun being waved around, those who militantly suggested doing that appear to have followed through about as well as that Hollywood celebrities did when they said that they wold move to Canada if President Trump was elected. If there has been any in the exodus, their departure was a well kept secret. I've asked local officers about problems with OC and none have had any incidents but that is only anecdotal information.
Personally, I've OCed a lot more recently. Part of my initial reluctance was that I didn't have a good retention holster. Now I do. Like others, I'm careful about where I OC. I've done it at meetings, including ones with prominent Texas State officials attending but I'm not alone and those meetings have often attracted protestors for those State officials. In the Summer, my retention OWB paddle holster is more comfortable that my usual IWB one. I've noticed some people fixated on my visible gun while speaking to me but have only had positive comments about it. I make it a point to go about my business in a concerted way and not to give any appearance of just "hanging around" while I'm OC. I walk my dog in a public park and often have had people want to fuss over the dog but those same people never mentioned my gun. Now, I too have coats or vests over the gun now, even if it would otherwise qualify as an OC.
I'm pretty active about situational awareness normally. I try to take it up even another notch or two when I OC, particularly behind me. I walk with a purpose out of habit and turn my head to see if anyone is close by or attempting to keep my pace. In crowded environments, I turn a lot, making my path unpredictable. Someone attempting to catch me by surprise is going to have to work at it so I'm not too worried about an ambush where I go and doing what I do. Regarding outnumbered, I'm already keenly aware of any group of people around me. While I admit that several individuals could suddenly come together from various directions, I don't consider that to be the greatest threat to me. Given my physical characteristics now that I've been working out, the way I move and the fact that I have a visible gun, I'm betting that there are a lot more attractive targets out there. As one man said to the other was they were both running away from a charging bear, "I don't have to outrun the bear, I just have to outrun you."
