NWShooter wrote:
I prefer concealed carry as it doesn't stir up the chicken littles. If they don't know I'm carrying they are far less likely to assume that I'm doing something wrong. Yes, you can carry openly, but why? And I do have my CPL. Discretion has its benefits. If my wife doesn't know I'm carrying, why should anyone else?
Recently read a Louisiana State Supreme Court decision from 1850 that was posted in another forum. Seems like their Justices felt that only criminals had reason to conceal and free men should feel no shame in exercising their constitutionally assured right. This was the reasoning behind many of the early anti gun carry laws, that only criminals concealed so they could attack those who were unaware.
When you say "why open carry" I say "why not?" I've got nothing to hide. In many cases the only one that notices that you are carrying a firearm is YOU. Unless you favor chrome plated pistols in fancy holsters, many people don't even notice that you have something on your belt. If you carry in a traditional manner your pistol/holster is only visible from a narrow view angle and many times it's obscured even then by your arm.
I open carry when I feel like it. I tend to feel like it more when it's warm outside and when cold I just put on a jacket which naturally tends to conceal.
I don't spend a lot of time worrying about the "chicken little's" and in several decades of carrying openly or concealed I have yet to have a negative encounter with any LEO.