Sorry mick, but I have frequently out shot cops in both Florida and Georgia at gun ranges and consistently been given the stink eye simply for having a skill. And unlike many documented cases of cops shooting unarmed people, I have never had to fire on anyone to this date. Had to show a potential carjacker in Georgia that his crotch area wasn’t worth my car when he saw the barrel of a .38 pointed there as he tried to open my car door. I guess the firearm told him of the danger he faced and the smile on my face told him of my willingness to remove body parts, because he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and left in a hurry.

Open carry opens up possible situations that may not occur if that weapon were concealed. The skewed minds and actions of terrorists and criminals has brought the need for self defense to an everyday fact of life and LEO’s cannot be everywhere they are needed when an active shooter scenario happens.

LEO’s get extensive training in assessing situations where the use of deadly force is warranted. The need to act quickly while under duress in an active shooter situation is not something that John Q Public is ready for.

In today’s society the mindset of the public in many everyday situations lends itself to causing tempers to flare to the point of violent confrontations – it happens everyday, and people are quick to make the wrong decision. Add an open carry firearm into the equation and the wrong decisions could end up deadly

Open carry is going to require from the responsible citizen on going training. It brings up a lot of “what if” situations. A criminal may try and take a firearm from an everyday citizen in an open carry situation. Is that person physically able to fend off an attack and prevent their firearm from being taken away from them? There are brazen criminals out there that see an open carry citizen as an easy mark.

That is just one example of what could happen. Every citizen has the right to protect themselves. It is certainly a sad situation on what this world has come to. It is bad enough that law enforcement officers get no respect – no respect for life has come to the forefront. If you are going to legally carry a firearm you better train. No one can really be prepared for deadly random acts of violence.

Just be vigilant, practice situational awareness, be kind to one another, and to quote a firearms instructor” God Bless you all, get those guns out and train”.