freedom_fighter777 wrote: Concealed Carry is a Privilege granted to you by your government. Open Carry is a Right in Ohio.
Unfortunately, it is not. It isn't as regulated as concealed carry, but it is by no means the "right" that you try to make it. That's like saying "concealed carry is a right" in your home because you don't need a license to do it. If you were right, you'd be able to exercise that open carry right in your car while you drive around Ohio. It is, in fact, prohibited in a vehicle. A more factual statement would be that carrying a firearm openly is in some respects less regulated than carrying one concealed.
Think about the impact it would have if every gun owner in Ohio Open Carried every day. Open Carry wouldn’t be an issue.
Our opponents often say "Imagine a world with no guns" and yet we know neither of the above phenomena will occur.
Until they tried to open carry while they drive somewhere, get on a bus, hail a cab, or the right to carry a gun into private establishments became strictly prohibited all over the State of Ohio as a knee-jerk reaction to the activity. Businesses that today don't post because the issue never comes to mind would prohibit all of us if we had a firearm and you would simultaneously.
All of our work to create a concealed carry system would be nullified by the need to open carry. We've spent years with the anti-gunners telling us "Why don't you just carry them openly?" and now that we can lawfully carry them concealed our own friends want us to carry them openly? The purpose of concealed carry is to be able to conceal, to be able to blend into society without sticking out like a sore thumb, to be able to go about your life capable of protecting yourself without having to deal with the controversy of your "conversation starter" on your hip.
I appreciate your tenacity, but your argument that we are ashamed of ourselves has no merit here. We were the first people in Ohio to schedule "in your face" open carry walks, so to try and accuse us of being opposed to it is silly. I've open carried quite often, but I prefer the tactical benefits of concealed carry. I can only be so "situationally aware" in life without going insane, and by concealing I have the advantage and control over my firearm that I (and many here) desire.
By telling gun owners that they shouldn’t open carry to a gun rights meeting is ludicrous and harmfull. If I can't even open carry at at run rights event how are people supposed to open carry in Ohio?
As has been said before, this isn't a gun rights event. This is a Holiday Social meeting for friends to get together and enjoy themselves. If you want to debate the finer points of open carry, we have a forum for that here that you're more than welcome to use. If you want to debate the finer points of open carry with me and others in the area, come on out to dinner tomorrow.
great meeting everyone!
neener neener neener!