if you carry open then you are at more of a risk for someone to take your weapon from you
Absolutely.
Also cc you run the risk of your clothes getting in the way. What happens when you panic and can't get to your sidearm?
That is exactly what practice is for: to develop muscle memory. With sufficient practice, you do not need to think about which hand to twist this way or that, you simply think "THREAT" and your subconscious does the rest with muscle memory developed from practice.
It makes no logical sense to carry a firearm for personal protection and not know how to or be able to draw from your carry holster, open or concealed. Fumbling is dangerous, and it creates a hazard for the shooter and a hazard for every single person within say half a mile of that person, more if the gun goes off pointing up at a 45* angle. If you (or anyone) has to look at their holster as they unholster their weapon, they need to practice more so that they are not a danger to themselves and others. It's really that simple. You don't concentrate on where to grasp and shove or pull the gear shift lever on your car, your mind just thinks REVERSE and your hands do the rest while your eyes look out for traffic and pedestrians. Does that make sense?
Correct. Which is why I added the clarification in my second post: that NV was open carry, but it is so easy to get a CCW permit.
And if one had legal sanction to carry concealed by having been issued a permit, then why, prey tell, would one want to open carry in public (anyplace other than at the range or at home, and maybe on your own land if you have a ranch....do you see what I mean?) except as a means of displaying the gun. You'd have the choice to conceal it, but if you choose to display it, then why? You SHOULD NOT carry a gun unless you are able to competently draw from holster and accurate engage your target. Whether that holster is open or concealed, you should not carry unless you are competent with the techniques of drawing (acquring and servicing the target) and then reholstering the weapon. Soooo....if you had a permit and were competent with draw from concealed carry, then why open carry in public if it is not to display the firearm? Look, people, I have a Glock!
Living in an open carry state, I do see cop wanna-be's. They may even have some form of LEA or Federal Agency ball cap or t-shirt or some such. Not always, but often enough that you would notice it. What do you call someone who wears a black ballcap with FBI on it, with a black or blue windbreaker that says FBI or just AGENT on the back and carries a pistol in a tactical thigh holster, but is in fact, a civilian?
And being familiar with my state's laws on firearms, we do have criminal offenses called "inciting public panic" as well as "disturbing the peace", and law enforcement does not cruise around looking for people who have caused these, they respond to civilians calling in "man-with-a-gun" calls. Especially around schools. Although strictly speaking, it is legal to open carry while walking on the sidewalk in front of a school on a school day during school hours. I guarantee the police will be called. The school will go in lockdown. Local PD and the SO will flood the area. The helicopter will be called in. It draws police away from other duties. It disrupts routine. It costs the city and the county money (if nothin else, the cost of fuel for 20 police cars and the helicopter). And it happens at least once a month here, sometimes with no real man-with-a-gun. But if there is an armed citizen innocently strolling down the street, do you think the hassle of having officers draw down upon him/her, being held at gunpoint, being ordered to lie facedown on the street or sidewalk, being handcuffed and searched, and watched by all the lookeeloos, and potentially charged with disturbing the peace and/or inciting public panic, do you think this hassle would be worth exercising your right to open carry? Would you like to come to Nevada and try it? You can open carry here, I promise. You can even walk in front of a school while carrying openly. It is legal to do so. Guaranteed.
There are places where it is legal to do so, but it becomes ethically incorrect to do so. Even if it is presented as some sort of pro-gun protest "I know my rights and I will exercise those rights", it will always come across in the media as anti-gun. And let's face it: for most people (NOT ALL!), the depth of their intellectual "research" on public issues is what they see on the TV. And I do not care what state or city, there will always be those people who chronically complain and find reasons to complain about anything and everything, who spend their copious free time watching life pass them by, and who will be quick to call 911 to make a "man-with-a-gun" complaint.
Also, there are places in my city where the open carry law is temporarily suspended (usually when the prohibition of open container of alcohol in public is suspended as well), such as fairs, summertime open-air events (we have one nearly every weekend in the summer to end of September). So not knowing that you cannot open carry in the downtown area during those events can get you arrested or at the very least, "hassled" by LEO just doing their jobs. You can still carry concealed with a permit, so what you could do (if you had a permit) was park 5 blocks away from city center, open carry until you get to the first police barrier around the event site, then tuck your pistol away in a concealed holster (and hope you don't get possibly dinged for brandishing - per
NRS 202.320, Part 1, a person
"....who, in the presence of two or more persons draws or exhibits any of such deadly weapons in a rude, angry, or threatening manner not in necessary self defense....is guilty of a misdemeanor") and then remove your now-empty open-carry holster, and proceed about your business (unless you wanted to call attention to yourself by carrying an empty pistol holster).
And you cannot have a firearm, open or concealed, on Tribal Land. In the city, there are no demarcation signs indicating the border between public land and Tribal Land. You get caught, say bye-bye to your Glock, and hello to the Tribal Council. Tribal Law (independent Nations, remember?) supercedes all local, State and Federal Law on their land. Near our airport, there is a Walmart that sits on Tribal Land. Nowhere does it say that you are entering Tribal Land. I would very strongly advise against going onto Tribal Land with any kind of gun, loaded or not, anywhere on your person or in your car. But then again, people have been known to ignore my advise.
Please do not misconstrue, I am not trying to step on you or your opinions or the rights in your state. By saying "My $0.02" meaning "here is my OPINION", I had made my disclaimer clear: this is my opinion based on my knowledge and/or experience and/or training. Opinions have been known to vary. And the question was simply "to carry open or to carry concealed"? Furthermore, in the post I made following that, I made it clear that "these opinions are based on Nevada law". Far be it for me to comment on something I know nothing about....that would be like carrying a concealed firearm without being able to competently draw it in a split-second life-or-death situation. Wouldn't it?
