Skip to comments.
Would Open Carry of Handguns Make You Feel Safer?
The Federalist Papers ^
| JUNE 4, 2013
| BY STEVE STRAUB
Posted on 06/05/2013 11:46:33 AM PDT by Sopater
A few days ago we asked if you would feel safe going into a business that had a sign that read Guns are welcome on premises, please keep all weapons holstered unless need arises. In such a case judicious marksmanship is appreciated.
1,524 of you replied and the comments below are representative of what most of you had to say about this issue:
- BEST COMMENT – Here’s the thing with the people who believe it would be unsafe. In most states to carry a holstered gun in public, they must pass an extensive class of shooting accuracy, defensive shooting, and proper safety. Yes I’m sure there are people that haven’t gone through this, but these are the people who have a reason for not being legal. Your belief on gun control is your belief but I will say that in the properly trained hand a situation that involves an intruder can be controlled quicker than the police are able to get there.
- BEST COMMENT – How about a sign at school’s “Faculty/staff/administrators are carrying firearms and are trained to use if the need arises”? I’m for it.
- BEST COMMENT – I’m a teacher (33 years) and I would LOVE to have a gun in my room. I have a right to protect my students without endangering myself. I have a family, too!
If I’m on one side of the room with a gun & my students are on the other side, the gunman would pay attention to me, not them. - The bigger question here is would a gun toting ,psychopathic, trigger happy freak feel safe if he decides he is having a bad day and wants to take out a few people at a local business? Uh, I think he would think twice after seeing this!
- Israelis are safe in an unsafe world because many are heavily armed. Don’t feel safe around guns? Don’t go to Israel or to this shopping center. Israelis won’t miss you; neither will we.
- My belief is simple. Arm every GOOD citizen. Teach them to be proficient shots. Educate them on the second amendment and check for understanding the fact, that we, the greatest country on earth, have guns to thank for our life styles and our freedom…. now think about this… how many of those 22 children in conn would have come home to their parents, had all the good people, (who are here today because their fore fathers carried guns) been “packin”….
- Gun free zones are the most UNsafe place to be. The bad guys certainly know this. The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
- Yes, safer than at school where I know there is no protection and anyone can and has just walked right in and hurt whomever they please without threat of return fire
- Absolutely safe! Criminals will know there are citizens present who are armed and not afraid to us it, and families can enter knowing they are allowed to exercise their right to bear and use to protect. The store owner can be more at ease about thefts, and in providing a safer environment for all.
- I wonder why the women who say they would not feel safe at this establishment feel that way? Should they feel unsafe at a police station where everyone is armed? Would they feel safer at a location that bans firearms? Those locations are targets for evil men with bad intent.
- 100% in favor of open carry and conceal carry. It is a verifiable fact that there are less gun crimes and less home invasions where people are able to protect themselves and their property. The 2nd amendment was designed by the framers of this country to protect ourselves from tyranny. Enemies, both foreign and domestic beware. This is our right. Deal with it!
- I would have my own CCL and feel even safer!!! When you outlaw guns only outlaws will have guns!!! The mayor of New York City even has his armed body guards but wants to make it to where the average citizen can not carry a personal sidearm!!! What country was he born in?
- ALTERNATE VIEW – Except of course that plenty of people have been shot by “Good guys” too. I’ve lost count of how many news stories I’ve read that end in “I didn’t know it was loaded”. Or, “My husband bought it for me and I forgot it was in my purse. I’m not afraid of competent gun owners. Its the stupid ones who shouldn’t even be driving a car, much less owning a deadly weapon that scare me.
About 5% of you said they would not feel safe going into a business like that, the comments below are representative of what that group had to say. There are only a few samples because most were about the same.
- I’m sorry, but I would not be eating there. That’s too scary.
- I certainly would not feel comfortable walking into place where it’s possible that everyone there is packing a gun. I think that is just stupid. Anything could happen in that environment.
- I grew up with guns too. I was educated on the proper use of guns. A lot of people haven’t been. Can you imagine some couple gets in an argument there, they both pull out guns and start shooting, and everyone else pulls there guns not knowing who the bad guy is. Lots of people would be shot. I will steer clear, thank you very much.
All in all I was amazed that 95% of you would feel safe given all of the anti-gun media focus. It tells me that the anti-gun crowd is losing as far as the American people are concerned.
What do you think? Please comment below
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: 2a; banglist; guncontrol; opencarry; secondamendment; selfdefense
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-65 next last
To: SnakeDoctor
ever walk into a bar where the police hang out?
41
posted on
06/05/2013 12:28:35 PM PDT
by
no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
To: Little Ray
Of course, it create entire new hazards for men: Does this gun make my butt look fat?
But of course men would have to be much more careful about how they answered that one!
42
posted on
06/05/2013 12:34:03 PM PDT
by
Sopater
(Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? - Matthew 20:15a)
To: Sopater
I’d feel very comfortable with others open carrying, but I’ll continue to conceal carry. Concealed carry has a tactical advantage.
43
posted on
06/05/2013 12:34:44 PM PDT
by
Yo-Yo
To: Sopater
I’m only unsafe in a gun free zone, I believe I’m more safe and comfortable where firearms are carried, open or concealed. While I believe there are proper places for open carry and primarily to protect the rights of those who are working or participating in outdoor activities and put on or take off a coat that may expose or conceal a fire arm. I’m not really a proponet of open carry and I prefer to carry concealed. I believe open carry can make someone a target in certain sitituations, ambush the person with the gun first. It’s possible though that someone shooting the open carry person first would give me warning and time to draw and fix on the target.
44
posted on
06/05/2013 12:38:27 PM PDT
by
duffee
(NO poll tax, NO tax on firearms, ammunition or gun safes. NO gun free zones.)
To: Sopater
Robert Heinlein said, “An armed society is a polite society”, I thought it was a brilliant comment that should be obvious the first time I read it as a teenager and still do. That said I’m not sure I would open carry if it was legal until it was common. I will, however, continue to conceal carry my Kahr PM9 or Glock G23.
45
posted on
06/05/2013 12:38:52 PM PDT
by
MtBaldy
(If Obama is the answer, it must have been a really stupid question)
To: Yo-Yo
46
posted on
06/05/2013 12:39:37 PM PDT
by
no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
of course, remain lawful.
47
posted on
06/05/2013 12:42:28 PM PDT
by
no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
To: no-to-illegals
No. Don’t spend much time in bars.
SnakeDoc
48
posted on
06/05/2013 12:44:30 PM PDT
by
SnakeDoctor
("I've shot people I like more for less." -- Raylan Givens)
To: SnakeDoctor
My feeling exactly...I’m happy to carry concealed.
To: SnakeDoctor
I love to go in for the conversation and video.
50
posted on
06/05/2013 12:47:59 PM PDT
by
no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
To: Arlis
Come to the wonderful Commonwealth of Virginia where open carry is legal everywhere except: schools, federal buildings (including USPS), courthouses and liberal businesses........... Funny thing there -- NM has you beat, their only exceptions are federal buildings (including the USPS). Though there are statutes that prohibit firearms on schools/universities, and the city and county courthouses post signs prohibiting it, they are nullity because the Constitution explicitly forbids those "laws".
51
posted on
06/05/2013 12:50:23 PM PDT
by
OneWingedShark
(Q: Why am I here? A: To do Justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God.)
oh forgot to mention ... This is only a drill. If an actual emergency had been declared there would have been a signal sent.
52
posted on
06/05/2013 1:01:42 PM PDT
by
no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
forget it .... signal send in triplicate.
53
posted on
06/05/2013 1:28:08 PM PDT
by
no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
To: SnakeDoctor
I agree with you. Plus, you open carry, you are the first one the bad guy takes out.
To: Sopater
In SW Virginia I carry every day, sometimes concealed sometimes open...but then so do my neighbors and there’s very little crime in our area.
55
posted on
06/05/2013 1:38:14 PM PDT
by
JamesA
(You don't have to be big to stand tall)
To: no-to-illegals
of course, remain lawful.Since any restrictions on ownership or carrying of arms violate the second amendment, to be armed is to be lawful.
56
posted on
06/05/2013 2:00:04 PM PDT
by
JimRed
(Excise the cancer before it kills us; feed &water the Tree of Liberty! TERM LIMITS, NOW & FOREVER!)
To: JimRed
57
posted on
06/05/2013 2:07:48 PM PDT
by
no-to-illegals
(Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
To: Sopater
Personally, I think concealed carry is smarter. Carrying openly is like walking down the street while talking on your cell-phone. Are you physically capable of retaining it, if some bad guy tries to wrest it from you?
To: SnakeDoctor
I usually carry concealed but sometimes open carry {it is legal in PA}.
The safest store in the state is ACE Sporting in Washington, PA where almost every customer and employee is open carrying.
It looks like the old West, but everyone respects the law and a thief would never even think of any "job" in that place.
I buy most of my gun "stuff" there and always have my 357 Magnum and a 9mm to balance me out when I go there.
59
posted on
06/05/2013 2:36:10 PM PDT
by
USS Alaska
(Nuke the terrorist savages, start today.)
To: Obadiah
Open carry makes YOU the instant mark, especially in a bad situation. If someone wants to commit a violent crime, is the person more likely to try to target people who are openly carrying, or wait quietly for them to leave? Some criminals will adopt the former tactic, but generally only in cases where the people who are carrying openly (e.g. security guards) aren't likely to leave. I would posit that carrying concealed makes it more likely that a criminal will commence an attack in one's presence. Having the criminal attempt his attack when there's an armed person present to stop him is less bad than having the criminal successfully time his attack so as to avoid resistance. On the other hand, having the criminal never attempt his attack could be better yet.
60
posted on
06/05/2013 3:49:41 PM PDT
by
supercat
(Renounce Covetousness.)
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-40, 41-60, 61-65 next last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson