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  • striker55

    TGT Addict
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    Jan 6, 2021
    4,524
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    Katy
    As far as a deterrent? There is no way to really measure that. Would someone looking to do harm not notice how a person is armed? Who knows for sure? The only time I have noticed that someone has seen my firearm is when they say something like "Nice gun!" or "What kind of gun are you carrying?" Generally, at the times I do decide to conceal, it's more of just pulling my shirt over my firearm that I had been open carrying.
    The only time I carry concealed is going into HEB and church.
     

    bigtex10mm

    TGT Addict
    Lifetime Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Apr 1, 2021
    4,074
    96
    Fayette Co.
    I know there are folks that like to open carry, and I have no problem with them doing so. I have actually seen about a dozen folks, 9 men and 3 women that were carrying openly. I did notice that only two of them had holsters that were designed similar to the police holsters that deter someone from taking their gun in any kind of altercation. The others had no such deterrent. One of the guys I saw and who noticed I was looking at his firearm, reached down and patted the gun/holster as if to say, "Yeah you see it and know I will use it if I have to". He had a funny smirk on his face and I just looked away. Well I guess he took offense to that and came up and asked me if there was a problem. I said no and asked why he would ask me such a question. He said it looked like I was dissing his gun/holster and by association him as well. I told him he was mistaken. He then said that I would never understand the "freedom of open carry". I told him that I am glad it gives him that kind of "freedom" but it just wasn't my way. He then said "well non-carriers will never understand. Well I just got up and walked away and let him believe that. I was carrying my EDC, a Wilson Combat Professional IWB that was covered by a square bottom fishing shirt. I have been carrying IWB since two days after it became law in Texas. He was wrong though...I do understand the freedom and element of suprise carrying IWB gives me.
     

    Axxe55

    Retiretgtshit stirrer
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Dec 15, 2019
    47,022
    96
    Lost in East Texas Elhart Texas
    I know there are folks that like to open carry, and I have no problem with them doing so. I have actually seen about a dozen folks, 9 men and 3 women that were carrying openly. I did notice that only two of them had holsters that were designed similar to the police holsters that deter someone from taking their gun in any kind of altercation. The others had no such deterrent. One of the guys I saw and who noticed I was looking at his firearm, reached down and patted the gun/holster as if to say, "Yeah you see it and know I will use it if I have to". He had a funny smirk on his face and I just looked away. Well I guess he took offense to that and came up and asked me if there was a problem. I said no and asked why he would ask me such a question. He said it looked like I was dissing his gun/holster and by association him as well. I told him he was mistaken. He then said that I would never understand the "freedom of open carry". I told him that I am glad it gives him that kind of "freedom" but it just wasn't my way. He then said "well non-carriers will never understand. Well I just got up and walked away and let him believe that. I was carrying my EDC, a Wilson Combat Professional IWB that was covered by a square bottom fishing shirt. I have been carrying IWB since two days after it became law in Texas. He was wrong though...I do understand the freedom and element of suprise carrying IWB gives me.
    Sounds like a prick that was looking for a reason to assert that his wanker was bigger than your's!
     

    Roscoe

    Active Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Apr 27, 2009
    436
    46
    Magnolia
    I usually just wear my gun on my belt and have in concealed by my shirttail; concealed but readily accessible. Sometimes, if in church or out to dinner I'll wear a jacket and carry IWB. I certainly don't mind having people open carry. Its their right by law, and in a bad situation I think they would draw attention away from me.
     

    Noggin

    Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 4, 2016
    141
    11
    I have open carrried most of the time since it became legal to do so. Concealed carry for me is only when the day time temp drops below 60F. I may have lived in Texas for nearly 9 years now but I still find my tolerance for low temps has not changed since spending most of my first 50 years of life in England. Therfore almost any time it is higher than 60F I am uncomfortable wearing more than one layer of clothing on my upper body. I found wearing my pistol under my shirt caused parts of it and my spare mag to rub uncomfortably on my skin, therefore I prefer to keep it outside of my shirt. I tried wearing a T shirt uner my shirt, never again too hot. So for me it is pistol OWB at 3 o'clock and pouch with spare mag, CS gas/pepper spray and knife OWB at 9 o'clock.

    A few weeks ago I visited my local bank, at that time they still required masks. So I remarked to the teller and security guard, how it was a strange modern world where you walk into a bank as a "masked man with a gun" and nobody got excited about it. They also saw the funny side of it.
     

    striker55

    TGT Addict
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jan 6, 2021
    4,524
    96
    Katy
    I have open carrried most of the time since it became legal to do so. Concealed carry for me is only when the day time temp drops below 60F. I may have lived in Texas for nearly 9 years now but I still find my tolerance for low temps has not changed since spending most of my first 50 years of life in England. Therfore almost any time it is higher than 60F I am uncomfortable wearing more than one layer of clothing on my upper body. I found wearing my pistol under my shirt caused parts of it and my spare mag to rub uncomfortably on my skin, therefore I prefer to keep it outside of my shirt. I tried wearing a T shirt uner my shirt, never again too hot. So for me it is pistol OWB at 3 o'clock and pouch with spare mag, CS gas/pepper spray and knife OWB at 9 o'clock.

    A few weeks ago I visited my local bank, at that time they still required masks. So I remarked to the teller and security guard, how it was a strange modern world where you walk into a bank as a "masked man with a gun" and nobody got excited about it. They also saw the funny side of it.
    I went into an Auto Zone when masks were required wearing a bandana and open carry, it felt very strange.
     

    citizen_zero

    Member
    Rating - 100%
    4   0   0
    Mar 10, 2022
    100
    11
    North of DFW
    I have yet to open carry and doubt I ever will. Not sure under what circumstances I would, honestly.

    99% of the time I don't give a s*** what others think but also at the same time I don't think I'd care for the unwarranted negative attention being as though I'm a pretty heavily tattooed, bearded, law abiding fatso, haha. I do wear OWB with a shirt over it as it's the most comfortable for me.
     

    Alpha.Geek

    Active Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Oct 18, 2021
    417
    76
    Tyler "suburbs"... :)
    I saw only one dude ever OC, lately @ Walmart in Tyler, he happened to be an African American.
    I assume he was from another state... ?

    I should have just shaken his hand and thanked him for having more balls than me, as
    I do not really be confronted by some violent-communist that might have to be... corrected.
     

    candcallen

    Crotchety, Snarky, Truthful. You'll get over it.
    Emeritus - "Texas Proud"
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Jul 23, 2011
    21,358
    96
    Little Elm
    I find myself without a cover shirt almost exclusively now on my daily walks and trips to Kroger and walmart. I carry IWB and no one cares. I've also noticed the signs coming off doors around here since CC.
     

    DoubleDuty

    TGT Addict
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Feb 9, 2019
    3,682
    96
    DFW
    I find myself without a cover shirt almost exclusively now on my daily walks and trips to Kroger and walmart. I carry IWB and no one cares. I've also noticed the signs coming off doors around here since CC.
    I pocket carry in a holster. Sometimes its covered sometimes not. I don't worry about it
     

    majormadmax

    Úlfhéðnar
    Rating - 100%
    9   0   0
    Aug 27, 2009
    15,841
    96
    San Antonio!
    I don't think I'd care for the unwarranted negative attention...

    I open carry on a regular basis, and in over five years have yet to experience any negative attention...

    I believe those concerns are mostly fictional. There have not been many accounts of people carrying openly being harassed about it I am aware of. Maybe in the liberal bastions of Austin or Houston, but not in real Texas...

    God bless Texas!
     

    easy rider

    Summer Slacker
    Lifetime Member
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 10, 2015
    31,489
    96
    Odessa, Tx
    I'm sure glad I don't live in areas where I would fear the thoughts of others at being armed. If anyone feared my open carrying, they hadn't showed it openly. I've never had any confrontation about my open carry, let alone angered looks. Of course there are places where I do need to cover it with my shirt, but even there, since I'm not really hiding it through printing, nobody seems to care. My rights don't end with other's fears.
     
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