Nevada Carry
  • Home
    • Contact >
      • FAQ
    • Safety
    • Search
  • Blog
  • Open Carry
    • Open Carry Safety
    • Open Carry and the Constitution
    • Open Carry Safety
  • Concealed Carry
    • How to Get a CCW
    • Carrying on a CCW
  • Car Carry
  • Local Laws
    • Public Buildings
    • Blue Cards
    • Preemption History
  • Self-Defense
  • Buying and Selling Guns
    • Universal Background Checks
  • Other States
    • CA Carry

Nevada Carry Blog
For full archive, see the Blogspot archive

9 Open Carry Faux Paus

4/20/2020

 
Picture
That's a gag photo
Open carry itself isn’t a faux paus, unless you’re walking into a place you legally can’t have a gun. There are a few thing socially that the gun community and the public can agree on as bad behavior while openly carrying a gun.
 
1. Carrying a long-gun

Don’t carry a long-gun in public. This might be appropriate at some political protest, but for average, everyday carry, you do not need a long-gun. If things are that spicy, why are you going to Walmart?
 
In Texas, the open carry movement bringing guns in Target and other businesses scared people and caused a lot of businesses to turn on open carry. Then, in the wake of the El Paso Walmart shooting in 2019, after some jerk brought an AR pistol into another Walmart in Missouri for attention, Walmart and a bunch of other stores banned open carry of handguns.
 
Long-gun open carry tends to frighten people. Keep long-guns at home, or only carry them openly in rural or wilderness areas or in/around events where it’s clear guns are to be expected, like the range or a gun show.
 
2. Pulling your gun out in public (not in self-defense)
 
Drawing a gun to show people it is a terrible idea. It’s unsafe and someone could easily mistake that for brandishing or think you are about to shoot someone. You could end up dead or in jail. If the gun accidentally goes off, your negligence is still a crime even if no one is hurt. And if they are, you’ll be on the hook for civil damages.
 
If you want to show someone in a public setting your gun, turn your body so they can see it in the holster. Only draw it in a private place you control (a home) or on the range, following range protocols.
 
3. Not using a holster
 
We’ve discussed this before, but not using a holster makes you look unprepared to fight. It does not instill confidence in the public in your gun handling skills. Your gun is subject to slipping out from the belt or pocket or being snatched. Several open carriers who have lost their guns carried them casually in pockets, etc.
 
4. Not being situationally aware
 
When you have a gun on you, you have to be aware of your surroundings and what other people are doing. The open carry snatches I’ve documented mostly have to do with people who are unaware someone is going to try to grab their gun. Boom, the gun is gone, the person has no idea what to do.
 
Though it has never happened during the modern open carry movement, you don’t want to be the first person who is targeted because he’s an open carrier. See the threat coming and take cover or fight.
 
Use a retention holster so in a fight or snatch, the gun just can’t be pulled from your holster. Even the best of us can’t always operate at 100% awareness. Turn and look at people coming up to you who might have nefarious intentions. Eye contact solves a lot of problems. Always be prepared to fight for your gun and shoot, if necessary, a snatcher.
 
5. Grabbing your gun
 
Like pulling out your gun, don’t grab the grip like you’re going to draw it. People who don’t know that you’re just talking with your buddy and that’s a gesture might think you are going to pull out the gun. If nothing else, it’s cringeworthy.
 
6. Adjusting your gun
 
Be careful adjusting your gun/holster in public. People might get the wrong idea, sorta like a guy adjusting his genitals outside his pants. Always do your adjustment in a private area or shielded from view of others.
 
7. Touching your gun
 
Try not to touch your gun. Again, someone may get the wrong idea. Use a strong holster, with good retention, on a good belt and it’ll be fine. You could rest your forearm along the butt of the pistol like a cop, but them you look like a cop.
 
8. Not carrying a loaded gun
 
Again, we’ve covered this before, but not carrying a loaded gun makes you look like the unprepared person you probably are. Sure, you might carry with an empty chamber, but no one except yourself can see that. An unloaded magazine? Everyone can see that, especially the bad guy who suddenly knows you aren’t ready to fight. Gun fights happen fast. Have a magazine in your gun.
 
9. Wearing multiple firearms
 
Okay, you can openly carry multiple firearms and not look like a weirdo, but the people who often carry multiple firearms openly, look like weirdos. If you don’t know how not to look weird while doing it, don’t do it. And if you don’t know that a two-gun man was most often a bad guy, you probably can’t pull off the two-gun Western cowboy look.

Picture

Comments are closed.

    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    September 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    April 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    May 2015

    Categories

    All
    Campus Carry
    Ccsd
    Schools

    RSS Feed

    Blogspot Archive
    Blog roll
    Clayton E. Cramer
    Gun Watch
    Gun Free Zone

    The War on Guns
    ​Commander Zero
    The View From Out West
 This does not constitute, nor should be implied as, legal advice. Always seek an attorney's advice and consult state and local laws yourself. User assumes all liability for use of the information provided here. Site has been reviewed by certified instructors. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.​ Copyright 2024.
  • Home
    • Contact >
      • FAQ
    • Safety
    • Search
  • Blog
  • Open Carry
    • Open Carry Safety
    • Open Carry and the Constitution
    • Open Carry Safety
  • Concealed Carry
    • How to Get a CCW
    • Carrying on a CCW
  • Car Carry
  • Local Laws
    • Public Buildings
    • Blue Cards
    • Preemption History
  • Self-Defense
  • Buying and Selling Guns
    • Universal Background Checks
  • Other States
    • CA Carry