First opportunity to open carry

[ruahusker]

Let me preface this by saying that I don't really lean one way or another whether I believe that open carry hurts or helps the cause of exercising our 2nd amendment rights.  That being said, I finally got up enough nerve to open carry last night and thought I would share my experience (although uneventful). 

First, my background. I have two hobbies that often expose me to kind of scary and/or creepy circumstances; storm and lightning photography, and astronomy.  Both of these often require that I am miles away from civilization, many times on a dark, unlit section of county road in the middle of nowhere, and with expensive equipment.   In the past this always made me a bit unnerved at times, especially when you "encounter" the locals sometimes in the middle of the night.  :-)   I am sure that in all cases so far the intentions of the person stopping to chat have been good, but it just doesn't feel that way some times. 

Any way, last night I went out around midnight to do some lightning photography and decided to take my holstered Sig Sauer SP2022 with me.  I have always been hesitant because i don't much care for the "stares" or potential confrontation with the local Peace officers.  But this time I did it and while I felt very uneasy at first, by the end of the night I basically forgot it was on my hip. 

The one thing I am still uneasy about is open carrying while in the vehicle.  I know there is some gray area here about what constitutes "visible" or not.  Does  that mean visible to the officer, if one approaches my vehicle? Or just that it can be seen and/or it is not completely covered?  It is possible that an approaching officer wouldn't have the right angle to see it on my hip.  Any way, after reading other threads on this forum, not sure what I will do in the future.  Maybe while in the car, I will just leave it holstered in the seat next to me?  I actually feel like it should be safer having it properly holstered on my hip with my hands on the steering wheel or out my window in the event of a police encounter, but that is apparently debatable.

Any way, I will definitely be carrying in the future while doing these night time excursions, especially when my contacts with other people are likely to be minimal.  Although I suppose my potential contact with a police officer is probably higher than normal since someone may call me in as suspicious just based on me being parked off a dark road in the middle of nowhere. 

Like I said, there was nothing really exciting to report, other than this being my first positive experience with open carry.  Thanks for listening.

[Gary]

Did you get any Lightning shots?   I only have one, lost in my zillions of images.    The moon is a lot slower, and easier to capture.

[GreyGeek]

Gary, did you take that photo of the Moon?  If so, what equipment did you use.  I used to own a Meade LX200 and did a lot of amature  astronomy before I donated it to the Prairie  Valley Astronomy  Club.

Ruahusker's post reminded me of something I've been meaning to do,  buy a night vision device.  One that uses starlight and not an  IR source.  I've always been an advocate of turning off the street lights.  They are, IMO, just a waste of electricity, besides supplying light for robbers to work for.  Smart robbers would be using night vision now, so it only makes sense that home owners and individuals "arm" themselves with that technology as well, and keep  their outside lights off.

 

[ruahusker]

Wow, can't compete with that Lunar shot! Mine are boring.   Nice job!

Last night wasn't very productive, only one very mediocre shot.  My horizon was extremely off.. 

Here are a few of my favorites (not necessarily lightning over the last couple years)

[NENick]

ruahusker - I usually open carry when I'm heading directly from my place to my parents, the gun store, etc. If I know that I probably won't walk by anyone, then I don't worry about it. It's pretty easy to walk by someone with a pistol on your hip without them noticing. You can block the view of your pistol by putting you thumbs into your pockets, etc.

I haven't open carried in a store or places that have much foot traffic.

I'm a little chubbier than your average bear, and would probably only concealed carry if it was comfortable in all of my cloths.

[Gary]

Nice shots!

Equipment was more than likely a D300 (had a D3 also, but the 10% closer crop value of a smaller DX chip does have advantages in ultra telephoto) with a 300-800mm f/5.6mm lens. 

This is the lens?, and the head, but the tripod I used is 8' tall, so you can stand under it and shoot up. 

I have a lot of photo equipment, but started selling it off this year, as I was growing tired of it.  Bodies loose their value quickly, glass holds its value better.



Another moon picture, handheld with this camera and lens pictured.  No colorization or post processing done to this image.

[Gumby]

Very cool.   The talent in this community is awesome.

Gary, that moon's over a building just North of I-80 and East of the 10th Street Lincoln interchange... right?  And that Big Old Man Moon rocks... I like the stubble detail!

Ruahusker... desktop photos for sure... worth seeing many, many times on many, many days.  My kids were fascinated especially by the lightning shot!

[NE Bull]

Well, looks like we have ourselves a couple of "Official" Volunteer NFOA Photographers. Now if only we had some events worthy of photos.!
Stay tuned.

[Gary]

Very cool.   The talent in this community is awesome.

Gary, that moon's over a building just North of I-80 and East of the 10th Street Lincoln interchange... right?  And that Big Old Man Moon rocks... I like the stubble detail!

Ruahusker... desktop photos for sure... worth seeing many, many times on many, many days.  My kids were fascinated especially by the lightning shot!

Correct interstate, but off 27th street as you turn west. 

[Kendahl]

Are you a member of an astronomy club? The one my wife and I belong to owns a few acres near Weeping Water. Use of the property is one of the benefits of membership. It is gated and posted with "No Trespassing" signs. A self-proclaimed liberal in the club claims the site is "very safe". Another member, who is a retired police officer, says there have been a couple of incidents that could have turned ugly. The retired officer usually carries. A couple of other members said they have guns in their cars. The place certainly is better than setting up on the side of a road. Nevertheless, I have felt quite vulnerable the few times I have been completely alone.

There is another problem with setting up beside a road. A member with a 10 inch Dobsonian was visited by the Omaha police. The officers told him they had received a 911 call about someone with a "cannon". They were polite and, once they learned what he had, wished him well and went on their way.

[Gary]

I felt like I wanted armament when I took this shot in the 27th & Cornhusker area.  It was about 3am and was trying to get the clouds as well as the moon.   This shot took about 3 hours to get.

[Gumby]

Gary, Werewolves of Lincoln moon shot... lucky you weren't eaten!    Time for some Zevon...