Back in the 1800s in the days of the cowboy, everybody carried a six-shooter on their hip. Open carry itself does have some appeal at first. It would undoubtedly be more comfortable, and I have no doubt your draw would be faster since you don’t have to clear a garment before grabbing the gun as you do with concealed carry.

Open Carry In 2021

In today’s world, open carrying like a cowboy is not so easy to do. Every state has laws, cities have ordinances, and both change all the time. Not to mention there are some tactical reasons that open carry isn’t always a good idea. In short, is open carrying your everyday carry out on your hip a good idea? No, it’s not, now let us explain why.

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Tactical Issues With Open Carry

Easy Target

First and foremost from a tactical standpoint, open carry is a pretty poor idea in our modern society. For a moment let’s look at this from the perspective of a bank robber. If an armed villain enters a bank to hold it up the first guy he is going to look at pistol whip or shoot is gonna be the guy with the visible gun on his belt. Essentially when having that gun out there you have a huge red target on your back that says “please shoot me first!”

When To Take Action

The second tactical consideration that goes along with losing the element of surprise from concealment is to survive with open carry you would have to be fast on the draw and quick thinking. What I mean is since you have that target on your back you don’t get to pick when to act or if you’re going to act. If some violence is going down and you are open carrying you have to be able to draw, act quickly and have great situational awareness.

Keeping It In Place

The third tactical consideration is that you can not open carry with just any holster. If you have some limp unsecure holster, it’d be very easy for an assailant to rip your gun from your holster and beat you with it. If you are set on open carry, I’d look at buying something along the lines of a duty holster that has a locking hood over the top of the gun.

Finally, there is the legal aspect. When it comes to navigating the unconstitutional gun laws of the United States, it is an ever-changing confusing mess. Federally there are laws, states have laws, parks can have their own set of laws, cities have ordinances. Basically, it’s just a mess that you more or less need a law degree to figure out. Our advice is to plan out where you are or where you are going in conjunction with a concealed carry legal specialist, something like USSCA or US LawShield.

You have a greater tactical advantage if your gun is concealed, you retain the element of surprise and you can choose when the best time to act is, or you can choose not to act. Open carry is only fit for the people that we know are carrying a gun like police officers. For the rest of us, it’s best to fly under the radar and try to look like one of your average joes.

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