
Originally Posted by
Mainsail
The Open Carry Argument
First One To Be Shot:
There are some who criticize open carry and claim it will make you more of a target or ‘the first one shot’ when a robber walks into the 7-11, despite the absolute lack of credible evidence that this has ever happened. If the robber walks in and sees that you’re armed, his whole plan has encountered an unexpected variable. In bank robberies where he might expect to see an armed guard he will have already factored that possibility into his plan, but only for the armed guard, not for open or concealed carry citizens. No robber robs a bank without at least a rudimentary plan. Nevertheless, being present for a bank robbery is an extremely remote possibility for most of us regardless of our preferred method of handgun carry, so let’s go back in the 7-11. If the robber sees someone is armed he is forced to either significantly alter the plan or abort it outright. Robbing is an inherently apprehensive occupation, and one that doesn’t respond well to instant modifications. He is not prepared to commit murder when he only planned for larceny. He knows that a petty robbery will not garner the intense police manhunt a murder would. He doesn’t know if you’re an armed citizen or a police officer and isn’t going to take the time to figure it out. Either way, if someone in the 7-11 is unexpectedly armed, how many others might be similarly adorned and where might they be? Does this unexpectedly armed individual have a partner who is likewise armed nearby, someone who is watching right now? Self preservation compels him to abort the plan for one that is less risky. So we see that the logic matches the history; open carriers are not the first ones shot because it doesn’t make any sense in any common street crime scenario that they would be. If your personal self protection plan emphasizes “Hollywood” style crimes over the more realistic street mugging, it might be best to stay home.
A lot of good points and a good point of view, my only problem with this is that you give the BG too much credit for thinking things through and if the situation arises that he can make the right self preservation decision. One thing for sure is that he is on a path of bad decision making, because if self preservation was on his mind, we would not be having this conversation. I know this might not happen on a daily basis, but what if the BG is full of drugs, their decision making abilities are pretty low, probably no way he is going to come up with "if you’re an armed citizen or a police officer". The other thing is if he walks in with a gun drawn (I have seen convenience store videos with this in them), he's already committing a crime, so I would have a hard time believing that he would back out if he sees you with a gun, most likely, you are going to be one of the first people that his gun will be pointed at and you are going to get moved next to the store clerk to make sure you don't do anything stupid, like reach for your gun. Now in this case, you are much safer if you gun is out of view, unless the BG is really out to kill someone. Also in a case like this, if the BG did manage to come to a conclusion that you are possibly a COP, I don't think it would matter much, because if you have a gun and he thinks you are going to use it because you went reaching for it or made him really nervous, it comes down to the BG's survival, self preservation like you were saying, so it's either him or you at that point and I'm sure you can guess which one he is going to pick. Of course if you already had the gun drawn as he was walking in, that might be a different story, but you will probably have other problems to deal with at that point.
Just my thoughts on that portion. I personally CC most of the time, but once in a while I will OC as well, just depends on place and time.
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