Oh, interviews. I’ve only ever had one job where I had to interview candidates. It was infuriating for the most part, although the folks applying for jobs who had their shit together were quite refreshing.
But yeah. I don’t go for management positions for many reasons. This is one of them.
Open Carry is turning into a real hotbed. Again, I’m for it, but not heavily so. It doesn’t really affect me that I can’t strap my hogleg .357 to my side, in a drop holster, when I go to Walmart. It would be fun, sure, but I really don’t give a fuck either way. I can already carry in my car without a permit, and I don’t live in constant fear. Not saying that all OC proponents do – I just wonder what the need is. Yeah, yeah, it’s their 2A right, I get it. “No need necessary” – fine. I just don’t see the point.
Yankee Marshall AND the Chiappa? DON’T MIND IF I DO!
When I worked at Front Sight a few years ago my Texas CHL wasn’t recognized so I open carried all the time. In the area I was living OC was very common and not a big deal. People just carried and went about their business. OC is definitely more convenient than CC, but I still prefer CC for a low profile presence. I would like to see OC passed in Texas but I think some proponents of OC could exercise a little more restraint in their tactics.
I think all three of these applied for jobs at my book store, years and years ago. Gave the panel 1/2 guy a shot, because I needed a door greeter over the holiday season. But damned if he didn’t just hang out and not actually, you know, GREET people. “Hey, how ya’ doin’ today?” How hard is it to say that to people? I didn’t want him to sell things, just acknowledge their presence and be visible if someone needed help. Nope. Leaning against the wall or a shelf, poking at the magazine racks, reading something … sigh. SO FIRED.
Is that the owner of Valve (Gabe Newell) in the third panel?
I was wondering the same thing.
The reason you want OC in Texas is so you can carry a bigger gun that maybe isn’t concealed quite as well. You still probably want to conceal it, but with OC now legal it ain’t a big deal if it flashed once in a while. Pretty much nobody would notice except another gunnie or a cop and with OC legal, doesn’t matter.
As it is, you are forced into deeper cover with a smaller gun, especially in hot weather.
I lived very close to Texas and would often cross the border for shopping or whatever. I used to pocket carry a XD and it would print very badly sometimes. Once I was at a shopping mall and there was a bike cop patrolling and I noticed him staring VERY hard at my leg as I walked past. I was probably lucky the guy wasn’t a dick cause he could have caused me some trouble for that for sure.
The need is this: you put on an undershirt, and tuck it into your pants. You neatly holster your Glock on your belt and put a shirt over that combo, untucked. You’re now good to carry concealed like a good little Texan. At that stop at Wal-Mart, however, you had to reach way back on a low shelf for that last Shiner Bock. That shirt that was so perfectly concealing that Glock has now ridden over the grip and settled behind it. Congratulations, you’re now a criminal, as you roam the aisles looking for the guacamole.
Exactly — the real problem is that it effectively criminalizes peaceful behavior that wasn’t even intended. Florida has a similar problem with their law – accidental and unintended exposure of a lawfully concealed weapon can be prosecuted.
But the Open Carry Florida people have been able to bring awareness and make progress towards getting this bug fixed WITHOUT making asshats out of themselves, without getting neutral businesses to rethink their policies, and without having state legislators look at their antics and withdraw support. . . all of which OCT has managed to do.
I’ve seen some of these “pro open carry” people in pictures on the internet… and if someone was carrying a Kalashnikov on a tactical sling in that position in MY place of business, even as pro 2A as I am, I’d want him OUT. There’s a difference between having the gun in an open carry and carrying it like you intend to use it.
http://cdn.bearingarms.com/uploads/2014/05/open-carry-tools.jpg
Agreed. Those clowns that go around like that are doing more damage then good to all firearm enthusiasts around the world.
Well, at least Shades has control of his weapon with his finger outside the trigger guard. The context may be … inappropriate … but he’s holding it like he knows how to refrain from using it (but wtf does he have on his feet?). Lard, on the other hand, is not in control of that weapon and is kind of close to being this guy.
Open carry is important primarily for people who, for whatever reason, cannot or do not want to get a cc permit. If they can’t afford a permit or live out of state or whatever, the ability to carry a defensive sidearm should still be available.
OC is mostly a matter of convenience. I hate driving with a jacket on, so why shouldn’t I be able to throw my blazer in the trunk and walk to the driver’s door with a gun showing? It’s just about reading the situation. Are you parked directly in front of an elementary school? Not a good place to OC. Are you walking from your car to the local range/gun store? Pretty sure you’re OK.
What gets me is the stupid ass loopholes in the laws. Here in Ohio it’s perfectly legal, though not necessarily smiled upon, to OC. But as soon as you get in your car, it’s improper transportation of a firearm. So in order to OC without having to unload your gun every time you drive, you have to have a CHL.
“What gets me is the stupid ass loopholes in the laws. Here in Ohio it’s perfectly legal, though not necessarily smiled upon, to OC. But as soon as you get in your car, it’s improper transportation of a firearm. So in order to OC without having to unload your gun every time you drive, you have to have a CHL.”
It’s the same in Washington (the State). OC is legal, but if you want to carry in your car, you need to have a CPL.
I CCW most of the time, but the OC legality helps when a weather change makes my concealment garment choice uncomfortable.
I was under the impression that in Ohio, if you had a CC permit and your firearm printed through your clothes, that was considered brandishing. Also, the patchwork of “you can carry here, but not here, and here but not here, and if you carry this way you’re in for the slammer, but this way is fine”…. frankly, the whole LAW seems a patchwork of “gotcha!” legalism aimed at anyone trying to carry lawfully.
While I’s say that concealed carry is generally the way to go, it would be nice to not have to dress around a sidearm on hotter days.
For example, down here in Florida, you’re pretty much faced with the choice of either getting heat stroke or disarming in the summertime.
Two more to go. What are the chances that one of them is Tom and another is a female?
No bet. It’s almost a given.
Actually, three more the 1st 2 panels are the same guy. The guy in the last panel looks exactly like someone I work with.
The Raven in the previous strip was also an applicant.
I’d rather just have a pistol on my belt, and have it as odd looking as a cell phone case. Eventually the public would just stop noticing open carry.
Not having to shell out hundreds of dollars for permission to exercise a right would be awesome as well.
I think it’ll be a long time before people stop noticing open carry. For a lot of people, guns are still magic death sticks, and they’re not going to stop noticing them being carried just because they see it more often.
‘Magic death sticks.’
Can I steal that? It SO needs to go into wider snark circulation.
Why not? I’m sure I stole it from somewhere too. 🙂
It’s that way now in Arizona and Utah and some other places.
Surely the people in other states are as intelligent as Arizonians/Utahans, right?
…. California. Your argument is invalid.
Touché, Monsieur…. But I will counter that California is a… special case….
Alaska too. OC or CC. Doesnt matter if you are legal to. SBR? Full Auto? Suppressor/Silencer? Sure.
You might be surprised. Lived in southern AZ for 30 years and most folks either don’t notice or don’t care. After all, familiarity breeds consent.
I actually do own a Chiappa Rhino with a 6 inch barrel. Love the revolver.
Till you’ve been in charge of teenagers whos carsxarecworth more than you make in a year you have never been to hell
I’m a proponent for OC for many reasons, many of which have already been mentioned, such as CarlosT and LouisChapman’s comments, but also for another unmentioned reason: women’s clothing.
No, I’m not a crossdresser. I do, however, have women in my life I have been forced to go shopping with. Their clothes are paper thin, and tight fitting. Great for showing off the, ahem, assets, but terrible for concealing any sort of defensive weaponry. Off body, purse carry is a terrible idea, since I’ve seen the women in my life accidentally leave their purses just lying around, and more than once somebody tried to take off with it.
Open carry would be perfect for them. Nobody messes with the woman with a loaded 9mm hanging from her hip.
I have said this before.
One of the easiest ways to pre-screen applicants is to have two extra requirements. They are, have a concealed permit and have a commercial drivers license. The CWP means that the applicant has passed a fairly stringent background check and the CDL means that the applicant is at least smart enough to pass a scheduled drug test. Once hired they do not have to carry a weapon or drive a vehicle, they just need the pieces of paper stating that they are able to. And the applicant themselves pay for the background check and drug test.
I have employees who ALL have passed BATFE background for employee possessor of explosives. About 10% also have a CDL WITH HazMat endorsement… That minimal amount of screening makes my day SO much better than the owner of the average business!
Heh. I have used CHPs as a screening process before. Works great, frankly more reliable than relying on a government security clearance (it’s that kind of area, the county is crawling with Top Secret cleared rocket scientists and engineers) as a “Known Good Guy” flag.
I don’t like Open carry for myself. It puts you at a disadvantage of being the first one targeted in an active shooter situation. BUT I understand it’s usefulness. It gives you easier access to your firearm in that same active shooter situation.
It’s odd to me that TEXAS of all places doesn’t have Open carry of handguns. But it’s one of those holdovers from the Jim Crow era…
You know what, I keep hearing that thing about OC being the first ones to go down when the shit hits the fan, and I have yet to see any actual evidence of it.
But is that because it doesn’t happen, or because it’s so rare for somebody to be openly carrying in an active shooter situation? Based on the rarity of open carry and the rarity of active shooters (news media drama notwithstanding), I suspect that the second is true, leaving us with no evidence to confirm or refute the hypothesis. (Note also that legality of open carry is irrelevant in a gun-free zone, which is where most active-shooter situations have occurred.)
If there’s no evidence, it’s just plain stupid to make legal decisions based on guesses.
Agreed; I wasn’t referring to this as a legal point, nor did Tommycat appear to be. Note that he referred to it as “Open carry for myself”.
It’s not “Evidence” so much as “propaganda”… Some major network strapped a paintball gun onto a volunteer and put him in an expected ‘school shooting’ scenario, with a shirt 3 sizes too big, and a holster he didn’t get to practice with, then had the assailant burst in an hour early, and head straight for him before doing anything else. It was so unbalanced it was disgusting.
So. Probably, I could pass any background check thrown at me, because I got over hanging out with stupid people when I was still a juvenile.
But, growing up a farm boy, I occasionally carried a largish folding knife to open feed sacks, hay bales, etc. One day when the neighbors asked if I wanted to go to town with them, I shoved it in my coat pocket and forgot about it; when the neighbor’s kid got popped for shoplifting, I got frisked and promptly charged with carrying a concealed weapon. Note how easy this could happen to a licensed CC person bending over to pick up that sixer of Shiner Bock and getting popped for OC… Thus removing them (and, if I were perfectly honest, me- although my juvie record was so long ago it was on paper; it’d take a dedicated eyeball scan of paper or microfiche documents to find it) from Mick’s hiring pool.
It’s even worse now. Get caught being a little adventurous with a girlfriend and you’re a sexual predator… Girls sexting a pic to a boy, too. (Such have been prosecuted as ‘child pornography’; at least Oregon is a little forgiving on that one.) Those can stick with you for life.
Thank you so much for addressing something I’ve wanted to bring up for years. Want to be employable? Put down the bong and stay out of trouble! It’s amazing the work you can get by having a clean record and passing a drug test!
“Not saying that all OC proponents do – I just wonder what the need is.”
Wait… you are attributing a ‘need’ to a Right? There needn’t be any ‘need’ to exercise a Right, nor any ‘satisfactory purpose’. Just the fact that you merely want to exercise a Right is enough justification. Are we then going to attribute a NEED to the First Amendment Rights also if the 2A requires any sort of justifiable NEED before it’s allowed to be exercised?
I think you’re misconstruing jlgrant’s statement; he acknowledges the “2A right” aspect in the sentence following what you quoted, and the “no need necessary” point in the sentence after that. I suspect that he’s not talking about “need” in a legal-justification sense, but in a practical sense. I have no need to keep a 15-foot pike on my wall (maybe I would if I reenacted Renaissance-era combat, but I don’t), but I have the undeniable legal right to do so and don’t have to justify it with a legal “need”. Same here; “I have no need” isn’t meant as a “and so I don’t have that right,” but rather as a “if I have to fight for rights (that I should have already), it’s not top on my list”.
Incidentally, I love the mental image of somebody trying to outlaw owning a pike by claiming “the Founding Fathers never imagined pike warfare”. 😀
@Tommycat
“I don’t like Open carry for myself. It puts you at a disadvantage of being the first one targeted in an active shooter situation. ”
Please don’t spread the Anti-Gun propaganda. If you think you will be the first one shot simply because you are OC, please link the relevant News article of the OCers being shot, or the studies that would reflect the same. In point of fact, the FBI interviewed many incarcerated felons about the subject and the consensus among them was that if they see anyone armed they get the hell out of dodge and either wait for the armed person to leave or find another target. We have been OCing off an on in this land for over 400 years, and yet to have a verified story of people bing targets for OC.
Also I must point out…. do you know why CC is illegal in most places? It was assumed by the politicians that anyone concealing is only concealing for nefarious purposes. The gov’t WANTED you to OC, because then anyone CCing is assumed to be a crook about to commit some egregious act of violence. A Gentleman had nothing to fear from the scrutiny of the public for he wears his arms in the Open for everyone to see, he is not up to no good therefore people watching him makes no difference. The crook on the other hand does NOT want to be noticed, he hides his gun until the last moment so he looks like any other average joe until it’s too late. The cops, once upon a time, knew that anyone OC is a good guy because he’s de facto following the law, and has no fear of people knowing he’s armed… because he isn’t a thug about to pounce.
Rights CAN be taken away. Like it or not, people lose rights all the time. Ask any felon, or anyone with a septic tank whose neighborhood gets annexed by the nearest town, or person who lives in a country that decided an armed populace was just too much trouble.
These idiots who insist on carrying long guns to Starbucks or to otherwise peaceful protests may very well result in OC being severely altered or even banned in your state. These people are every bit as much a threat to your gun rights as California senators and the Brady campaign.
OC has been fine in this country for centuries. Hunters didn’t have to unload their rifles when they stopped for gas on their way home, people with a pistol didn’t have to disarm themselves when they entered a diner, and you could walk down the street with a shotgun slung over your shoulder without problems. I have OCd many times in my life and it’s a fairly regular part of my general target shooting and hunting now. But these asshats who are being intentionally confrontational are SCARING THE FUCK out of people, and those people are going to eventually resort to legislation.
Besides, how the hell are you supposed to know the difference between a spree shooter and a dumbfuck with his rifle in a tactical sling hanging out at a mall? I’m surprised nobody has justifiably shot one of these people yet.
Friends don’t let friends fuck up the gun rights for an entire nation of sane gun owners.
Consider this: China hasn’t “taken away” its populations rights… It is punishing the just use of them. If the people, strictly speaking, didn’t HAVE those rights anymore, we wouldn’t see the UN accusing them of ‘violating human rights’… After all, how can you violate a thing that a person doesn’t have?
The right is inherent, people are just being bullied out of using it. Speaking practically, it’s a tough distinction: Kinda like how nobody is ‘forced to work for master’ as a slave, since nobody can pull their arms and legs and make stuff happen… But threaten folks with enough violence, and they find it easier to do the other thing.
I don’t think you’ve been paying attention.
They’re carrying long guns openly, BECAUSE carrying handguns openly IS banned in their state (Texas). There isn’t much to lose on that score.
Texas has a handgun carry ban? Ok, that’s just weird.
Yep, open carry of a handgun is illegal here in the Lone Star State. The only handgun that can legally be open carried is a pre-1864 black powder pistol, or replica thereof. Long guns, however, are OC legal here.
http://www.opencarry.org/?page_id=103
Also, http://www.handgunlaw.us/
Some major network strapped a paintball gun onto a volunteer and put him in an expected ‘school shooting’ scenario, with a shirt 3 sizes too big, and a holster he didn’t get to practice with in the front of his waistband on top of his right thigh where it would be inaccessible while sitting, then had the assailant burst in an hour early while he was sitting down, and head straight for him before doing anything else. It was so unbalanced it was disgusting.
Last I heard, you could carry your rifle anywhere as long as it wasn’t discharged on or across a public highway or carried in a manner calculated to cause alarm, but having a pistol with you at all except on the way between home, firing range and gun shop was illegal. .50 BMG semi-auto over your shoulder as you stroll through the mall? No problem. .22 SR single-shot target pistol in the boot when you make a 100yd diversion to the drive-through burger place? Crime.
Maybe because they weren’tacting aggressive and ust exercising thier constitutional rights?
I think we should support the open carry people, of course some might go too far, you can say that they are wrong but at least support the concept of what they are doing. Otherwise we will start agreeing with the antis when they say: See those weirdos with the tactical slings don’t need to display thier guns like that.
Then in the future you agree and it becomes, any guns displayed is banned,you know slippery slope and all that.
oklahoma passed OC a couple years ago precisely because of the “accidental brandishing” of CCW. interestingly, almost nobody OCs. our streets have not been running with blood, and i’ve maybe seen two or three guns on hips (excepting gun-centric locations, obviously).
as for OCT’s actions….I’m not sure how valid the target and chipotle firestorms actually are. according to OCT, they stopped OCing long guns in january (because they recognized the foolishness of doing so). Mothers Demand Action seems to have dug thru their archives and found six month old (or older) pictures and trotted them out to the media as tho it happened very recently.
in short, when your opponent stops doing what you want him to stop doing, keep reminding people that he used to do it.
All the reasons listed so far are adequete, but entirely miss the point (as do you, sir).
COnstitutional Rights are not required to be camoflauged.
Period.
End.
Dot.
Or… what happens when some ass-tounguing politician decides that the First Amendment doesn’t include reading or carrying books or being audible in the public arena, without an expensive fee and fickle (read-‘connected’) government permission.
And that is the best and ONLY reason needed for anyone or anything.
Or wearing a cross, yarmulke or (by individual choice) a hijab?
True. But having the right to do be a dick doesn’t make it appropriate behavior.
I have little respect for those use the cover of their rights to indulge their desire to be offensive asshats to others. Case in point? The WBC.
So, the lawful, peaceful, non-threatening exercise of a Constitutional Right equals “be(ing) a dick”?
Were the people in the 60’s Civil Rights Marches and Sit-ins “be(ing) dicks”?
See how that sounds when you substitute any other Right?
Here’s another analogy: Take any anti-gun-owner/carrier screed, and replace ‘gun-owner/carrier’ with ANY OTHER DEMOGRAPHIC GROUP. The bigotry and hate suddenly become shockingly obvious, and something no rational, decent person would tolerate.
But it’s O.K., because GUNZ… and Fer Teh CHULDRYNZ… and Muh Feels!
Meh.
I was speaking generally, as you’d have seen from my example of WBC.
Having the right to do something doesn’t mean that the manner in which that right is exercised can never be dickish. I’m all in favour of people exercising their rights, but I frown upon dickery in general.
Again, take the WBC. They have the right to express their opinion, but the way they do it is just offensive. Sure, they’re making (some sort of) a point, but the way they do it is assholeish. It’s their right, but I still think that they are assholes to do it in that manner.
WBC is a bunch of asshats doing what they do for the attention. I only know about the WBC because of people posting and bitching about them. If everyone ignored them, I wouldn’t know who they were… I’ve never seem a ‘pro WBC’ anything..
But.. It’s their first amendment right, and I do support that. As long as asshats are able to say things that deeply offend, piss-off, and hurt. As long as people are repeating the offending remarks, and getting pissed, then the 1st Amendment is still alive. I do love that part.
Howard Stern, the WBC, people that like Ar15s, and even the PMRC, all got attention because people did not like the message, BUT the message was able to be said, and that’s good.
Ironically, the Black Panthers proved decades ago, that open carry of long arms in public does make a difference.
Stop thinking of the WBC as a religious organization, they clearly aren’t. They’re a canary in a coal mine for the 1st amendment. Believe me, if free speech starts to fade, they WILL be the first ones hit. What you think of them aside from that is of course YOUR right, but I’m watching the canary pretty closely.
I also have a pretty good hunch they’re internally aware of this. Like the Flat Earth society, or the Pastafarians.
Don’t be too sure that WBC are going to be the first to lose their 1st Amendment free exercise protections. They’re useful camoflage for the government because they get a lot of coverage in the MSM and absolutely nobody has any sympathy for them.
The USCCB will assert that it is an assortment of specifically Catholic organizations which have had those rights abrogated by law — a law that the Amish (for example, and among others) are exempted from. Search “HHS Mandate Lawsuit” for the stories. They will not be in the MSM. We might get sympathy.
And how are they claiming they’ve had their 1st amendment rights abrogated? Tell me this isn’t a ‘war on christmas’ segue…
All of you who are suffering under oppressive regimes should just move to Arizona. Open carry? Legal. Concealed carry with CCW? Lega.
Concealed carry without CCW? Legal.
I’m visiting Ohio right now. My AZ permit is accepted here, and theoretically I could carry. But I have never seen so many places with “No Weapons” signs posted in all my life. They are everywhere. Every public building has them. Even the hotels have them. Never before seen a hotel which posted.
And they are zealous about those signs. There are shopping malls in AZ which post the signs, but usually some of the individual stores with separate exterior entrances, like Sears, don’t post the signs. No such loopholes here. The signs are on every single entrance.
I am sorry but I don’t buy it.That is one ass ugly gun.