Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
by: Stephen LaSpina
If the title of my piece grabbed your attention, it did its job. Please understand that 43 is not an arbitrary number that I came up with. It is the list of incidents (compiled by Greg Ellifritz of Active Response Training) when an open-carrying citizen was assaulted or disarmed by a criminal who saw the firearm and targeted that gun owner. (For the sake of my argument, I am NOT including the law enforcement instances, which would drive the number of incidents closer to 100.) You can peruse each account to see for yourself the bad outcomes that can (and did) happen.
Before I go any futher, let me be very clear that my position on open carry is the same as that of Spencer Keepers: "I support the right, not the practice." Government should not infringe on how we bear our arms, but we should exercise wisdom on our own in how we do.
Here are three reasons I highly discourage the practice of open carry.
1. Open carry is a bad idea because it may increase the likelihood of your being targeted for criminal assault.
There are many in the gun community who loudly proclaim that their wearing their firearm openly serves as a deterrent. While I cannot say that is never true in any circumstance, there is empirical evidence from the stories linked above that it certainly is not always the case, and that it can actually lead to victimization. A gun is a highly desirable item for a criminal to obtain. They can use it in the commission of other crimes, or they can sell it on the street for cash. If they think they can disarm you without negative consequence, a hardened criminal may well try.
2. Open carry takes away a major tactical advantage: the element of surprise.
Consider that criminals rely on the element of surprise to do what they do; you won’t find them open carrying their guns - they conceal them until the last possible moment in the commission of their crime. That’s because victimizing people is a game of ambush for them. As the lion conceals itself in tall grass while it stalks its prey, so a criminal conceals his weapons until he is ready to strike. As we consider how to best counter that ambush, it would be prudent to not reveal the presence of our own defensive tools without cause. Rather than be deterred, a violent criminal may assume you are a cop or plainclothes LEO who needs to be the first one shot. My recommendation is for you to keep your advantages hidden until you can employ them judiciously.
3. There are negative social outcomes that are likely to occur when open carrying.
As gun owners, we already take a lot of heat from anti-gun proponents. Walking through a store with your gun on your hip and your Gadsden flag hat is not going to win anyone to our side. People are either ignorant of what it means, or they know how they feel about it one way or the other. It may also cause someone more neutral about 2A issues to believe the negative press about those “crazy gun nuts.”
Another negative social outcome is unwanted contact with law enforcement. Yes, you certainly have every right in Pennsylvania to carry openly, but most people are ignorant of the law, and it’s only a matter of time before someone calls the police to warn them of “a man walking around with a gun.” Open carrying in this case can lead to delays in your day and/or awkward/confrontational interactions with law enforcement and the general public.
As a defensive firearms instructor, I teach my students to obtain their concealed carry permit and learn effective concealment methods. This would include a holster and belt that were designed with concealment features, as well as appropriate cover garments that adequately conceal the firearm (and even direct attention away from it when possible).
I should state that I understand open carry in certain limited circumstances (think RSO at a gun range, or an engaged citizen at a 2A rally). But setting those kinds of contexts aside, there is almost always more risk than benefit to be had by showing your gun to a watching world. If you doubt this, just read through some of the real-world instances above where open carry did not work out in the good guy’s favor.
In summary, don’t increase your odds of victimization and give up the element of surprise by open carrying. Keeping your firearm concealed will help you avoid social awkwardness and keep your ace in the hole hidden until it’s time to play your hand.