open carry stops crime… again

Take a look at this story:

What happened next, to my mind, can only be attributed to the fact that I was OC.

As he drew parallel to me, he looked at me, looked at my firearm, looked at me again and stopped. He stared at me for about 5 seconds (I think) and I kinda stared back. He turned around and went back to the car, getting in the passenger seat. He got his cell phone, and ten seconds later the guy in the store came walking out. He looked at me as he passed by but didn’t say anything. He got in the car and they left.

I went into the store to talk to the clerk, a very nice Arab fellow. He knows me, as I OC there frequently.

Azmat: I think those guys were rob me.
Me: I agree.
Azmat: You scare them off?
Me: I didn’t say a word to them.
Azmat: Your gun scare them off.
Me: Perhaps. You should call the police and report this.
Azmat: Yes, I will. You stay and talk to them too?
Me: Sure.

Now, let us see if we can run down all of the myths that were busted by this anecdote – remember, if a theory is demonstrated to be false once, it is false in general.

1. Defensive Gun Uses only count if they make it to the news. BUSTED. A quick Google search for “youngstown oh gas station robbery” for the month of September yields no useful returns, yet this was obviously a defensive gun use, and a successful one at that.

2. Defensive Gun Uses only count if shots were fired. BUSTED. A robbery was deterred and a gas station attendant was left unharmed due to the presence of a firearm – that gun was successfully used in a defensive manner, without discharging a single round.

3. Cops will automatically shoot open carriers, not knowing who is a good guy or a bad guy. BUSTED. They did no such thing; what more needs to be said?

4. Everyone feels threatened by open carriers. BUSTED. The gas station attendant did not, and the cops did not. On the other side of the coin, the would-be criminals did feel intimidated… remind me how that is a “bad” thing?

5. Concealed carriers, and especially open carriers, are just looking for an excuse to shoot people. BUSTED. Those three thugs were impending threats, yet the open carrier did not actively engage them, he did not pursue them, and he sure as hell did not shoot them. Stereotype fail.

6. Cops do not like open carry. BUSTED. Some cops certainly do not like open carriers, but these two seemed completely unfazed, and were probably thankful for the lack of paperwork arising from a successfully deterred crime.

7. Open carriers are just political and social grandstanders. BUSTED. Hell, I bust this one every time I openly carry, but nothing about this admittedly one-sided recounting of the events could be interpreted as “grandstanding”.

8. Open carry only hurts “the cause”. BUSTED. I dare say that there is absolutely no way this situation could be interpreted as damaging the cause of preserving and protecting our individual rights, and, in truth, I would dare say it helped… immensely. The ripples from something like this may start out small, but I bet the reach a long ways.

I am sure I missed a few – feel free to add them in the comments. This situation, unfortunate though it could have been, unquestionably counts as a win for all parties, even those of us sitting at home, reading about it from the comfort of our computer screens; oh, sure, the poor would-be-thugs had to go home empty-handed, but who really wants them to win? Apart from, y’know, the useful idiots?

Carry your gun – it’s a lighter burden than regret – and do so openly if you feel so inclined.

(The title is in reference to this Waffle House news report.) 

(Courtesy of Robb Allen.)