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The belief that an open carrier will get their gun taken from them and thus provide a gun to a criminal simply has never borne itself out in reality.  So far, no one that I have heard say this (and there have been lots of people that have said it) can point to one example where this has happened.

Carrying an unconcealed weapon, in a holster, should show those around them that they are the good guy.  They are the guy who cares about himself/herself and their loved ones enough to be able to protect them.

I carry my gun openly because I do not want to have to use it.  Why would a criminal attack a person obviously ready to defend themselves with deadly force when they can go down the street one block or wait for two minutes and there will be plenty of potential victims coming along who are not visibly armed?

Regarding a criminal wanting a gun, it is much easier, and much less likely to get caught for the criminal to simply buy the gun in an illegal sale.  The criminal has no need to attempt to take a gun by force from a person wearing it.  It is much easier for them to steal the money from an unarmed person and buy the gun on the black market.

In "Aremed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms" the authors discovered this:

Interviewing felony prisoners in ten state correctional systems in 1981, Wright and Rossi found extensive information suggesting that gun control laws have relatively little effect on violent criminals.  Fifty-six percent of the prisoners said that a criminal would not attack a potential victim who was known to be armed. Seventy-four percent agreed with the statement that "One reason burglars avoid houses where people are at home is that they fear being shot during the crime." Thirty-nine percent of the felons had personally decided not to commit a crime because they thought the victim might have a gun, and eight percent said the experience had occurred "many times."

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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