My First Open Carry

[JB]

After attending last nights gathering at Gander Mountain I felt more comfortable about going out and OC'in for the first time.  So when I came home from work today I decided to go for a little walk to do some exercising (of my rights and my body ) with my XD.

Went walking for about 20 mins around my neighborhood and a few others over.  Ran into a few people on foot (and a ton flying by me in cars) who obviously saw my gun on my hip but they didn't say anything.  One was a HS age girl who was getting on her bike from her house, I said hello and gave her a smile.  She proceeded to say excuse me sir as she road past.  The other person was an older woman at the bike shop by my house who saw me come around the corner and I saw her eyes lock onto my gun but she didn't seem to panic, she just darted her eyes away after I looked at her.

All in all pretty uneventful like it should have been.

I plan on opening carry more in the future even after my CPL gets approved and shows up.

Thanks Guys!

[yance]

It definitely is a lot easier once you have the information and understand the laws.  Good news is it only gets easier from here.  A lot has changed in the recent years and it continues to change for the better, I OC'd back in 2010 and constantly had people asking me about it.  I found myself without a pistol half way through 2010 so no more OC for me.  I got another one in Oct of 2011 and have been OCing ever since and I havent had any issues and if anyone talks to me its either to ask me questions about OC or what kind of gun I have.

I always carry the MOC trifolds on me when I'm out and about that way I can give the information to the person and I wont be forgetting too much by just trying to remember it.

Also carry a recorder, if there are any bad encounters with people or LEO you will have the recordings to document what happened if it ever came down to a he said she said battle.

Glad to hear it went well for you though, I was nervous for a long time when I first started OCing, before you know it you dont even realize anyones looking at you and you go on about your day just as if it was a phone on your hip.

Keep it up!

[JB]

Yah I had a couple of tri-folds in my back pocket just in case.  I was also armed with a digital recorder, however I want to get a small lavalier microphone to plug into it so I know the audio is good.  I was with no one else so I wasn't talking while walking so I'm not sure how well it picked up noises, I'll have to scan through it and find when I said hello to the girl on the bike.

I know this will only get easier.  I'm sure I'll still OC a lot once I get my CPL because I can't imagine having this XD shoved in my pants all day especially in the summer

[gryphon]

Yes, it does get easier--surprisingly so.  I find it a challenge to not become complacent, and I haven't been OCing all that long.  When I first began carrying, after the first few times out I played back the recorder to check audio quality and it was very good.  I could easily hear other people, the computer voice at the self-check line in Kroger and Meijer, etc.  Try that.

Be safe!