I found this topic over at the firing line and was wondering what people's opinions are here.
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=2518fb825d066f1ee1419fcb73aa7099&threadid=94624

There are very good points made on both sides. Some say that it goes along way to desensitizing the public to responsible firearm ownership and others say that it only sets you up for trouble.

I carry my .45 springfield open in a paddle holster when I'm on the way to go shoot. If I have to stop somewhere to get gas, food, etc. I leave it on just for convinience. Holsters are a pain in the ass sometimes to get off and on properly. Other than that I leave it in the car or at home.

Read the link to firing line before you jump to conclusions in either direstion. There is some good shit there.

interesting debate. im not quite sure what to say aside from the fact that i believe it is dependent entirely upon your personal situation. if your in the boon docks then i think its is a reasonable thing to do. the point brought up about people getting pissed and saying you pointed the gun at them is a very serious one to consider. how many cops would believe you? not many is my assumption. also if your in the city or dense suburbs i would surely advise against it. conceal is still practical and avoids many social problems. open often creates social issue but will deter most any criminal with a sane mind. hard to say really but i think im going to conceal when i have the chance in a few years.

personally i conceal carry a knife (legaly of course) and i am happy with the results. when i need to use it for some reason or another people often look disturbed because of my age, so open would surely be a problem for me. i guese its apples and oranges though.

I pray that in the future florida might adopt a open carry law. Concealed carry only (shall issue state). However I do honestly think that concealed carry offers me a little more tactical advantage although i'm sure open carry does has it's place in certain situations. Then again if we were allowed to open carry I could easily get away with carrying larger fullsize pistols.

Both open carry and concealed carry should be your right freely to excersise as you wish, not something you have to get legistlation for or a permit for.

thats exactly right. no weapon short of HE's should be banned or licensed. the full auto laws are also quite rediculous.

one thing that seriously pisses me off is here in PA you must be 21 to hunt with a pistol. if i 16 year old can go hunt with a rifle then why shouldnt a 18 year old or idealy anyone be able to hunt with a pistol

New Mexico rescinded their concealed carry law about a month ago. The reason was the Albuquerque mayor didn't want concealed permits in his town. Unfortunately the state constitution has a provision in it prohibiting the state from making laws that don't give the cities the final say in situations like that. I was a sheriffs reserve deputy and could carry concealed legally, but I quit that when I tore up my knee. It's kinda hard to carry concealed in the desert with a big gun in the summer time, so I didn't very often.

I'm going to carry open for a few days everywhere I go, just as an experiment to see people's reactions. My neighborhood has alot of shady people and speed freaks. Alot fo shit gets stolen, but because I practice my draws and weapon retention drills with a friend in my front yard, my house never gets touched. It's a great deterent to crime.

lol rlp. So in Albuquerque it is unlawful to carry concieled even with your state issued permit?

No the permit law was worded so that cities couldn't disallow concealed carry. The law was ruled unconstitutional by the nm supreme court so it got trashed. Ironically Albuquerque is the one city that you really need a gun to walk around in. By June this year they had more murders than they usually have during an entire average year. Yet for some reason the mayor doesn't want law abiding people to carry guns.

I bought a new Fobus kydex paddle holster today that holds my .45 very comfortably so I'll start wearing that tomorrow and see what happens. I'm planning on going to Walmart and to pay some bills, I'll take it off when I go to the bank of course, but other than that I plan on having it on all day. I've even gone to packing.org and printed out the statute concerning open carry, just in case. Surprisingly enough it says nothing about not bringing it into a bank, but I'm not going to push that.

[This message has been edited by rlpinca (edited 08-08-2002).]

Generally it's legal to open or conceal carry into a bank or finicial institution. Although you're better off checking on packing.org of course. If you don't open carry into the bank, atleast pimp the holster. Maybe put your cell phone in it just for show lol

I might trading up my 2" .357 EAA for a G27 .40 sub compact. Then i'll be looking for a good ankle holster. I cannot find a decent IWB holster that I can tuck my shirt in over the holster and not leave a weird looking buldge.

Personally I don't give a shit if i'm printing or not. The average person on the street doesn't know any better or gives me a second glance (unless its a hot chick).

Besides every cop that i've spoken to practically said something like "we usually assume everyone is armed anyway" and "as long as the gun isn't in your hand, i really couldn't care less."

I know it's legal to carry into a financial institution, but they also have the right to refuse service which they probably would once they figured out I wasn't going to rob them. Carrying into a bank would draw too much bad attention and someone would probably hit the silent alarm. It only takes one incident like that for someone that's got some pull with small town politics to get shit changed.

I've never found an ankle holster that was remotely comfortable with anything bigger than a mouse gun. I'd stay away from IWB holsters if you ever plan on sitting down because they get to be a huge pain in the ass. To carry concealed, just wear a loose fitting shirt untucked. I can do that with my .45 and barely print. I'm like you on the printing, most people wouldn't know what the fuck it is. Alot of people don't even notice a full size 1911, they just have no attention to detail.

I walked around all day and I only think about 4 or 5 people noticed. Those that did whispered to the person next to them and looked at me kinda weird. I didn't run across any cops, but I'm interested to see if any of them say anything.