BTW, thats not what open carry is designed for, lol. It's simply a different interpretation of your constitutional rights than is concealed carry or no carry. I perfer concealed carry simply because if something did happen, I'd want the bad guys not focusing on me so that I could kill their face.
I didn't get looks. I got nods though. I was also wearing one of my USMC shirts which lets people know that I not only have a weapon, but know how to use it as well as they know how to breathe. I was also not with my family.
Open carry wasn't "designed" It was and is the default status of bearing arms. Having hidden weapons was (historically) considered the mark of an assassin or other type of criminal. Though obviously social acceptance of weapons has moved away from that. But essentially, that historical mentality led to the Conceal Carry permits thing, determining who would be "trusted" and "qualified" to have hidden weapons without being a threat. Since someone openly carrying a weapon can be monitored in case they make a dangerous move more easily. A way of limiting surprise attacks. Which I totally understand. I'm not against conceal carry inherently, I'm simply saying why there's this difference between openly bearing arms and having hidden weapons. Historically, people felt safer around people who had visible weapons than people that hid them.
I'm not trying to argue with you? I'm just providing historical context for the difference in treatment between Open and Conceal carry. Historically, people felt threatened by those who would carry hidden weapons for fear of surprise attacks, while, by contrast, open carry was much more acceptable and let others feel/be safer (since they can more easily monitor your actions with the weapon in question). Now a days it seems to have switched some, where some people would rather not see guns at all (because they are "scary" or whatever I guess, not a view I share, but just a change in some people's attitudes over the last century or so).
If I had a gun I'd want to carry it concealed to not look like a dangerous ******. A bit like wearing flip flops, just less severe.
isn't the chance of having a gun causing an accidental death or being used in a suicide far more likely than you being the victim of an attacker? so instead of the 0.01% chance of being the victim of violent crime you chose the 0.1% chance of having you or one of your kids accidentally shooting someone or themselves.... that makes no sense. you FEEL safer, while actually you are 10 times more likely to become a statistic.
No? The rate of assault* (even for other nations like Germany) is far higher than the rate of accidents caused by guns in the US (which is by far the highest of modernized nations that I'm aware of). And even that can (and should) be reduced by having people properly learn how to handle (and secure in the cases of children getting them) their firearms. Also, a gun being used in suicide is a relatively unimportant metric, considering the nature of suicide. A person would likely find another method (knives for example, but also jumping, poison [including overdosing on otherwise safe drugs], self-hanging, etc.). It's not as if owning a gun drives someone to that action. *(even homicide rates, by nature a lower measure, are higher in Germany than gun accidents in the US.)
I find that to be short sighted considering the impulse-driven nature of suicide. Had I had access to a gun in some situations I might not be here. It goes as said before, you can kill without guns, but a specialized tool for killing makes it a lot easier in every regard, including suicide. Hmm, I probably wouldn't have died alone, though. Really, it's a good thing I and some people I know never had guns or access to. Maybe a lot of tragedies wouldn't have happened had the perpetrators not had access to guns ...
Why would you put "accidental death" and "suicide" in the same category and weigh them against some other item? My carrying a gun has nothing to do with what other people "might" do with their guns. IDGAF why someone else has one. If I thought there was a chance at my weapon being used in a suicide then I'd, of course, remove it from existence. My family, wife and children, are taught to respect weapons. I teach muzzle awareness, safety and cleaning/maintenance before they ever fire a weapon. My sons "have their own guns" but they do not have access to them, they are in my gun safe and we taken them out when we go to the range. My mossberg is fastened behind my headboard and requires a 4 digit pin to release the hoster lock. My upstairs and downstairs glocks are in a case that only opens to my or my wifes hand print + pin. The only use for my weapon in the context of me concealed carrying it is for protection, and I have a very close-to-home reason why I do this. I have thousands of hours of side-arms training/use so the risk of "accidental discharge" is very low, and even if that were to happen, the chance of it injuring someone reduces the hazard even more. I would rather (and hope to) carry a weapon for my entire life and not need it rather than not have one with me the one time I could use it to protect myself/family from death.
what did death ever do? immagine you, being there, shooting the hogfather in front of all those kiddies while he is giving away presents! how can you remove things from existence? you can't just poof things away! what does this even mean: ?
First of all, even if we debate and argue and such, I'm glad you're still here. I know this is getting into very personal areas, so you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but you did bring it up. Had you no other means of killing yourself at the time? A knife for example? I've know some people that have very seriously committed suicide, and at least one that went through with it (though not with a gun). I know it is largely an impulse thing, but I disagree that having access to being able to buy a gun makes one any more likely to go through with it than access to a sharp knife. I do know there are some cultural things involved here as well. Some prefer what they would view as ideally painless deaths and such, and in theory a gun could offer that over a knife (having not been shot myself, I rather don't know about that, but I think some would disagree on that subject). Poison can be slower or more likely to be ineffective with an improper dosage by comparison, etc. But I earnestly don't believe that would have anywhere close to a significant impact on the number of overall suicides. Maybe for you in your specific moment(s) it made a difference... but I can't help but think you might have held back anyway. There is, of course, no way to know for certain at this point... and I'd rather not "retest" that since you're an interesting if sometimes aggravating person to have around. Well, at least I can understand better why you're so nervous about them, if that's truly the case.
I've not ever had suicidal thoughts, that's all I'm gonna say. ...heheha... im not that angry at people anymore though. ( I'm saying I would have tried to run first.)
Turns out stainless steel knives can't be sharpened that well, and having an electric razor means no default sharp blades in reach ... Also, it's all pretty painful. Many people reconsidered suicide on their way to a bridge or to another location where they'd try to kill themselves (including Bill Murray), with a death as quick and accessible as by gunshot I don't think that would be a possiblity.
It means that in addition to the fact that accidental discharge of a weapon is almost non existent, statistically, that I know how to carry a weapon around others. I am right handed, so my handgun is under my left arm, it points downward. If it fired in the holster it would hit the dirt approximately 4-5 feet behind me (btw, this would require spontaneous combustion of the projectile since the trigger is protected). I always walk behind and to the left of my family and I never let anyone else stay in that zone. In addition to that, I have weapons training and actual real experience using the weapon, lots of it. Still, there is a chance my weapon could accidentally fire and hit someone, or somehow I could be incapacitated/disarmed at 6'2" 210lbs. former USMC by someone wanting to commit suicide but those are very very small chances. I get that you don't agree with me. It really doesn't matter, you are just pixels on the internet, in my world you do not even exist, so it's ok if we don't agree- ya?
so what you mean is it's safer because you are well educated about the risks and take a lot of measures to minimize them further, but because I live for this stuff I'm going to do this : okay so it's safer because there is an almost 0% chance statistically that you know how to carry a weapon around others? ... I think I understand what you mean... It's actually the primer that combusts when it is hit by the hammer, this generates the heat necessary to light the propellant causing the explosion wich propells the projectile but that's what you meant and this is just semantics This is terrible, never any friend placing their hands on your shoulders in a sideways friend hug.never to walk hand in hand with your family, never to have your children playfully try to suprise you from behind. truly you are cursed.
