Question, never posted here before, but what is the use of Open Carry?

[Humanist_Activist]

Here in the St. Louis area, we have concealed carry, and when that law passed, despite the referendum failing to pass, because of the Republifucks in Jefferson City, damn near every business I see, outside of a few smaller, local ones, put up legal signs banning firearms on their premises.

These are the private businesses, gas stations, banks, grocery stores, department stores, etc. The only places I didn't notice a sign are firing ranges, and, of course, some smaller businesses that either don't care, or aren't aware of the sign, but you actually have to hunt for these. You obviously cannot carry guns to or on the premises of any government building, courthouse, or public school or even sponsored by any of them.

Now, I know that the signs technically don't have a force of law, they are simply a courtesy for CCW holders to not walk in armed. I made a mistake of going to other forums(actually was looking for picture of the no-firearm sign), and noticed that quite a few of them flaunt the signs because they apparently don't respect the property rights of others. This, in itself, is scary, if they have that little respect for other people, I'd view them as a clear danger to all of us. Not to mention the language they use reeks of paranoia, as if people are waiting to jump them in strip malls in Chesterfield(any local would know how ridiculous that is).

Missouri has always allowed Open Carry, at least state-wide(there are no laws regarding it, so local laws may vary), but the CCW law does suggest that people who do open carry respect the signs as well, or get charged with trespassing if the owners are so inclined. So my issue is this, what use is open Carry in, at least, metro areas? I mean, you can't flaunt the signs, your gun is visible.

So what is the point of open carrying firearms?

[NMDemDist2]

1. to compare genital size without zippers?

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. cute ...

I lose.

[Eleanors38]

9. Genital size? I have go about with a wheel barrow as it is.

She carries my Ithaca .10 ga to confuse all the ladies pestering me.

But you should see the zipper!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

18. Yeah. Girls don't carry guns...'cuz they're girls.

[rrneck]

2. Not much.

At most, it is a concession to hot weather. It's hard to wear a cover garment in places like Florida. Otherwise, it's more of a fashion or political statement than a tactical advantage.

[Politicalboi]

3. To show how "manly" they are

That and how stupid they are. STAY AWAY gun nut approaching.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

8. I know I feel extra manly when I target practice ...

[SheilaT]

5. Flaunt the signs?

Are they picking them up and waving them about ostentatiously?

Any chance you mean flout the signs? That they are openly disregarding them?

[Humanist_Activist]

6. thats what I meant, sorry.

[jeepnstein]

10. Open carry...

It's nice when you are out in the field. I have to open carry when in uniform as well. It's kind of a pain in the butt because of weapon retention issues and drawing attention. It does have it's places, though. I suppose if you are too active to be able to conceal then it's a good alternative but now one without down sides.

There is an ongoing debate in firearms circles about activists who insist on open carrying in order to provoke a reaction. I'm not much on attention seekers regardless of their pet issue. We have a nation of people who insist on screaming 'look at me" 24/7.

[Humanist_Activist]

11. When I was an SO, the rules were strict, your gun is to be unloaded...

and put in a gun safe in your trunk(ammo stored elsewhere), and you are NOT allowed to make any stops to and from work while in uniform. We were allowed to open carry, obviously, but only on the grounds of our post. These were, I believe, company rules to prevent liability.

ON EDIT: The issue is that this is practically what every citizen who decides to open carry(outside of law enforcement), would be allowed to do, at most, in most areas of where I live, at least. I mean, if you conceal it, you can violate the property rights of others, flout the signs that are put up. But if you decide to open carry, and try to get a cup of coffee at Circle K(popular gas station around here), you better lock that gun up in your car, because if you walk in there, you are more than likely going to be a disruption, and, if really stubborn, get yourself arrested.

[gejohnston]

12. depends on where you live

If you are in Florida, yes you will be arrested since OC has been generally illegal since 1893. That said, police detectives OC with their badge where I live part of the time, nobody notices or cares.

Although legal in most places, It doesn't seem usual unless part of a demonstration of some kind. Oh, backpacking, hunting, fishing in the sticks, but I'm guessing you are not talking about that.
The only in town OC I have seen even in Wyoming was a guy that rode his motorcycle to the range. The only reason was that it was the only legal way for him to carry it at the time. Putting it in a backpack or a saddlebag would have been equivalent to putting it in a glovebox or under the car seat, which was illegal in Wyoming at the time. Since I had a pick up instead of a car with a trunk, I had to have it on the seat next to me.
He would stop for gas and it was a non issue, since the clerks profiled the behavior, not the attire. Having a holstered revolver while standing in line to pay for gas isn't exactly suspicious behavior.
Now had he drawn it after putting on a ski mask OTOH.............................

[ileus]

13. You can carry your firearm legally without

Submitting yourself to unnecessary local LEO scrutiny.

It's also a much more comfortable form of carry than IWB.

[Humanist_Activist]

14. I'm talking about on a practical level, you can carry your guns anywhere except pretty much any...

you would want to go such as restaurants, stores, work(depends on where), etc.

At least, if you wanted to avoid local LEO scrutiny, otherwise you might raise alarms.

[GreenStormCloud]

15. Very few places where I would OC.

Aside from the obvious places such as whiole hunting, camping in authorized areas, and such as that, there are very few places where I would want to OC. But there are some.

Walk-up ATM in some area. I would like to be able to tuck my shirt behind my gun, exposing it while I use the ATM. Then once back in the car, tuck the shirt over the gun, again concealing it. The advantage is that any criminal thinking of mugging me would realize that it would be very dangerous to him and would leave me alone. I would want to OC in similar high crime areas. However, I first try to avoid such areas.

[spin]

16. The main advantage of open carry is that it allows a person to comfortably carry ...

a handgun on his belt. It is also often difficult to conceal a full or mid sized handgun during warm months under light clothing.

The most obvious drawback is that it tends to scare or intimidate people in the areas of the nation where open carry is uncommon. It is also possible that open carry might make a person a target of an individual who hoped to snatch the weapon. Often quality firearms are very expensive items.

I live in Florida where almost all open carry in public is illegal. Over 1,000,000 Florida residents have concealed weapons permits and I rarely encounter a store or business that has a "no-guns" sign on the door.

While the open carry of firearms is basically not allowed in public in Florida, the law on knife carry is somewhat ambiguous. In the rural area of Florida where I live I often open carry a 4" or 5" fixed blade knife in a sheath on my belt. In this area it attracts no negative attention or any attention at all. In a more urban area such as the Tampa Bay Area it might. Therefore when in such areas I simply conceal my knife which is legal as I have a concealed weapons permit which in Florida is not limited to firearms as in many states.

[jimmy the one]

17. ccw in missouri

Human Activist: Here in the St. Louis area, we have concealed carry, and when that law passed, despite the referendum failing to pass, because of the Republifucks in Jefferson City, damn near...

Most people won't understand what you're saying here. The referendum was in Missouri, whether or not they wanted ccw concealed carry, & ccw failed to pass referendum despite the gunnut intensity factor, 52%-48% in the 90's iirc. The nra spent 5 times more than gun control advocacy groups, something like 3 million to a fifth of that.
.. presuming Jefferson city is a legislative base, a republican legislature forced shall issue ccw law through once it got the strength to do so, just like every other state did because not one single state had majority public support for carrying concealed firearms, not even texas.

.. Missouri is also one of the dozen or so states which had written prohibitions into their state constitutions allowing for legislatures to forbid carrying concealed guns. So much again for republipigs acting in 'the name of the people', which they only dredge up in the rare instances where they do have public support, generally marginal at that - IE: john boner says the govt shutdown to defund obamacare is the will of the American people, well duh how do you explain the repub senate voting down 90% support for background checks????