Before I would ever carry a gun I would want to be confident that I would be able to handle the gun and myself should it come to the point where I felt I needed to use it in self defense. I hope everyone who carries feels the same way.
I'll go one further. I happen to know a few people who carry who think they are perfectly able to handle a gun and I disagree. I don't think knowing how to shoot a paper target at a range is sufficient, even if you are a great shot. Shooting under duress is a different ballgame. One time I was training with law enforcement there was an officer there who served high risk warrants. He had a pretty fancy carry rig, but had never practiced with it (he had gotten it a few months earlier, and they don't do quals very often). When we were working on CQB stuff, or shooting on the move, he couldn't get his weapon out most of the time.
There are lots of qualified people who carry guns, and lots of them have been around guns most of their lives. But there are far too many who don't know what they are doing and (even worse)
don't know that they don't know what they are doing.
First, I feel like concealing a gun is not fair to the people around me - they would not be fully informed of the weapons on the scene if something were to happen.
I'm still not sure about this, and I'm glad of the thread. I agree with a lot of the objections Reverend Rick had. However, I think some of the problems could be addressed. Also, I do think that if more people who carried did so openly it might actually prevent some incidents from ever happening. And I think the point about the rights of others to know may have some merit.
Second, I would want to have clear and practiced access to the weapon, not be fumbling into my pocket, coat or purse if it is needed.
Extremely important and too often not a concern to people who carry.
EDIT: just to be clear, I don't mean that concealed carry entails fumbling. It is (as Revoltingest stated) perfectly possible to train so that you can access your concealed weapon without fumbling, and perfectly possible to carry openly and be unable to retrieve it.
Third, if I can't protect and effectively use an openly carried weapon, then I also am not prepared to protect and effectively use a concealed weapon. The difference would only be for a matter of seconds, and really is only of importance to those who are not proficient in the use of firearms.
This is not exactly true. For one thing, the difference of seconds can be one of life or death. More importantly, what Rev. Rick said about disarms is true, and would be a problem for many if they were required to carry openly. It is much easier for an assailant to prevent you from accessing your weapon or to take it away if they can see it. Even apart from the element of suprise this is true. To carry concealed, one has to train to be able to effectively access, present, and control their use of (i.e., not fire due to nerves, and fire accurately if it comes to that) their weapon. To carry openly, one has to train to do all that and to deal with those who reach for their gun when holstered, those who grab it (holstered or not), those who grab their arm, etc. A lot more unarmed techniques become important when carrying openly.
It actually does scare me to think that many people are carrying guns but the only advantage they have is the element of surprise.
If you have a gun, I want you to be much better at protecting and using it than the crazy person or criminal next to you.
Absolutely.
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