Open Carry vs Concealed

[rick benjamin]

Portland OR light rail rider was waiting for a train and open carrying. Two young toughs passed by and snatched the gun. So much for exercising his open carry rights.

[jim147]

Portland OR light rail rider was waiting for a train and open carrying. Two young toughs passed by and snatched the gun. So much for exercising his open carry rights.

Carry a weapon canceled or open does nothing if you have zero situational awareness.

[megasupermagnum]

In my experience it is generally the suburbs, and the close rural areas that you see open carry most often. It's pretty common to see open carry in west metro MN, say Anoka, Elk River, Waconia, etc. Once you get way out, say Ely, MN, you almost never see open carry outside of hunters.

That said, nobody in the countryside cares about your handgun. If I know for sure that I'm going into a city or going out to eat or something, I'll conceal. I generally conceal a handgun regardless. More and more often I find myself open caring my model 57. In the rural areas at least, I have yet to find anyone at all concerned. I haven't even had an enthusiast ask me about it either, as is an often stated on the internet complaint.

You won't find me with a rifle or shotgun slung on me. What a royal PITA that would be. The great thing about a handgun is you can have it, and it doesn't effect your day at all. You don't even feel them in a good holster.

To answer the original question, I conceal as a default whenever I can. Large revolvers like my model 57 I don't, as it would just be too much change to conceal it. In the grand scheme of things, I don't carry the big ones often. I mostly rotate my SP101 and P220. I haven't even touched my LCR since I learned how to use my belt and holster in summer clothes.

[lksmith]

For Summer EDC, I prefer the clipdraw type holsters or wallet holsters that you can fire from. (Heck of a surprise if BG asks for your wallet, you can let him have it!)
For winter EDC is usually a shoulder rig with a full size auto under a vest