I would still continue to conceal carry, it offers more options.
It is STUPID to carry an unloaded gun, it's better to bring a knife to a gun battle.
CA has banned open carry, see AB 144
California s Unloaded Open Carry Bans A Constitutional and Risky but Perhaps Necessary Gun Control Strategy UCLA Law Review
No one is advocating carrying an unloaded gun.
Nor did I suggest anyone was, but they did in groups, in Starbucks at several locations in the SF Bay Area. I saw them at one, all were in their 20's or 30's, most overweight, white and frankly looked ridiculous. They also emptied the coffee houses of normal customers:
Tired of being thrust onto the front lines of the nation’s debate over guns, Starbucks is asking customers to leave firearms behind when they are in its stores and its outdoor seating areas.
The policy change came after a shooting rampage at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday that left 13 people, including the gunman, dead. But Starbucks said its decision was not in response to that or to the shooting spree that killed 26 children and adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., just days before Christmas last year.
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“I’ve spent a significant amount of personal time on this issue in the last several months and I’ve seen the emotionally charged nature of this issue and how polarizing it is on both sides,” Howard Schultz, the chief executive of Starbucks, said in a telephone interview. “Nevertheless, customers in many stores have been jarred and fairly uncomfortable to see guns in our stores, not understanding the issue and feeling that guns should not be part of the Starbucks experience, especially when small kids are around.”
Link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/19/b...to-keep-guns-out-of-its-cofee-shops.html?_r=0
Starbucks should have simply requested their customers carry concealed – which indeed is the point of doing so, there's no need to advertise one is armed.
Over the years gun manufactures and holster designers have afforded citizens the means by which to carry a concealed handgun with no inconvenience or discomfort; the Bianchi holster for my S&W M&P 40 Shield is comfortable and unobtrusive, for example. Indeed, this calls into question the merits of open carry.
Needless to say, in states or jurisdictions which allow for open carry of handguns, those who wish to do so are at liberty to do so – it ultimately comes down to a personal preference. I prefer to conceal carry because should an incident occur, no one will incorrectly infer that I'm LE and expect me to 'do something.' In fact, other potential victims might expect someone who is open carrying to 'do something' simply because he has a gun. I carry a concealed handgun for my protection only, not that of others, where I can leave the scene of an incident without any questions to call LE once I'm in a safe and secure location.
Again, those who wish to open carry where allowed are welcome to do so without their motives being questioned, but in my opinion concealed carry is the better option.
