Concealed carry all the way. Discretion is an advantage to the element of surprise. Using every tool available may give you a slight edge and you won’t make yourself a first target to an aggressor.
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I support OPEN carry, but I admit I think it is a tactical mistake. You give away the element of surprise, in most cases. Just my opinion!
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So here’s the things I have to balance in my head:
If I open carry, I may discourage a predator from even trying.
If I open carry, a predator may see me as an excessive threat and take me out first.
If I concealed carry, I may be targeted by a predator that would have avoided me if they’d known I was armed.
If I concealed carry, I may have the chance to respond to a predator who doesn’t know I’m a threat.
So… Do I discourage predators by showing my teeth first?
Or… Do I lose the chance to turn them away from me and mine, making myself a more likely target? Am I going to look more like a snack, and then they find out I can bite?
One of the guiding principles of what we do is to avoid the conflict if we can. If I open carry, maybe I avoid a conflict because the predator walks away from me in the first place. It’s the same principle as every other method of not-looking-like-a-victim.
On the other hand, if the confrontation is already upon me, say in a store or bank where I wasn’t the target but find myself in the mix, I may make myself more likely to draw attention if I’m open carry.
It’s a conundrum. Do I think I’m more at risk in the likely-to-be-personally-targeted way or in the just-happened-to-be-in-the-bank-at-the-time way? It’s a conundrum.
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See here’s the problem. The element of surprise is valuable… if you have to fight. But maybe by giving away that element of surprise, I don’t have to fight, I can avoid instead… because the predator moves along to easier prey.
So I’m going to say, the appropriateness of a particular tactic depends on the circumstances where you intend to use it. Warning them off with a visible display is a legitimate tactic too. Which circumstance will you be in? It could be either - that’s part of the problem.
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If open carry was legal in Illinois, and I really thought it would deter a bad guy, then I would wear a big leather holster, with my 6 inch barrel revolver, my boots, with some spurs that “cha-chinged” with every step, and my phone loudly playing the music to The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly on repeat as I walk down the street.
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The element of surprise and the lower possibility of being disarmed by somebody who ends up turning my head into a canoe with my own gun is enough to make me carry concealed.
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I also think that even if you open carry a criminal isn’t going to nessecarily afraid of you. I think they’ll just be more careful getting next to you to knock you out.
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I think it’s particularly difficult to quantify how often that actually happens. I know it does work, but if it does, you might never know about it. I think that if the things we’re taught - make eyecontact, make sure the predator knows you’re there, turn to face them - are working, so is open carry. but if it works when they see you before you see them, how would you know?
A friend of mine who lives in Texas had a circumstance where it was quite clear it did - she lives on a remote ranch and a car with 4 big guys in it followed her home down several dirt roads, including her long dirt driveway. They pulled up behind her, about 25 yards back, when she stopped to open her ranch gate. She got out of her car, and turned to give them a clear view of her big western-style drop holster with her big western-style revolver in it… they threw it in reverse and peeled wheels backwards down her dirt drive as fast as they could go. So… clearly the message was they were up to no good, and once they knew she was armed, they wanted nothing to do with her.
Don’t know if she was playing The Good The Bad and The Ugly on her car stereo at the time, or if she was wearing spurs 
At any rate, I don’t know that there’s one right answer to this - just what we each decide is best. But I think there are a lot of things to consider. My hubby’s an open-carry-all-the-time guy, and I’m conflicted 
(not about his carry, but about mine.)
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That may be true. But I also know that predators are often not interested in contesting, they’re interested in winning. A desperate predator or a drugged up one might take ridiculous chances, but they’re not all crazy and they’re not all in it to prove their machismo. Many are quite canny… they want what you’ve got and they are calculating about when to act and who to try to take it from. This is really a question of odds and circumstances I think. We each have to evaluate our risks and select our best options.
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@James individual circumstances influence this a lot… I’m guessing I’m a lot more someones-plump-great-grandmother-with-the-bad-knees-and-glasses than you are 
I try to not look like lunch by my attitude and the way I move and carry myself, but you’ve definitely got the advantage over me on this one
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Damn I like the way you think.
Yeah, I’m a huge dude. 6’6" and 275. A lot of that is muscle. I still am cognizant that somebody could decide to stalk up to me and knock me out for my gun. If they strike from 3 ft away open carry or not, you can’t react, and I am willing to bet you were within 3 ft of a stranger today. I just think concealing gives you more options, and no plan survives the first contact intact. This is just my opinion. At the end of the day though, do what you want, and what you think is best for you and yours!
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Yes! Now THAT’S how it should be done! A modern day Doc Holiday cough, cough @Dawn Tombstone? Has it happened yet? @45IPAC I need backup here!!!
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How ‘bout it @Dawn? What did Johnny Ringo day when the Earps were going to bury one if there own?
Nope! 
Maybe Saturday night I can watch it…
@Zee, There are many articles on how not to be a target. One is to always be alert to what and who is around you at all times. Keep your head on a pivot, so to speak. Every environment is different and people walk, talk and act differently. Do your best to blend in. (When in Rome, do as the Romans do). Then you don’t need to open carry nor show your teeth. Now if someone did approach you, try to tell them nicely that you are not interested and then if need be show some anger and with any luck they will back off. Remember if you run from them, you can’t see behind you and they might run faster and catch you. But check for articles on this first. I know that USCCA has some very useful information on this.
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I know I know but ill wait for Dawn.
I don’t begrudge anyone who wants to open carry in a state that allows it. But I don’t feel comfortable doing that other than in a combat zone or at the range.
I don’t like to advertise what I’m carrying because to me it just invites trouble.
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Being in California, people would FREAK OUT if you tried open carry! Not legal here anyway. One benefit of the strict gun laws here is that it’s so rare that someone has a ccw, there are no NO GUN signs on businesses. I think carrying a gun is inconceivable to most Californians.
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I typically concealed carry, however here in Michigan we have a pro 2A group called Michigan Open Carry. Pretty much everyone in the group has their CPL/CCW, choosing to open carry is done for the public. When you frequently open carry people get used to seeing you with a gun, when people see you aren’t looking to cause trouble and that you’re friendly they will get comfortable enough to ask questions. It starts dialogue, and helps people understand that law abiding gun owners are responsible, good people, not the evil that left leaning politics want us portrayed as.
Also, our carry laws in Michigan are a hot mess. If you’re open carrying with a license to conceal you get to ignore a bunch of them.
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