Posted on 02/20/2014 7:15:10 AM PST by marktwain
| Senator Lee Bright, Sponsor of the Constitutional Carry Bill |
"You can carry a weapon openly if this bill is adopted and I'm offended by that," said committee chair Sen. Larry Martin (R-Pickens).South Carolina is one of only six states that ban the open carry of holstered handguns. It is likely that the number will soon be reduced to five. Both of the likely candidates for Texas governor have said that they are in favor of restoring legal open carry.
"Many thanks to Rachel Maddow and MSNBC for [inadvertently] spreading the word about my Constitutional Carry bill! I'm proud to have the terrific support of Governor Haley in this effort."Senator Bright raffled off an AR-15 rifle as part of his campaign.
I prefer concealed carry.
I feel open carry can start confrontations, while with concealed carry, nobody knows and we have a Heinleinian polite society because we just don’t know what the other guy is capable of.
“an armed society is a polite society” Robert A. Heinlein
just my $0.02.
“You can carry a weapon openly if this bill is adopted and I’m offended by that,” said committee chair Sen. Larry Martin (R-Pickens).
Less than a man.
Anybody but Lindsey. Count me in.
Whether or not this wuss is “offended” is immaterial—He’s there to represent the interests of his constituents, not to act on his personal preferences.
Having said that, I also prefer concealed carry—Keep the bad guys guessing.
I’m with you, so that makes $.04. If something happens the guy who’s obviously armed gets to be the first target.
Oh this issue, I’m pro-choice. I can see appropriate times for both open and concealed carry, depending on a lot of variables. I do not want to be constrained in the way I exercise my rights merely because someone else, who has been conditioned by many years of media propaganda, might be offended.
I've seen this supposition posted a lot of times, and it seems to be a logical conclusion, but I wonder: is there any evidence of this actually happening?
I’m a SC senior. I carry concealed all the time (and now even in Establishments serving alcohol). Open carry may be a “constitutional” right...but for me it is just “bling”... Look at me, I’m important, I have a gun...and it is stupid. Why advertise you have a valuable $600 piece that could be taken from you and used to kill you. Always best concealed...as stated above...keep ‘me guessing!
i too am not a big fan of open carry and probably wouldn’t do it anyway but i would not oppose it either. as someone on FR a while back mentioned, open carry does provide some legal protection if you are carrying concealed and accidently expose your firearm. i think carrying concealed makes me more aware of my responsibilites as a gun owner and ccw individual.
While I understand your concerns about open carry vs concealed carry, the bottom line is this: We have the 2nd Amendment for a reason.
I think that one should have the option to carry either way.
I think concealed carry is more effective, but the choice should be up to the citizen.
With concealed carry, punks never know who is packing a gun.
“I’ve seen this supposition posted a lot of times, and it seems to be a logical conclusion, but I wonder: is there any evidence of this actually happening?”
There is one case where someone who was spotted carrying (not clear if it was intentional open carry or unintentional) had his pistol snatched. He then gave chase and was shot and killed when he confronted the pistol theif.
There have been numerous cases where criminals have been deterred by open carry, and cases where people were attacked because the criminal did not know that they were armed.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both open and concealed carry. I carry both ways, depending on circumstances.
Thanks. More-or-less as I expected. As I said up-thread, I believe that there are appropriate times and places for both, and I want/demand/claim the ability to exercise my rights according to my own judgement of which is which.
I also carry all the time and everywhere it’s legal (yeah I know...) and prefer to carry concealed. However, I would support open carry because it’s a right, and because I’d like to carry concealed in an OWB holster under a concealing shirt or jacket. Where we are now you can get in trouble for “inadvertent exposure” of a concealed weapon.
I agree, it should be our choice, not a government imposition.
But, unless I see a compelling reason otherwise, I will choose not to open carry. I think it creates anxiety (is the person with gun going to shoot the place up, or just display the gun because he can?) and puts business owners in an awkward position (I suggest it would drive away business if very many people open carried in a place of business).
All that being said, I will continue to carry concealed in the event someone does decide to use their gun illegally - I'd rather they not know where their shooter is.
I prefer discrete carry. That is when someone would have to look closely to figure out you have a gun, but you can’t get in trouble with the law if someone DOES figure it out.
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Personally, I'm in favor of "carry what ever you want, when ever you want, any place you want." That's the 2nd Amendment.
State Sen. Larry Martin
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