Gun Talk - News, Laws, etc.

[elevenism]

nothing wrong with that! but what is the gun related murder rate in your parts and surrounding areas? i'm willing to bet it's pretty low. also are gangs prevalent?

oh man, not in the tiny town where i live, although violent crimes are strangely prevalent in the mid sized west texas cities like lubbock and amarillo (the number 2 and number 6 most dangerous cities in texas according to the fbi)

BUT...i have spent most of my 35 years in the triple D, dirty dirty dallas. It's pretty fucking rough and tumble. And i could never seem to afford a car, so i rode the trains and buses which causes you to rub shoulders with some pretty unsavory cats. Get on a train in dallas and you find a sea of red and blue-youngsters, mostly. hell, now that i think about it, one of my very closest friends that i've ever had is gangster disciple/folks nation.

But i wouldn't want people carrying guns openly there either, man, if that's where you're going with this.

For one thing, and this may sound silly, but for me it's out of sight, out of mind. I ASSUME people are carrying guns if i'm in east dallas, but i don't worry about it. But if i was walking down the street and saw people with guns, it would scare the shit out of me. Now that's just me-that's about my FEELINGS. The physical reality part of it that bothers me is that i'm afraid that people with guns ready to pull like it's the wild west will be way more apt to use them than someone who has his gun under his clothes.

[sick among the pure]

oh man, not in the tiny town where i live, although violent crimes are strangely prevalent in the mid sized west texas cities like lubbock and amarillo (the number 2 and number 6 most dangerous cities in texas according to the fbi)

BUT...i have spent most of my 35 years in the triple D, dirty dirty dallas. It's pretty fucking rough and tumble. And i could never seem to afford a car, so i rode the trains and buses which causes you to rub shoulders with some pretty unsavory cats. Get on a train in dallas and you find a sea of red and blue-youngsters, mostly. hell, now that i think about it, one of my very closest friends that i've ever had is gangster disciple/folks nation.

But i wouldn't want people carrying guns openly there either, man, if that's where you're going with this.

For one thing, and this may sound silly, but for me it's out of sight, out of mind. I ASSUME people are carrying guns if i'm in east dallas, but i don't worry about it. But if i was walking down the street and saw people with guns, it would scare the shit out of me. Now that's just me-that's about my FEELINGS. The physical reality part of it that bothers me is that i'm afraid that people with guns ready to pull like it's the wild west will be way more apt to use them than someone who has his gun under his clothes.

See, I have never understood why we need open-carry for everything from pistols to rifles. Carry conceal makes sense. You have your firearm on you in case of emergency, you can pull it out and defend yourself/others from attack. But openly walking around with an AR-15 across your chest with your hand on the grip is literally just a visual version of "come at me, bro!".
I plan on getting my NY carry-conceal once I have a more steady income (mostly because that is the only way you can legally purchase or handle a pistol in NY state, you have to go through the very thorough FBI background check for carry-conceal).
And sure, I would love to have an AR-15, or an AK-47 (if I had the money), to target shoot. Not to walk to the local Chipotle.
If anyone here is for open-carry, can you please explain it to me?

[elevenism]

See, I have never understood why we need open-carry for everything from pistols to rifles. Carry conceal makes sense. You have your firearm on you in case of emergency, you can pull it out and defend yourself/others from attack. But openly walking around with an AR-15 across your chest with your hand on the grip is literally just a visual version of "come at me, bro!".
I plan on getting my NY carry-conceal once I have a more steady income (mostly because that is the only way you can legally purchase or handle a pistol in NY state, you have to go through the very thorough FBI background check for carry-conceal).
And sure, I would love to have an AR-15, or an AK-47 (if I had the money), to target shoot. Not to walk to the local Chipotle.
If anyone here is for open-carry, can you please explain it to me?

Amen, @sick among the pure . And i was gonna mention you and talk about it in my last post, but it was getting too long.
Open carry is now legal in texas. I immediately had visions of walking into a bar where everybody had 2 guns on their hips, like the wild west.
Establishments can post a "no open carry allowed" sign on the door, thank god, and texas sign makers are overwhelmed with orders. So at least that.

Also, as far as the whole "democrat = anti-gun" thing, my wife and i were JUST talking about that before i read your post.
I'm a yellow dog dem, but we're reaching a point where "the blue pill" is kind of hard to swallow. Now i'm DAMN sure not going to turn republican by any means. But there are things that go along with being left wing that no longer agree with.

The solution to all of this is a topic for another thread, however.

[DigitalChaos]

If anyone here is for open-carry, can you please explain it to me?

I don't have the option to open or conceal carry thanks to the wonders of SF bay area... but the general support behind open carry is:
- visual/psychological deterrent to crime and altercations. It's the same reason almost every security camera is visible instead of hidden.
- Faster draw. And a less awkward/complicated draw.
- more comfortable (and quite a bit cheaper to find a comfortable holster compared to CCW)
- you can carry a larger (and thus more accurate) gun
- people get used to seeing guns and don't have this extreme emotional response
- some police argue that OC allows them more safety since they can quickly detect if the person has a weapon


Negative:
- you lose the element of surprise
- you make yourself a target for bad attention (police, citizens, etc) in areas that are not gun friendly


You also have to check your own preconceived opinions of the two types. Many states only allow one or the other. So, you'll get activists using whatever they have to make a statement. That was the case in California for a while when Open Carry was the only option for most people. Now that is gone too (and probably going to the Supreme Court as you can't ban both without infringing on the 2nd amendment).

@elevenism - i'm not sure where you get this idea that suddenly various crime will climb... unless the open carry change allows more people to carry a gun who previously weren't? There is basically no difference in that kind of impact if you were to suddenly switch every CCW person to OC.

[ldopa]

But openly walking around with an AR-15 across your chest with your hand on the grip is literally just a visual version of "come at me, bro!".

who's really doing that, though?

@elevenism out of sight / mind equals less reaction time for all involved. your head is turned and you hear a loud ass noise, then hysteria.
you see a gun: you can decide whether or not to be in the vicinity.

[elevenism]

@elevenism out of sight / mind equals less reaction time for all involved. your head is turned and you hear a loud ass noise, then hysteria.
you see a gun: you can decide whether or not to be in the vicinity.

im just talking about the way my mind works.
seeing people with guns just makes me fucking nervous.

[sick among the pure]

who's really doing that, though?

Since I don't live in an open-carry state, I can only go off what information I can find via internet.
If you google image search "open carry" more than half the images are of rifles. Not to mention the articles when people started literally going to coffee shops and restaurants with rifles across their chest because open carry is legal where they live.
LIke I said, I am 100% for open or concealed carry for handguns for protection. But beyond looking tough and, honestly, looking somewhat like you're trying to start shit, why go grab your morning coffee with a rifle across your chest?

[DigitalChaos]

If you google image search "open carry" more than half the images are of rifles.

That's almost certainly activists doing it and probably in a state that only allows rifles being for open carry while handguns being banned. That was the case in California. When a state gets this restrictive, it also forces more activists out of the woodwork. So its this perfect storm situation for most of those images.

FWIW, they get TONS of shit from advocates of responsible concealed carry and even open carry. The activists frequently "pose" for pictures with extremely irresponsible things happening... hands on the grip (you don't do this unless you are about to use a gun, its easily "brandishing" in most situations), having the muzzle pointed in unsafe directions, etc etc. There is also the debate over the political reality of any effectivity behind open carry advocacy, even if it is done safely.


Here is probably the most shared image in those circles:


Another thing I forgot to mention about open carry. There is a common belief that open carry makes it easier for someone to walk up and steal the gun. There are actually lots of holsters that make take-aways very difficult. Lots of different latching mechanisms are built into many holsters now. It's pretty neat.
For the record, I'm not personally advocating open carry over concealed. I'm not even sure which I would prefer. I'm just conveying the info I have.