3 Reasons Why Open Carry is a Bad Idea…And Why They’re All Wrong [VIDEO]

By
Dan Zimmerman
-
67

 

You might expect a man whose company makes concealed carry holsters to preach against open carry. Not so with Bravo Concealment’s jefe, Rene Aquirre. His Texas company makes level one inside and outside the waistband holsters (I own four of them) and he’s a proponent of carrying a gun — either openly or concealed — because it’s your right to do so.

As he makes clear in the video above, he’s heard all the arguments against open carry, such as . . .

  • Someone will grab your gun from behind and disarm you.
  • You lose the element of surprise when you open carry.
  • Open carry gives all gun owners a bad name.

Watch the video for Mr. Aquirre’s fisking of all three of those reasons to keep your gun on the DL.

As he concludes . . .

I’ve had people tell me, ‘This is why they go after our rights. Because we go out there and we showboat them.’ They’re coming after the Second Amendment because they just don’t like guns period. And they don’t like us. 

It doesn’t matter if we play nice or not. As long as we’re doing what’s legally right, and what we can do, it doesn’t matter, guys. Don’t let political correctness keep you from carrying, whether it’s concealed or open carry. 

Well put. But even given Aguirre’s rebuttal to the anti-open carry arguments, a lot of gun owners still think open carry is just a bad idea.

How about you? If you can open carry, do you? If you could, would you?

 

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67 COMMENTS

  1. “Don’t let political correctness keep you from carrying, whether it’s concealed or open carry.”

    Preach it. Just carry.

    In that spirit, see this :

    https://babylonbee.com/news/santas-sleigh-mistakenly-shot-down-by-ukrainian-missile

    For some reason, Santa didn’t activate his anti-missile system, and paid for it dearly. Millions of children around the world will be crying tomorrow, and asking why Santa didn’t see it coming… 🙁

  2. I’d like to open carry my 50-year-old Hi-Power beauty, but I’m a Florida Man so I’m not allowed: establishment Republicans beholden to the Giant Rat of Orlando won’t have it. Maybe in 2023 (are you listening, Santa?).

    • Mine has a thumb strap. It required A LOT of practice to learn how to release that strap and have a smooth, fast draw.

      • Scary in an intense life threatening situation. I tried the thumb lock that came with my alien gear IWB holster but the release is too low to comfortably use. I have the retention setting pretty high which works for me.

  4. Nothing will ever prevent them from coming after our rights so that nonsense needs to get tossed as an argument.

    • SAFE….,

      Absolutely. The War for Independence continues to this day; the tyrants never capitulated; they just changed their clothing.

    • Tell that to NY, CA, OR, CT, NJ, HI and other democRat strongholds.

      Voters blindly surrender the Second Amendment when Gun Control is not defined by its history of rot. And the reason that happens and will continue to happen is 90% of Gun Owners couldn’t define Gun Control by its history of rot if their lives depended on it.

  5. My only concern with open carry is having some wingnut call 911, saying I am brandishing or acting in a threatening manner. There are haters out there who think they would be perfectly honorable by making false accusations against a white, gun-toting, masculine guy wearing a cowboy hat with a “Trump Won” button on it and with a USA flag emblazoned on his shirt.

    Yeah, that’s me.

    • Real LEO’s understand. Getting a real LEO is a crapshoot. Douglas County Sheriff’s are a 95 percentile range of good v bad.

      • After having read my post I must take back my percentages. Every DCSO Deputy that I’ve had contact with has been awesome.
        My last encounter was a Deputy that pulled me over for expired tags. He told me your tags are 2 years expired. I said sorry sir I try to keep up on this stuff and told him I hadn’t recieved a notice to renew. He said don’t worry about it Covid has mucked things up so no ticket just take care of it as soon as possible. Then he said I don’t want you to get a fine the Colorado DMV will likely do that for you anyway as he smiled and let me be on my way.

        Merry Christmas everyone and God Bless. Stay safe and Happy New Year to All of You.

  6. I believe that people who are against open carry. They probably are very comfortable with only the police and military being allowed to openly carry machine guns.

    The openly carrying of arms is a political statement. And it is a non-violent form of a political statement. The silly anti gunners like to acquaint it to openly carrying s3x t0ys. Or walking around with large sagging expose breasts.

    They are not on the same level at all. Despite what these these silly anti civil rights gun grabbers say.

    I understand if someone is uncomfortable with someone who is improperly openly carrying a firearm. I am also uncomfortable at someone who openly carries in an unsafe manner.

    And it wasn’t the Black Panthers who first openly carried guns. It was the Deacons for Defense and Justice in the 1950s. The black panthers used their example almost 10 years later. But nobody wants to talk about that. Because open carry under those circumstances is an act of self-defense.

    Just as the open carrying of guns after a riot occurs, is an act of self-defense. Especially when the cops stand down and do nothing to stop the violence.

    Some of the members of the NFAC were unsafe with their guns. But I liked the fact that you had civilians trying to March in an orderly fashion in public while carrying guns. It was a teachable moment for everyone. That you can in fact openly carry in the United States as a civilian.

    It puts criminals on notice. The civilian criminals or government criminals. Open carry is a “hard civil right”. Not a “soft civil right” like smoking marijuana or shooting up crystal meth in public.

    • Exactly. Good distinction of hard vs. soft civil rights.

      The only thing I have to take issue with is that everything I have read about the Deacons indicates they were founded in 1964 and had generally stopped all activities by the end of the 60s. Couldn’t find much that said they were active in the 50s. But they were indeed the first black civil rights organization to open carry.

    • The New Black Panthers stood in front of voting stations in Philadelphia during the 2008 election with AR-15s and Handguns. The Fake News media played it as a Civil Right in the protection of Voting Rights.

      • Didn’t see the ones with guns in Philly, all they showed on the news was NBPs dressed in black with clubs and night sticks… Saw them in Tampa carrying ARs talking about “killin us some cracker babies” and marching on a Texas Sheriff’s office also carrying ARs…

    • I agree that there are racists everywhere. You point it out all of the time. What you are reticent in saying is a black man like you is as much of a racist problem as the white man.

      • I know that it hurt you as a white person, to have a black person point out that you are voting for white people who want to take civil rights away from other whites, as well as everyone else. You would prefer to blame your problems black people. Instead of the racist white leadership, that you have supported all your life.

        You are just another racist white leftist/liberal. Who disagreed with the black Christians when they said that a father is necessary in the home. You’re happy to replace the black father’s love and discipline with a welfare check. And replace his guns with the guns of a big city police department.

        • . You’re happy to replace the black father’s love and discipline with a welfare check.

          Wasn’t it the BLACK women of the 60s that made that decision? Generational welfare started in the inner cities that’s just a fact. Lyndon B sold them a bill of goods and they bought in to the get the man out, have more babies, get more money. Sorry dude this one is on your folks.

  8. Comical the side being attacked and marginalized is constantly worrying about optics and “getting along” with the side that is constantly attacking them.

    Get dinner on the table at six sharp and maybe you won’t get beat tonight.

  10. Was I the only one thinking how in the world does that guy get his phone or car keys out of that jean pocket with the holster right on top of it??

    I was paranoid about open carrying at first but watching people as I do my day to day I learned I can spend an hour in a busy Walmart and only 3-5 people will even notice I have something on my hip. People are stupid oblivious.

    • “Was I the only one thinking how in the world does that guy get his phone or car keys out of that jean pocket with the holster right on top of it??”

      use the pocket on the opposite side like most thinking people do?

      • Wallet, keys front left pocket, phone front right. Back pockets empty. Sitting on your wallet throws messes with your back.

    • I open carried half way across the US and I had one person notice. Literally in 4 days one person noticed. I also carry a concealed back up gun. Highly doubt anyone dumb enough to try and take my gun off me will be able to work the retention holster before I have a chance to react.

  11. It’s no one else’s business if I’m carrying.

    I see no justifiable reason to advertise.

    There are 30.07 locations that I simply cannot avoid.

      • No, it proves there is something wrong with the people who object to/are “triggered by” open carry.

        Point me to the part of the 2A that distinguishes between open and concealed carry. It’s probably right next to the part that says we can’t have cannons.

  13. Best case AGAINST open carry, GUN FREE ZONES, open carry til you get to one of those then what? Carry a second holster for IWB carry? I carry EVERYWHERE except County, State and Federal courthouses that have metal detectors. Just not practical except maybe while I’m riding, only thing open carry would do for me is lessen the problem of inadvertent exposure (which FL has already addressed) in other states… Anyway, do what makes your life easier, but don’t do something just because you can…

    • Sincere curiosity, possum,

      have you ever been hassled because some nitwit Karen saw your piece, freaked out, and called 911?

  15. The Far Right Nut cases do not realize that only 22% to just 31% of Americans even own a gun. Parading round with a visible gun marks you as a Redneck violent jackbooted storm trooper that supports Herr Drumpf, a one party dictatorship, no freedom of speech, and the wish for a utopian all white state. Minorities are particularly fearful of Far Right White armed rednecks and if they are not anti-gun they certainly are pushed in the direction of wanting more gun bans when confronted or frightened by such white jack booted storm troopers. White Liberals feel the same way and so do Independent Voters as well as they too are often intimidated at the voting polls by Far Right assault rifle toating jackbooted assholes.

    In other words the worst advertisement for gun ownership to the general public is wearing a gun in public. Most people who carry openly are pegged by the public as white, ignorant, and violent trailer trash.

    Lets face facts a criminal will probably automatically think that you are carrying a large amount of money on you if he saw you carrying a gun openly. Its as if to say, “Look at me all you sons of bitches because I am the meanest hilljack asshole on the street” and I am just looking for a fight.

    Since the criminal already knows you are armed he can pick the moment to surprise you and shoot you before you even are aware of what he is going to do. As a matter of fact he may deliberately make himself look non-threatening by seeming to ignore you or if he does look at you smile and say something to put you at ease. He may even walk right past you and then suddenly turn around to disarm you or shoot you from the rear. Most probably the latter.

    I had an uncle who was on vacation with his two daughters. They were dressed like tourists and a criminal saw this and snuck up behind my uncle and put a gun to his head in broad daylight. Because he thought my uncle “unarmed” and probably not going to risk a fight because he was with his two young daughters he only demanded his wallet, and told him not to turn around and then he fled. If it had been legal there to carry a gun openly after my uncle gave up his wallet he undoubtedly would have had his head blown off by the criminal.

    The average guy who wants to carry openly is basically suffering from advanced paranoia and wants to appear violent and fearless asshole to everyone he meets. In reality most bullies are extreme cowards and are often the complete opposite of what they try and appear to be to the public. To the criminal they are an easy mark because they know right from the beginning what they are up against and how to go about shooting the victim before he even knows what is about to happen. If the criminal perceives you to be unarmed you have a far greater chance of survival because he does not fear you. You also have the option of either not fighting or fighting back and fighting back has proven through statistics to make you “way less” likely to survive even if you are an off duty thug cop looking or hoping to shoot someone today because the criminal always has the element of surprise.

    Again the studies prove that people who attempt to shoot it out survive way less times than people who did not offer resistance or violence towards the criminal. In a shootout with a hardened criminal you are almost always at the greater disadvantage.

    The average criminal will not hesitate to pull the trigger but many “Walter Mitty” type people would likely hesitate just that one fraction of a second to shoot and that is often what gets them killed. A million thoughts race through the citizens head , such as

    “Can I shoot this guy and not go to prison?

    Can I draw and fire before he pulls the trigger because his gun is already pointed at me?

    Is it worth losing my life over a couple of bucks in my wallet?

    These are only a few of the thoughts that slow you down and get you killed in a gun fight.

    You have to be a real violent redneck asshole to survive a gunfight and if you have never been in a gunfight your chances are slim you will win it and carrying openly almost guarantees that you will not win the fight.

    • 22 to 31% of Americans even own a gun? You’re either very mentally ill or an outright liar? Which is it, or both?

      • And, jethro, don’t overlook the fact that dacian the demented (as usual) cites no source for his “facts”. When was this supposed survey/guesstimate made? For at least the last three years, the US has had nearly 2 million NICS checks per month (not a direct, “one to one” analog for firearm purchases, but DAMN close). The statistics show that at least 30% of buyers recently have been “first time” buyers (https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/there-were-54-million-first-time-gun-buyers-2021-200116 – there you go, dacian the demented, THAT’S how you cite facts for your (alleged) argument).

        No matter how you slice and dice it, that means the number of “first time” gun owners continues to go up EVERY MONTH – not just as an absolute number, but also as a percentage of total gun owners. So, whenever dacian’s alleged “statistic” was derived, if more than a month has passed, it is now errant bulls***.

        dacian, did your mother repeatedly drop you on your head, on a concrete floor??

    • There are estimated to be over 400 million guns in the United States between police, military, and citizens. Over 393 Million firearms are in possession of ordinary law abiding citizens. The average law abiding gun owning American has 5 firearms, nearly 22% of law abiding gun owners only have a single firearm.

      32% of law abiding Americans personally own a firearm per the 2021 National Firearms Survey. Including family members who live in same household as gun owner and use a gun owned by the owner the number of lawful firearms possessors increases to 41% of Americans. Gallup estimated at 44% of households.

      Nearly 40 million firearms were legally purchased by Americans between January 2020 and December 2021, includes ~10 million first-time buyers. Since 2019, nearly half of first time gun buyers are women. In 2022 42.2% of gun owners are women and 57.8% of gun owners are men. In previous decades women made up 10-20% of gun owners. (note: Does not include legal personal sales/buys.)

      Overall, 45% of American men and 40% of American women live in a household with a gun.

      November 2022 – the 39th month in a row of at least 1 million FBI National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) verification’s processed for legal gun purchases.

      Gun owners are increasingly female with large percentage jumps in minority gun ownership, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Asian Americans. In 2022 90% of gun retailers reported a “general increase” of black customers purchasing, including an 87% increase among Black women purchasing. Black women now make up a majority of the 40,000 members of the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA).

      In 2021 – 2022 time frame: 28.3% of American women reported legally borrowing a gun for defense and employing it at least once to stop a violent ex-partner or violent stalker from harming them or others (e.g. children for a single mother or relatives).

      In 2021-2022 time frame, some various things from a variety of current studies by various universities and research organizations and medical community research, court cases striking down various anti-gun laws, news sources, various firearms use/possession tracking databases, police/state/federal records & databases & stats – aggregated separate events – in other words, hundreds of sources:

      Studies consistently find ordinary law abiding citizen gun owners are more law-abiding than the general public and police officers.

      In 2022, nationwide, ordinary law abiding citizen victims using firearms stopping/repelling either single or multiple criminal attackers – ~3,000,000 investigated (by law enforcement and prosecutors offices) and determined legal, justified self/home/others/property/public crime stop defense, more than 96% of victims escaped harm, less than 5% of the ordinary law abiding gun possessors actually fired:

      * ~3,500 defenders fired more than 10 rounds ending a single incident attack from either single or multiple attackers. ~4,000 defenders fired between 4 – 9 rounds in first attack initially repelling but attackers came back before police arrived and defenders forced to fire more than 10 rounds. The rest of the defenders fired 3 – 6 rounds or did not fire as brandishing/warning did the trick.​
      ​
      * 33% of women assaulted for rape were armed with a firearm, 97% of the 33% were able to stop attackers by use of the firearm and avoid serious harm and rape.​
      ​
      * Stopped ~12,000 criminal violent attacks by adult criminals ‘in public spaces’ against children under the age of 14.​
      ​
      * Stopped ~28,000 attempted kidnappings by violent pedophile offenders.​
      ​
      * National main stream news media reported on less than 2% of these events.​
      ​
      * Police present proximate to the area when these incidents happened one time.​
      ​
      (note: self-defense was more than 1.6 million, when home and others and property and public crime stop defense is accounted for ~3,000,000.)

      In 2022:

      * In ~66% of defensive incidents the ordinary law abiding armed citizen used a handgun and the rest of the defensive incidents used either rifle or shotgun.

      * ~25% of ordinary law abiding armed citizen defensive gun use happened within the gun owner’s home.

      * ~55% of ordinary law abiding armed citizen defensive gun use happened outside their home but on their property.

      * ~13% of ordinary law abiding armed citizen defensive gun use happened in general public settings.

      * ~7% of ordinary law abiding armed citizen defensive gun use happened at work.

  16. I “Open Carry” exclusively here in SW Virginia and have gotten nothing but positive comments. Typically, most recently two days ago, they’re asking what I’m carrying (usually a Star BM or a Ruger SP101) others congratulate me on exercising my 2nd Amendment rights. I’ve never had a negative comment though get lots of smiles.

  17. I have proven you wrong on all counts because I have been doing OC for seven years with no troubles. When I sit at a restaurant my gun on my hip is always out of sight to anyone coiming into the place. Prove a thing false on one statement invalidates the rests.

  18. This isn’t a comprehensive study or anything but I’ve talked with a bunch of folks who moved to a specific open carry state from less permissive places for their graduate education and none of them have said that it made them more anti-gun. If anything the opposite was true as most said they got used to seeing it pretty quickly.

  19. And, jethro, don’t overlook the fact that dacian the demented (as usual) cites no source for his “facts”. When was this supposed survey/guesstimate made? For at least the last three years, the US has had nearly 2 million NICS checks per month (not a direct, “one to one” analog for firearm purchases, but DAMN close). The statistics show that at least 30% of buyers recently have been “first time” buyers (https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/there-were-54-million-first-time-gun-buyers-2021-200116 – there you go, dacian the demented, THAT’S how you cite facts for your (alleged) argument).

    No matter how you slice and dice it, that means the number of “first time” gun owners continues to go up EVERY MONTH – not just as an absolute number, but also as a percentage of total gun owners. So, whenever dacian’s alleged “statistic” was derived, if more than a month has passed, it is now errant bulls***.

    dacian, did your mother repeatedly drop you on your head, on a concrete floor??

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