Open Carry
Joe Huffman has a post on his thoughts on the subject as well as a lot of links to past discussions. Says Joe:
I don’t have a lot of information on the study but the basic result was that people see openly carried guns as “deadly force” and threatening/fear-causing which makes it different than gays holding hands, interracial couples, or woman’s bare ankles being visible. Sure, some people are fearful of gay cooties, Jews controlling the world, and their daughter dating a black guy. But it’s pretty easy to point out the silliness of those types of fears. Openly carried guns are different. If they didn’t have at least some real fear inducing properties they wouldn’t be useful for self-defense and as a deterrent against attack. Apparently that fear inducing quality persists to some degree in most people even after repeated exposure with non-threatening people carrying the gun. It may not be rational but people are not rational. Expecting or insisting people be rational is irrational.
There’s a lot more.
It also reminds me of a story. A friend of mine is in real estate. She was showing property to someone when a guy comes by walking his dog. He has a holstered gun on his hip. The family looking at the property immediately became uninterested in the property. Oddly, their interest in the property was renewed a few days later when they found out that the neighbor was a police officer who’d just gotten home. So, perception matters with respect to open carrying.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Only people who’re up to no good have any reason to feel uncomfortable around, or fear, open carrying honest people.
As for me, if I was house hunting finding out that one of the neighbors is a LEO is what would cause me to lose interest.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I’ve never thought there wasn’t some negative perception of Open Carry.
I just ask how we change that without actively Openly Carrying to counter that perception.
November 16th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
Only people who’re up to no good have any reason to feel uncomfortable around, or fear, open carrying honest people.
And if you can tell 100% who’s an honest person and who’s up to no good then you’re golden, aren’t you?
November 16th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
So, pursuant to your friend’s real estate experience, we should all get “Open Carry Badges”, correct?
🙂
November 16th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I am much more interested in ideas from folks on how to promote open carry with out, you know, open carrying.
I’ve not been seeing it. I admit I might not have looked in the right places, though whenever I read the folks talking down open carry, I just don’t see positive suggestions.
I can’t read the linked post due to the firewall at work though, so who knows, maybe Joe is offering suggestions.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I am much more interested in ideas from folks on how to promote open carry with out, you know, open carrying.
*empty holsters
*carrying of cardboard pictures of guns in holsters
*”accidental” OC (wearing a sweatshirt that tends to ride up when CC’ing)
*taking people to gun shows/shops/ranges where the staff (and often patrons) are OC’ing
*letting it be known you have a CC permit (be subtle)
That’s five off the top of my head. Surely at least one of them has merit?
November 16th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Tomcatshanger,
Sort of. I enumerated what I think are the conditions and actions that will at least minimize harm.
See also the comment I left at SIH for something that little more directly addresses your concern.
I think it also depends on what the immediate goal is. If the most pressing gun rights goal is preventing or over turning an “assault weapon” ban then OC probably is counter productive in that context. If the current goal is some sort of shall issue concealed carry then OC probably helps (see Wisconsin). If the goal is public acceptance of OC and it’s just a matter of getting the police to stop harassing people that OC then properly structured OC is probably productive.
My main point is that OC is viewed differently by non-gun people and that using it as a means to an end may be counter productive. It’s been great for the people of Virgina but it may backfire in other locations. Let’s play the game smart and adapt to the conditions rather than assume the same brute force (so to speak) solution will work in every case.
November 16th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
Only people who’re up to no good have any reason to feel uncomfortable around, or fear, open carrying honest people.
“And if you can tell 100% who’s an honest person and who’s up to no good then you’re golden, aren’t you?”
That aint hard to do. How ofton do you see crooks openly carrying?
November 16th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Huck,
Actually that issue is sort of addressed in a history paper Clayton Cramer wrote which I linked to in my post. But I’m sure it will be lost in the noise of the other 85 (if I counted correctly) links.
Back when OC was completely normal people were of the opinion that only people with criminal intent would carry concealed.
November 16th, 2009 at 3:32 pm
How about OC but only for those wearing Colt Single Action Army revolvers (and clones thereof)?
…i.e. make fun of the “Wild West” stereotype?
November 16th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Don’t forget your ten gallon hat, chaps, and spurs.
🙂
November 16th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Politeness, courtesy and concern for others’ erroneous perceptions has put us in this situation where it is considered suspect when it is known an ordinary citizen is carrying, in any fashion. How does more of the same change that?
Remember the definition of insanity?
November 16th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
I’m not really an expert but I probably play the game pretty well for an amateur. So seek out the advice of your local gun rights advocate who does this sort of thing for a living.
With that caveat here is my thought process on the topic.
My model is interracial couples from 50 years ago. It inflamed race relations in the deep south. It desensitized people in the north. By increasing the exposure in accepted areas of the country it became less inflammatory in the bigoted areas.
I believe we have places in this country where OC is no big deal. Increase the exposure there and expand into neighboring areas.
If OC is legal (true in most places) and there are no higher priority issues (somewhat rare) then by all means OC (without being a dick) and let the bigots whine.
If there are higher priority issues then do the focus group thing and see if OC is going to help or hurt your issue.
Play smart and don’t try to brute force it in all circumstances.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
That sure doesn’t look like much of a study. BLOG research? feh.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
didn’t say he did a study. that someone else had.
November 16th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I talked to someone from a gun rights organization who did the focus group in a professional manner. The results are not available for distribution.