When Fashion Meets Politics: Ugly Everywhere

Why Your Open Carry Isn’t Helping

I grew up on a ranch in Montana. In high school, my friends or I would often go hunting before school. On those days, we would park our trucks across the street from the school because firearms were not allowed on school property. So when I say I am pro-gun, I expect you to believe me. I am not pro-guns-for-hunting. I am not pro-muskets-from-1776. I am pro-the-government-should-fear-an-armed-populace. But open carry of a firearm accomplishes no reasonable objective for the 2nd Amendment and endangers both yourself and the people around you.

Let’s start with the argument that you are carrying because you believe bad people exist in this world and they are a threat to you and your loved ones. Congratulations, you are right and we are on the same page. Criminals, though, much like bullies and terrorists, prefer soft targets. Most of them are going to be deterred by your openly displayed firearm. These same criminals will also be deterred by a confident walk, a strong gaze and your presence in a public place. However, the ones that you have not deterred now have a distinct advantage over you. Surprise is your single greatest advantage when using a handgun and you have now ceded that advantage to the enemy.

Speaking of the enemy, let’s talk about the tactics of open carry. Open carry is a “hard target” tactic of threat mitigation. As mentioned above, the primary purpose of this type of threat mitigation is to convince the threat to move on to a softer, weaker target. This tactic works great for the military or law enforcement. It’s one of the reasons (there are many others) why support units got hit by IEDs more than my Infantry unit in Afghanistan. The individual person open-carrying a firearm is not a true hard target. You do not have 360 degrees of security with another armed person watching your back. You are not a hard target if you pass within arms reach of another person without your hand on your weapon. You are not a hard target if you allow a person within 10 feet of your turned back. For the average person open-carrying a firearm it is nearly impossible to be a hard target unless you are patrolling in an armed group. That makes it pretty hard to do your grocery shopping. In essence, what you become when you are open-carrying is a high-payoff target for the criminals that you did not deter. They know that they can acquire a firearm from you after they sucker punch you from behind.

Let’s assume that you openly carry to “normalize” the experience for the American people, which is the most common argument I hear. First off, that is one of the worst reasons I’ve ever heard to use a firearm. You use a firearm to kill. That is its purpose. Any other argument makes me think that you are an irresponsible firearm owner. Why don’t you just have a parade? It seems to be working fine for the LGBT movement.

For the sake of argument, let’s grant credence to the “normalize” theory and look at the attention you are gathering. Open carry does do a good job of attracting attention, but none of it is good for you. As mentioned before, you will attract attention from criminals. Most will be deterred, but the real threats are just as likely to say “challenge accepted.” Never bring a weapon to a fight that you are not prepared to use. Have you thought through having to kill someone in order to “normalize” an experience?

You will also attract attention from people who may be concealed carrying. I don’t care if you are dressed like a Jehovah’s Witness and packing a Bible on your other hip. I don’t know you, you are armed, and therefore you are a potential threat. As soon as I identify you as a potential threat I will take steps to mitigate that threat and protect myself and others. Generally this means leaving the situation, but sometimes you are between me and the exit. For someone trying to raise awareness, you are oblivious to the situation you have now put me in.

You are attracting extra attention from law enforcement. Sometimes this means you will be hassled, which seems to be what you want and you will post indignantly about it later. Even the well-trained and open carry educated law enforcement professional will devote extra attention to you because they don’t know who you are either, and you have a weapon. Your fashion statement is distracting them from their first duty to look out for the very same threat that you think you are mitigating. By open-carrying you are putting yourself in a lose-lose-lose situation with three different groups of people and two of those groups are actually on your side.

Finally, you are not doing anything to protect the Second Amendment. Just the opposite most likely. No amount of open carry is going to change the mind of many in the anti-gun camp. The majority of these people cannot tell the difference between automatic and semi-automatic, a bullet and the casing, or the chamber and a magazine. That is why these people sometimes mistake pop-tarts or children’s fingers for firearms. They also tend to become hysterically and existentially afraid in the presence of a real firearm. They need a basic education about gun safety in a controlled, low-threat, kid-gloves environment. Open carry is not this environment.

Open carry does have the ability to change the minds of those in the pro-gun camp and independents, for the worse. Just as bad people exist in this world, so do stupid, ignorant and poorly trained people. Drive down the interstate and tell me I’m wrong. The last thing I want to see is some person with a rifle or shotgun strapped to their back going to Starbucks with the whole Boy Scout troop. Only two things can happen in this situation: nothing or a horrible accident. The avoidance of a horrible accident is not a win for gun rights.

Additionally, D.C. vs. Heller was decided by the Supreme Court long before this open carry push began; some even claim the decision as the impetus for the push. So basically, the government upheld your Constitutional rights, so you need to exercise those Constitutional rights more to make sure the government doesn’t take it away? It appears that Constitutional processes did a pretty good job of upholding the Constitution without your help. Please explain how women got the right to vote in 1920 despite having NEVER exercised that right before?

Try as I might, I cannot think of nor find any convincing reason to support open carry. All I see is a lucrative target should I desire to pick up a free firearm, a potential threat that is oblivious to the danger they are in, or a poorly-trained fumble fingers whose best outcome is getting home without shooting themselves in the foot. None of those situations are good for you and none of those are situations that I want me or my family to be in. If you put me in that situation I will attempt to leave. If I can’t leave I advise you to be as casual and non-threatening as possible. Because you won’t see me coming.