Excursions with Open Carry

Recently, I was helping an elderly friend of the family move from one apartment to another. Being one of the 'strapping young folk', I was enlisted to haul furniture. As the afternoon warmed, I shed my light sleeveless over blouse, revealing the grip of my carry piece on my belt. Open carry doesn't require a permit in that state and I am licensed for concealed there so I wasn't particularly worried.

We made a number of trips up and down the elevator of the facility without anyone noticing or commenting, very much as I had expected. Late in the afternoon, we were hauling a large bureau to the truck. At the elevator stop, the women ahead of us insisted that we could all cram into the vehicle. After a couple minutes protest, we furniture movers finally gave in and crowded into the car. We were about half way down the ride when the insistent lady decided to turn her attention to us. First words:

"Oh, are you expecting trouble?" with a slight nervous titter.

I'll be honest, it took me a half a moment to figure out what she was saying. Then, "No, ma'am."

"But you have your. . . weapon right there."

I'm afraid it was be the sort of remark to which I don't know how to respond. It isn't particularly a question, and supporting a solid oak bureau in an elevator is hardly the place for the sort of conversation it sparks. Fortunately, my fellow furniture mover rescued me with a cute remark about needing a bodyguard. And him at something over 6'4" and at least twice my weight.

During the rest of the moving that afternoon, my gun remained unnoticed or, at least, unmentioned. So far, 1/30 for observation and comment.

Once we had finished the moving job, a few of us went down the main street to go into some shops and get a bit of dinner. We stopped in a cafe for our dinner. The young man behind the counter seems quite confidant as he begins to ring up our orders; then, as his eyes travel over me, he suddenly adjusts his hat nervously several times. We are no sooner seated when he is overheard to say to the manager. 

"I've only got 45 minutes left." while mopping the floor with frequent glances toward our table. 

And then something odd happened.

I noticed the two fellows through the window because I like to watch the traffic go by.  One was walking just a few feet behind the other, not close enough to talk but too close to be really considered a different entity. They walked past the streetside window of the cafe and kept moving, so I put them out of my mind.

Then the side door of the restaurant opened and in walked the lead of the two. He was dressed plainly enough, jeans, sweatshirt, with one hand buried in the pocket of his hoodie. His fellow walker remained hovering around the front of the cafe.

To me it was a little odd that he would come in the side door, propped open today due to the heat but with a little sign that says 'please use front entrance'. It also seemed odd to wear such a warm shirt when I had been willing to shed my cover garment. But I was enjoying my sandwich and the conversation at the table, so I put it out of my head.

The newcomer walked up to the counter and then gave a quick glance around the restaurant. He caught the anxious counterman's glance in my direction as I stood up to remove my trash to the rubbish bin.

The stranger looked at me, eyes rested briefly on my waistband, and then moved back out the side door.

On our way out, the manager stopped me to thank us for our business.

I said something appropriate in return, but once we got outside, I had a fit of the giggles. Because, you see, the thing is, I was carrying the smallest piece at our table.

So, my experience with open carry. Most people don't notice. Those that do, aren't expecting it.

Good or Bad? I'd have to go with indifferent. Just the same, I'll stick with concealed carry for the most part. Although, once in a while, the world might just need to be reminded that there are folks with guns who lead perfectly normal lives. I'm afraid I served as that reminder. Oh, and if I caused the guy in the cafe to miss out on one of those delicious sandwiches, it wasn't my intent.

Review: NRA Basic Pistol Class

NRA Basic Pistol Class

Taken: early November.

Level:                    Entry level.

Lecture:         (5)   Solid 4-5 hours providing a good grounding in: safety, operating mechanisms of firearms, basic grip, basic stance, basic sighting, transporting firearms, basic legal precautions, cleaning, storage, and care of handguns.

Range:          (5)   A full afternoon of gun handling time. Each shooter has a personal coach to ensure a smooth experience. Shooters tried both revolver and semi-automatic pistols. Between 100-150 rounds fired.

Materials:      (5)   Nice full color spiral bound booklet in addition to slide handouts. The writing is easy to read and concise, and a solid index encourages use as a reference manual.

Equipment:    (4)   A decent assortment of handguns available to try. Ammunition provided. All are in .22lr caliber. No higher calibers available.

Value:            (5)   Tuition was $75. An excellent value for everything that was included.

Recommended For: Anyone who would like a solid course in the very basics of handguns. Acceptable for shooters with a bit of prior experience, although not too much. Could be overwhelming for someone who has never touched a gun before or has trepidations about firearms.

Total Score: 24/25  (96% for those who prefer things that way)

Opinion: I took this course with perhaps a bit too much experience under my belt already but I still found it useful, especially as a skill builder. 
The one on one coaching during the range time really made it beneficial to me. The coaching was encouraging and not too high pressure.
I would have liked to see a heavier caliber handgun available for trying at the end of the day. .22lr is great for introducing firearms, but it might be nice to offer the opportunity of a larger gun, just so students can see what it feels like to fire a .45, .38 snubby, or a 9mm.
The lecture is definately aimed at students new to firearms. Comments from a rather timid new shooter indicated that the lecture seemed overwhelming, it was her first time in the same room as a gun, but by the end everything fell into place and she felt better about things.
Again: Not a concealed carry course. Nor particularly a personal defense course; this one is just for an intro.

And, we're back, after those messages

Hmm, I appear to have gone on an unplanned and unannounced hiatus for a time. Well, you have my sincerest apologies for that. I'm back now, though, and hope to continue the good fight.

In my time away, I've had a good chance to test the new Glock Gen 4. The Glock 19, to be specific. Yes, it's not really all that new, but anyhow.

At first, I wasn't sure how I'd feel about it, being at least a pound lighter than my usual carry piece and polymer instead of all steel. Moreover, I've smallish hands and the double stack mag had me a bit concerned.

So I tried it.

Initial reaction: 'Terrible! I hate this gun. It makes me feel like a two year old. I can't hit a twenty inch square cardboard at twenty feet.' The stippling on the backstrap was uncomfortable, I had two FTE's, and came away feeling like a dunce. I think I hit my fifty foot target a whopping twice in fifty rounds.

Well, I'm not usually one to give up too easily; so I went back a week later. 

Whatever had gone wrong the first day, went entirely right the second. Everything was in a four inch group at fifty feet. There was one FTE and one FTF in a hundred rounds but otherwise no problems.

So my impressions based on these two days:

I really like it.

The recoil's well controlled by their fancy new spring mechanism; same load in my Beretta 92 SB, all steel, feels about the same as in the Glock despite the weight difference.

The trigger pull is nice; very consistent with a crisp reset. 

Magazines can be a little difficult to load all the way, but they do fill.

For those of us who aren't used to Glocks, disassembling for cleaning is a trick; but once you get it, it's almost as easy as a 92 and several times easier than a 1911.

The lack of safeties makes it a little unusual for someone used to a flip safety but it's easy to get used to and actually quite nice for people with good trigger control. Although it's not a gun I would use for someone brand new to shooting for exactly the trigger control reason. 

So all in all, I got over my initial aversion to the Glock. A gun to bear in mind for many purposes, I believe.