As I’ve mentioned previously, I listen to the Squirrel Report podcast on my way home from work. Each week, they have a call-in topic, or a topic that most of the callers talk about at any rate. I would love to listen live, but since I normally have to get up at Oh-Dark-Early, I’m in bed before they come on. One of these days that I have a Friday off, I’m going to listen and call in.

Since I can’t call in at the moment, I’m going to answer their call-in question each week. If nothing else, it should motivate me to write on this blog more.

Anyways, the episode for Sept. 6 was about open carry. My personal belief is that anything I can legally carry, I should be able to do openly or concealed. Unfortunately, I live in Florida, which doesn’t allow open carry with some very specific exceptions. There are plenty of times I would love the ability to open carry, simply so I’m not having to wear extra shirts in hot weather. Supposedly, the NRA is backing Florida Carry’s push for open carry this legislative session, but I’ll believe it when I see it.

My only open carry story doesn’t actually involve a firearm. Before my current job, I was working at McDonald’s as the night manager. One of the stores I worked at was inside a Wal-Mart. One night, a lady comes up to me as I’m closing up to tell me she saw a man with a knife. I asked where he was and did he threaten her or her children. No threat, the man just had a knife on his belt. Knowing Florida law and Wal-Mart policy, I politely informed the lady that if the man wasn’t threatening anyone or breaking the law, I wasn’t going to do anything. Needless to say, she was less than pleased. It devolved into he’s scaring my children (I think your scaring your children by the way your acting) and what if he was carrying a gun (that would be against the law, and we would have to call the police). At the end, she decided to just leave the store. Nothing I could or would have said would have done a damn thing to change her mind, and I don’t care.

I think if you’re going to open carry, you should observe the don’t be a dick rule. It’s probably a good idea to have a holster with some sort of retention as well. In all honesty, unless you’re wearing a neon green holster with a fire-engine red pistol, most people aren’t even going to notice.