LEO and open carry

[ArGyLe64]

I've been in law enforcement for over 6 years now and see nothing wrong with open carry. I don't see too many people actually open carrying. Even with open carry being legal I highly doubt I would do so even when off duty.

 

[MLR]

Are you kidding me? If they weren't crazy, they would be law abiding citizens like you and me. Those bastards are koo-koo for Cocoa Puffs. I know crazy, I deal with crazy for a living. You been to your local Wal-Mart around 10-11pm lately? Zombie city!

As for your last statement...when the 2nd Amendment was written, those men KNEW how to shoot. Everybody from the farmer to the pastor knew their way around their muskets. It provided food on the table and protection from harm. They couldn't just plow thru a thousand rounds on the weekend for shits and grins. They relied on one shot/one kill.

Are you aware that when it was written there were no restrictions on what weapon citizens might desire to use? That those citizens might even carry weapons more lethal than those possessed by the military?

Should the government be able to ignore the Constitution solely because of advancements in technology?
Should they be able to change it by simple decree or should they have to do it the way it was intended to be changed? By amending it.
More and more I am forced to think that the Constitution is just something to wave around at election time. That in all actuality it is nothing more than a joke.

Michael

 

[kinggabby]

As a citizen, I believe open carry should be available, but used very sparingly and under limited circumstances. I will only open carry out of uniform under very limited circumstances, such as when fishing on my boat, hiking or camping.

As a LEO, I feel my position should be the same as my agency, no position. If it comes to pass, don't come up to me in uniform and brag about how you can open carry the same as I do, unless you're wearing a vest and a triple retention holster, and have a certificate from a class that teaches weapon retention against gun grabs. Otherwise, I'll probably look at you like you're a martian.

If OC is passed and you decide to make your Wal-Mart walk with your exposed sidearm, please take off your air of superiority before exiting your vehicle. And if you EVER loose your sidearm to an adversary because of a gun grab, you own everything that happens with it from that point on. I cannot stress that strongly enough, and neither should you.

Good day!

I can agree with the way you have worded this. I also spoke with a Highway Patrolman who also works at the library. This gentleman also said he agrees with OC and he told me his major concern is firearm retention. Telling me how a lot of people when in a store lets say WW people will tend to forget they have a firearm on their side. I told him I can understand that and as you should always be using situational awareness you will have to vamp it up even more if you are packing open heat. Now to the question about cases of people having their gun taken from them yes there has been. Just watch some of the shows showing crazy people when stopped by cops. Also there was a case I saw on another forum where a person got killed with his own gun. Does that change my thoughts about wanting OC ? No because life is a risk . Everyday you wake up you risk getting robbed, hit by a car, dropping from a heart attack ( you get the idea) . Now to use a different way of looking at it ... if you stop at a light or a C-store someone could try to CJ your car. Does that mean you need to not drive? No you just need to use situational awareness . Here is a link to a story of a man killed with his own gun read down towards the end it says the victim's gun was plainly seen that night . http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/news/2011/dec/03/4/teen-homicide-suspects-had-felony-convictions-ar-1510369/

 

[redmax51]

As a citizen, I believe open carry should be available, but used very sparingly and under limited circumstances. I will only open carry out of uniform under very limited circumstances, such as when fishing on my boat, hiking or camping.

As a LEO, I feel my position should be the same as my agency, no position. If it comes to pass, don't come up to me in uniform and brag about how you can open carry the same as I do, unless you're wearing a vest and a triple retention holster, and have a certificate from a class that teaches weapon retention against gun grabs. Otherwise, I'll probably look at you like you're a martian.

If OC is passed and you decide to make your Wal-Mart walk with your exposed sidearm, please take off your air of superiority before exiting your vehicle. And if you EVER loose your sidearm to an adversary because of a gun grab, you own everything that happens with it from that point on. I cannot stress that strongly enough, and neither should you.

Good day!

Best post here,thanks Jerry.

 

[Norman]

Reference my previous post. The story was posted in the ccw forum IIRC.

 

[iRIGHTi]

Why is that most LEO's think that "civilians" don't practice situational awareness or train for weapons retention or hand to hand close quarters tactics? Some "civilians" are military or ex-military and some just believe in being well prepared. I've also met LEO's who qualify with their weapon only when required. So, the point is that there are both LEO's and "civilians" who are prepared and train AND there are those who are not prepared and fail to train. That decision is each individual's to make and theirs alone. We do not want to live in a nanny state where we are told we can't do something because government or law enforcement "doesn't think it is a good idea." We live in a nation that is founded on constitutional principles and we would like the ability to make an individual CHOICE for ourselves.

 

[Glocktogo]

Why is that most LEO's think that "civilians" don't practice situational awareness or train for weapons retention or hand to hand close quarters tactics? Some "civilians" are military or ex-military and some just believe in being well prepared. I've also met LEO's who qualify with their weapon only when required. So, the point is that there are both LEO's and "civilians" who are prepared and train AND there are those who are not prepared and fail to train. That decision is each individual's to make and theirs alone. We do not want to live in a nanny state where we are told we can't do something because government or law enforcement "doesn't think it is a good idea." We live in a nation that is founded on constitutional principles and we would like the ability to make an individual CHOICE for ourselves.

I believe I was fairly succinct in the need for training & equipment, and I'm always preaching situational awareness. What does a LEO have that a civilian doesn't ***? A LEO has a much longer training course than a civilian. A LEO has a field training officer that mentors and reviews everything they do for hundreds of hours. A LEO has recurrent in-service training, officer safety alerts, after action debriefs, on staff firearms instructors and a chain of command to remind them of their responsibilities regarding their service sidearm. In other words, the LEO has an entire network of resources that are mostly mandatory regarding their safety, and it's all free of charge. A civilian only has these things if they spend their own time, money and resources on it. What percentage of them actually do? One percent? Five or ten percent?

I support and defend the right of the citizen to carry a firearm in whatever manner they see fit for their own protection. I'd rather have them protect themselves than respond to the scene of their victimization at the hands of a criminal. All I'm saying is that even rights carry responsibility. If you've taken every reasonable precaution and circumstances indicate that you did everything you could to prevent it, you'll get a sympathetic ear from me if your firearm gets taken. If you wantonly flaunted your rights without assuming the commensurate responsibility, you'll get a professional report and not much more.

Does anyone feel they'd deserve more than that?

*** Just a reminder that all LEO's outside the DoD are in fact civilian citizens as well.

 

[centraloklahoma]

I see it one way. The right to self defense. You either support it or you do not. Supporting it means you have the right to self defense wherever you are at. So if you support the right of any person to self defense then you should obviously support the right of that person to carry firearms. Anywhere, Anyhow, Anytime.

There are alot of bad guys in the world. They all love unarmed and helpless victims.

I do not think we as citizens should have to ask permission from anybody to exercise our right of self defense.

I support open and concealed carry.

 

[Glocktogo]

I see it one way. The right to self defense. You either support it or you do not. Supporting it means you have the right to self defense wherever you are at. So if you support the right of any person to self defense then you should obviously support the right of that person to carry firearms. Anywhere, Anyhow, Anytime.

There are alot of bad guys in the world. They all love unarmed and helpless victims.

I do not think we as citizens should have to ask permission from anybody to exercise our right of self defense.

I support open and concealed carry.

Do you also support the expectation of responsibility when it comes to that right?

 

[T.R.]

I'm sure many of us have lived in an open carry state at one time or another. I lived in New Mexico for over four years. Know how many times I saw someone carrying openly? Exactly one time. I just don't see it as a problem.