Everyday Gun Carry with Instructor Zero: CCW vs. Open Carry
Last week, we have introduced you to the new series Everyday Gun Carry, that we co-present with our long term partner and friend Instructor Zero. Today we decided to cover the second part of Episode 1 covering the topic that has become huge over the years, although there are just a few countries authorizing open carry by law. The one that does, is The United States of America, as an incredible manifestation of American's mindset and freedom in form of the 2nd Amendment that needs to be protected and preserved. If you'd like to check the laws on CCW from state to state, you can do so here.
Now when we talk about Open Carry, you need to understand that it really is a delicate option, having lots of cons and a few pros in terms of practical use. Why?
Speaking of a practical application of open carry in our daily life, let's use logic and common sense: when you are going to face a Critical Event it will be in a situation when our conditions are the worst and when the attacker will have the best conditions. Why? Because it is, he who decides when, where, and how to attack you. So naturally, if they are not stupid, they will choose to do it when they have the highest chance to succeed. This means we are going to be surprised by the attack and our level of awareness might make a big difference.
We need to play and understand the element of surprise in a proper way.
Why? This is one of the cons that stands on the side of Open Carry. When we do Open Carry, everybody knows that we have a firearm. While in some cases this might work as a deterrent and be enough to make a small criminal avoid the action, on the other hand, we do not know who could be a threat and still drive the attention of the environment to us. In a logical sense, whatever critical event takes place in this situation, will happen behind our back, or we just get shot immediately without challenging us. When we carry concealed, and someone approaches us, they do not know that we carry a firearm, meaning we can surprise them too, balancing the scales.
The possibility to choose whether or not to react is an important Pro of CCW.
It is worth mentioning that CCW gives you a specific advantage during an attempted robbery, meaning you can decide whether to confront the robber or let it be. We always need to realize, that in such cases we are putting our lives and the lives of our surroundings on scales with our valuables as a counterbalance. Even though there are lots of videos on the internet about civilians working as a team in such a critical event, you should be aware that unless the people around you have gone through the same training as you, such teamwork might not end well. Not only you are involved in a Critical Event which is hard to manage itself, but you also need to manage your surroundings that are not trained, are under huge stress, and hard to control. Now, this is a huge problem. You must analyze what it means to react in the case of robbery. If you are asked for cash, whatever amount you have in your wallet, this is a value you are giving to your life and the lives of your surroundings. There is no guarantee that your reaction will solve the problem. Anything could go wrong and put your life in real danger.
The level of awareness must always be high when we carry a firearm.
When we do Open Carry the awareness level must be super high, and it is hard. Your daily routine might kill your awareness by repeating actions that need to be matched with the fact that you are carrying the firearm. It is the details that matter, and if you make a mistake while carrying concealed, it is just you that knows, but if you are carrying openly, the mistakes are seen by everyone, putting you at risk. For example, if you are a right-hand shooter, you do most of the things with your right hand. This means that when you use your cell phone, you pay your attention to your phone, and your dominant hand is occupied. If you need to react at this moment your delay is huger than normal. Everybody can take advantage of this. Lots of attacks in South America happen when the victim is eating due to the same reasons.
When you are in CCW, nobody knows if you are carrying in a proper way. Nobody knows if you are carrying a firearm. This could be a big advantage in terms of surprise, so if we are surprised by the action we receive, we can use the same surprise as one of our elements when we start to react, because they don't know we are carrying a firearm, being a huge advantage in terms of our reaction.
When to react and when to stay concealed?
Especially if they think that we are not carrying and undervalue our conditions, it is the perfect time to react. If we have the condition to react and if we have a reason to react. Because sometimes, again, if asked for money, I do not want to take a risk for a few hundred dollars. But if I know that the robbery could change, and they can shoot me anyway, or the person that is with me might be in danger even when I am going to collaborate with them, then I need to decide to react and to find a space to react, the right moment. If I am not under the right condition to react, I need to work to create the right condition to react, or I need to choose the proper moment, but I need to know that I cannot miss. I do not have two tries, only the one and if I miss, I am going to die. This is the real-life stuff, it is not something that is on the internet, not something you can rewind or call the time-out. In some countries, they shoot you immediately. In some countries, they ask you to pull your shirt up, and if they see a gun, they shoot you immediately. There are countries where they'll shoot you for your cell phone. The value of life changes from country to country.
"Not all environments are the same, so if you are in Open Carry, you need to remember, that everybody sees what you are doing and they match this with the fact that you are carrying a firearm."
Instructor Zero
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