First and foremost, I OC because there are places I can OC, but am prohibited by law from CC, like restaurants that serve alcohol (hopefully, that will change within the next few months). I also think it is important for people to see us carrying as we go about our mundane tasks, neatly dressed, polite, with families or without, minding our own business, everyman - normal members of the community and neighbors - not the paranoid, extremist fringe the anti's would have the public believe. In that sense, it is part of being an active gun rights supporter, for me, anyway. We have more than a century of propaganda to overcome in our efforts to maintain our rights. We can't just stick with the abstract, talking about the Constitution and Bill of Rights and the philosphy of Founding Fathers. We have to personalize it, quietly, as individuals, letting our deeds put a lie to the propaganda. It is much harder to accept the image the Brady Bunch portrays, when they've known Joe Nextdoor for 20 years as a good, stable member of the community and completely unremarkable in every respect except that he carries. And when they start seeing others carrying in the community, who are also otherwise unremarkable, then the hyperbole stops making sense.
...Many of the posts indicate that some OCers are looked at strangely and that some of the citizenry show fear and/or wonder at those who OC...
There will always be hoplophobes. All we can do is, by our own actions and behavior, cause them to question their preconceptions.
...Doesn't this make the person who is OCing a target?
Do you have any proof that this is, in fact, the case?
I know of a recent robbery, right here in my area, where that was most definitely NOT the case, and it illustrates my points, well. 9 people in a convenience store, being held at gunpoint by a would-be thief who was threatening to kill them all. One of them, someone people saw in that store everyday, a friend of the store owner and a respected member of the community, was open carrying. After giving the situation a chance to resolve without violence, when the threats started, the man carrying took action. The thief didn't give him a second glance - missed it completely until it was too late. This man shot the robber and stopped the robbery. The non-gun carrying victims encouraged him to keep shooting after the thief was down, but he remained calm and cool and judged the threat stopped.
He wasn't fringe, but a well-respected member of the community. He wasn't bloodthirsty; in fact, it was the other store patrons who wanted more blood. He did what was necessary to save their lives, and no more. The fact that the thief died did not create a hue and cry. In fact, the media protrayed the OC'er in a favorable light, quoting people who appreciated the fact that he was carrying. The one article I saw that tried to portray the thief as a victim got absolutely no traction.
I think OC helps us more than it might hurt us.
