Open carry or concealed carry? Is one superior to the other? Should one be allowed but not the other? Can they possibly co-exist, with each having a role in an armed society?
The answer is “yes,” with a healthy dose of “it depends.” And even that answer requires further qualification. It depends on who you talk to, where you are, what you’re doing, the people around you, and the situation in which you may find yourself.
In other words, there’s no single right answer to whether open carry or concealed carry is better. So, let’s examine the strengths and weaknesses of both, and talk about why each has its place. We’ll be talking mainly in generalities, with a few anecdotal examples.
Everyone’s situation will be different, and you should do what works best for you. But carrying publicly, whether open or concealed, comes with certain responsibilities and liabilities with which we must all contend.
Open Carry: A Few Positives
Most states allow some form of open carry and many of them do not require a permit to do so. Others may not require a permit, but certain localities may ban the practice or impose extra restrictions. The beauty of not needing a permit means that an individual doesn’t have to wait or incur an expense should their personal circumstances suddenly change.
Noted firearms expert Massad Ayoob once said, “There are a whole lot of competent gun owners who don’t feel a need to carry, but overnight can become a stalking victim or have some other change in their threat profile. And if it takes sixty days, ninety days, to get the permit to carry, that can be a problem.”
Many of us have heard stories along those lines. An abusive ex-boyfriend threatens a woman, but she is forced to endure the process before being able to carry, or even purchase, a firearm to protect herself. Some of those situations end tragically. Legal open carry can fill that time gap in states where it’s allowed, offering some protection.
A much more mundane example is my experience when I moved from Texas to Virginia. My Texas concealed carry permit served as proof of training when I applied for a Virginia permit, but I still had to wait about a month while the authorities performed the background check and mailed everything. But Virginia had statewide permitless open carry at the time, so I could open carry if I wanted. I didn’t, but I could have.
Open carry advocates also say that a visible firearm can deter potential criminals, who will think twice before committing violent acts. That is undoubtedly true, though confirmation is almost impossible since criminals don’t share that information.
Positives of Concealed Carry
29 states now have Constitutional Carry, which allows anyone who can legally possess a firearm to carry it publicly while concealed. So, Constitutional Carry makes carrying concealed easier in those states. Strangely, Constitutional Carry does not always apply to open carry, as in Florida, so make sure you know your state’s laws.
Concealed carry’s biggest positive is that it provides a tactical advantage to the carrier — criminals or assailants do not know ahead of time whether an individual is armed. That lack of knowledge may provide an opening for the concealed carrier to deploy their gun, surprising the bad guy.
Some people claim that concealed carry also has a deterrent effect, and it may under some circumstances. Many criminals are certainly aware that concealed carry is growing in popularity, thus creating more risk for them. This may cause some to choose their victims more carefully.
Another positive is that a properly concealed firearm doesn’t alarm anyone. Some people are genuinely frightened of guns, for a myriad of reasons. Concealing your sidearm avoids needlessly spooking those folks.
Potential Negatives
We can probably agree that open and concealed carry have some positives. Each also has some negatives. Open carry, however, has far more potential negatives than concealed carry. The concealed carry negatives are also more easily mitigated than those for open carry.
Deterrence
We mentioned how each carry method might potentially deter criminals or assailants. Open carry likely deters some bad actors but, again, we don’t know how many. We probably never will. Same with concealed carry, but the practice is not widespread enough to deter criminals across the board. So, while some individuals may be more cautious when choosing their targets, there’s no evidence for a blanket deterrent effect.
Open carry can also merely redirect an assailant’s aggression. A determined criminal may see that sidearm and choose to target the armed person first. And remember, the bad guy will almost always have the initiative. He chooses when to strike. We cannot be 100 percent vigilant all the time. Maybe you’re checking a text message, and he moves while you’re distracted. Far from deterring the criminal, the gun’s presence simply hones his attack plan. Concealed carry means you are just one more person in the crowd. Until you choose not to be.
Provocation
Open carry has also been known to provoke, rather than deter, other people. These folks don’t even have to be criminals. There are numerous examples of people seeing an openly carried firearm as a challenge. Ayoob calls these people “male Karens.” And honestly, they don’t have to be males. Some people just want to cause a scene.
Perhaps they feel they can harass you because they are personally unarmed and want to make some kind of point. Anti-gun activists have been known to do such things. Another type may take it upon himself to try disarming you. Ayoob describes it as wanting to prove who the real “alpha male” is. He would know since he regularly serves as an expert witness in cases across the country.
Such people are also known to falsely claim that someone carrying a gun threatened them in some way. There are numerous examples of people telling police that open carriers actively threatened them with their gun, even though video and other evidence disprove the claims. They see the mere presence of a firearm as threatening, even if it’s holstered. Some of those claims are probably driven by irrational fear, while others are certainly malicious.
We can likely agree that such people are irrational, but we still have to deal with them and any trouble they stir up. An openly carried firearm allows such people to get a good look at it. If they tell the police that you threatened them with a gun, and can accurately describe it, you could face serious problems. Proper concealed carry allows you to avoid much of that, though it’s still possible.
Being Disarmed
We talked about open carry providing opportunities for criminals and people who are perhaps less than stable to cause you trouble. Being disarmed is among the most prominent dangers.
I recently watched a compilation video taken from security cameras of open carriers having their sidearm snatched from their holster. They were merely standing in line or were otherwise preoccupied. Such instances are admittedly not the norm, but they do happen. You can also say that those people should have been more vigilant. You’d be correct on that.
We can mitigate that danger by using a good holster with higher retention levels than the average concealed carry holster. Safariland offers many retention options. We can also train in retention techniques and situational awareness.
That danger of being disarmed also exists with concealed carry, but the likelihood is far less. I saw a video a few years ago of a guy being tackled from behind as he walked into Walmart because his concealed carry gun was printing.
The tackler had decided to “take down” and disarm someone he deemed dangerous. The “dangerous person” was a man legally carrying concealed who was just going to the grocery store. Again, this is very rare, but it happens. And most of us print at least sometimes. Retention training is a good idea. And situational awareness should be a given if you carry.
But, once again, I think we can agree that open carriers are more at risk of being disarmed than concealed carriers. As always, the assailant has the initiative.
Public Opinion is a Thing
I regularly see open carry proponents dismiss the fact that seeing an openly carried firearm scares some people. They say that such fears mean that we should open carry more, normalizing the practice so those folks will get used to it.
Well, I hate to tell you, but that will not work. It just won’t. If 75 or 80 percent of the population open carried, you might have a point. But that doesn’t happen and it likely never will. If you have to “normalize” something, that means it’s abnormal to begin with.
Seeing an openly carried firearm doesn’t bother me. Heck, I like knowing someone else is armed. You may be the same. But plenty of others are not. Honestly, most people may not even notice because their noses are buried in their phones all the time. But not everyone. And some of those will make noise. You’re not going to make open carry normal. You’re just not. And frankly, deliberately scaring people makes all gun owners look bad.
Carry Intelligently, Open or Concealed
I’m not saying that you should never open carry. Open carry makes sense in some situations. I deer hunt with a big .357 Magnum on my hip, as do many others. I see guys open carrying at my outdoor club all the time, even at business meetings. No one is likely to be alarmed in either of those scenarios.
But hanging a big sidearm on your belt at the grocery store? I don’t see the advantage, other than potential deterrence. Concealed carry makes a lot more sense. You’re not scaring anyone, you don’t make yourself the initial target for a bad guy, and you have a tactical advantage over that bad guy if he appears
In other words, consider your environment and the people within it. Also, understand that your actions represent those of all other gun owners in the public’s eye. Some people fear guns and will fear guns no matter what we do. Those aren’t the people we have to convince, even though many of us waste hours trying to do just that. We have to win over the people in between. Deliberately provoking people, or even just making them nervous, won’t help. Whatever you do, please carry responsibly.
