On 17 Apr 2010 21:39:57 GMT, Eregon wrote:



You ARE aware, are you not, that the whole purpose of a CCW permit is to
give the "carrier" a legal alibi when some officious badge-toter
"discovers" that the "carrier" is "carrying" since the CCW laws generally
require that the piece be so concealed that no one other than the
"carrier" knows that it's being "carried" and that - if it becomes
apparent that the "carrier" is "carrying" - a CCW holder can be charged
when a piece becomes apparent to others...

That isn't true in MN. The permit says "permit to carry a pistol". It
permits concealment but does not require it. In fact, no permit is
necessary to openly carry in most of the state, except for some metro
area counties. Permit holders may openly carry anywhere in the state
where they may carry concealed.

Being legal doesn't make it a good idea, particularly in Minneapolis.
Minneapolis is not gun-friendly. I think there is only one gun shop
left in Minneapolis and it's constantly under siege by pols. There are
quite a few in surrounding burbs that are different political entities
but otherwise indistinguishable as part of the metro area.

Aside from in gun shops, at ranges and hunters and plinkers afield, I
don't recall ever seeing anyone not wearing a uniform carry openly in
MN. I spend most of my time in metroland.

One of the rare occasions where I do carry more than a pocket popper
is when I shoot at an indoor range only blocks from North Minneapolis,
where parking is in an underground ramp. There's a lot of drug and
gang activity in North Minneapolis. I can see how a denizen might
regard that ramp as a prime ambush site for a senior gent lugging
what must obviously be a rangebag since I'm headed for the door
labelled "Bill's Gunshop and Range". On those occasions I slip on an
open-carry OWB belt-clip holster with either a .40 S&W or a .45ACP for
the short walk between car and range door. I'd pack a .357 snubby if
I owned one because overpenetration isn't a concern in a
concrete-walled sparsely-populated sit. I don't own one so I go with
..40 or .45. Even openly carried, it still isn't highly visible
because lighting is poor in that ramp even in daytime during the
winter months, but it's a lot quicker to deploy than it would be if
concealed.

I don't know if seeing it would be deterrent or attractant and won't
speculate. I pay attention during the drive-in, while parking, and
when I get out of the car I do a careful 360 scan before unlocking the
trunk. Ditto when I exit that range en route to the car. The last
thing an assailant who decided to proceed would see is a front view in
a draftsman's parlance, or what a human factors engineer might
describe as "what you saw is what you got".

Most of my life these days is spent in a blissful condition
chartreuse: not quite condition-green-oblivious to environment, but
definitely low key.