An Argument for Open-Carry … from a Gun Hater

My friend Ricky likes guns. Correction: He’s a hobbyist, so it’s fair to say he loves them. He owns enough legally registered firepower to arm a small insurrection. Ricky is a responsible owner, keeping his armory locked in a big gun safe, unloaded and clean. He keeps trying to interest me in going to the range, but I won’t bite. As inquisitive as I am about the mechanics of firearms, I have no interest in squeezing a trigger. That makes Ricky sad. And when Ricky is sad, he calls people names, such as “Commie Pinko Liberal,” along with others I won’t mention.

Ricky is a God-knows-what degree black belt in karate so, for him, the gun thing isn’t necessarily a defensive reflex. However, when we go back and forth on the issue of gun safety, he usually falls back to the argument of what I would do if confronted by an armed criminal. It’s a good argument, since the answer for me is limited to flight, surrender or certain death. Still, I don’t feel the need to arm myself. That doesn’t mean I don’t recognize the threat. I just don’t attach the same level of concern to the possibility as I do the fear of a drugged-up or drunken driver careening into my car. All the same, I understand the issue of proliferation regarding illegal weapons enough to argue for universal open-carry laws.

We’re from New York, so our gun laws are both robust and conflicting, and largely dependent on local jurisdiction. Certain counties upstate do not specifically prohibit openly carrying handguns, while the same act in Manhattan will get you a bunk next to Plaxico Burress. Since New York does not recognize any out-of-state permits, non-residents travelling through the Empire State on their way to a turkey shoot in West Virginia are breaking one local gun law or another at some point during their traversal. To paraphrase, if you can make it through here, you can make it through anywhere.

In many states, open-carry remains unregulated, while concealed carry nearly always requires some sort of permit (Illinois and Wisconsin are the only two states that do not issue carry permits, concealed or otherwise). If it gets cold and Hopalong dons a coat, such an innocent action immediately reclassifies the weapon as “Concealed.” Possession of that same handgun in an automobile is often equally restricted. Contrary law helps turn gun control into a heated issue. Nationally recognized regulation could put the entire Second Amendment argument to rest.

In some states, regulation is so porous that, while prohibited from purchasing handguns from federally licensed dealers, convicted felons may still openly carry such weapons in public. That circumstance, while currently rare, blows a small hole in my friend’s argument about self-defense. It also brings out the Gun Lobby, which is uncharacteristically lukewarm to the concept of open-carry. I think I know why – universal regulation usually attaches itself to universal permission. The only way to get everyone on board with open-carry is through strict oversight. This is where I climb aboard.

If you told me that open-carry permits required persons to be:

• 21 years old or older
• Certified as trained in firearm use and safety
• Free from conviction on any felony or violent misdemeanor charge
• The registered owner of the weapon carried

… then I’m all for a national open-carry handgun policy, with one proviso; that possession of any weapon while legally impaired or intoxicated result in a mandatory prison sentence. I’m not worried about sober persons discharging their weapons, since most jurisdictions already have laws on the books covering the wheres and whens of that. We won’t suddenly find ourselves ducking a rain of bullets. On the contrary – this is similar to the policy of Mutually-Assured Destruction, which has somehow kept everyone from burning to a thermonuclear-fired crisp after all these years of flag-waving and shoe banging.

I know my friend Ricky will find something in this to complain about, even though I’m willing to offer open-carry within a car, as long as the weapon remains holstered against the body. It doesn’t matter – he’ll gripe about it and call me bad names. I know … he’ll want to wear his coat. Too bad, buddy. You can’t have everything, but you’ll have your Glock to keep you warm.





Abstract Invention by Charlie Accetta is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.