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So yesterday (Saturday) I had to deliver a customer's vehicle to Klickitat. Not yet having a Washington CHL, my only legal carry option was to OC. I stopped in North Bonneville for window washer fluid and some water. As I was paying for my items, the clerk - a gal who looked to be in her 50's (or maybe she was 30 and just had been living a very, very rough life, who knows) pops off "Why you carryin' a gun?" with a disturbed look on her face.
My reply was along the lines of "Because bad people sometimes do bad things to good people, and in my line of work I travel all over, dealing with all sorts of people - good and bad. And sometimes they try to rob us thinking we've got cash." I then related the incident of a portland tow truck driver who was murdered a few years back. She seemed to get the message - which I was actually pleasantly surprised at. The thing that got me - is that it seemed to make more sense to her that my job seemed to make it more OK for me to be armed than the bad people doing bad things concept - maybe because that's a general idea, whereas throwing in my job, and related story of someone murdered on the job clicked with her and made more sense.
That was one of the very few times I've ever actually had someone question an openly carried firearm. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't even have noticed it, had it not been for the holster I carried in. I was dressed in black pants and work shirt, black gun, but the only OWB holster I have for my M&P right now is OD/Coyote Brown to blend with my normaly outdoorsy clothes.
I've had other instances where folks certainly noticed, and either said nothing, or were also "gun people" and were more inquisitive about caliber and model and not "why you carryin' a gun" types. I've been asked by other store clerks half jokingly about it - I don't normally open carry unless I'm in the woods. I walked into Lees Camp store last year carrying, wearing waders and the clerk laughed and asked if I was going to shoot the fish instead of using a rod.
After delivering the rig to Klickitat, I stopped in Lyle to drain the lizard and parked next to two sheriff deputies in the little trailhead park (Seriously a 13+ mile long trail that runs along the river, with portapotties, good drift boat launches - and miles and miles and miles of fishy looking water - there's a chunk of heaven that was temporarily placed on earth if there ever was such a place) - the cops barely gave me a second glance.
My reply was along the lines of "Because bad people sometimes do bad things to good people, and in my line of work I travel all over, dealing with all sorts of people - good and bad. And sometimes they try to rob us thinking we've got cash." I then related the incident of a portland tow truck driver who was murdered a few years back. She seemed to get the message - which I was actually pleasantly surprised at. The thing that got me - is that it seemed to make more sense to her that my job seemed to make it more OK for me to be armed than the bad people doing bad things concept - maybe because that's a general idea, whereas throwing in my job, and related story of someone murdered on the job clicked with her and made more sense.
That was one of the very few times I've ever actually had someone question an openly carried firearm. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't even have noticed it, had it not been for the holster I carried in. I was dressed in black pants and work shirt, black gun, but the only OWB holster I have for my M&P right now is OD/Coyote Brown to blend with my normaly outdoorsy clothes.
I've had other instances where folks certainly noticed, and either said nothing, or were also "gun people" and were more inquisitive about caliber and model and not "why you carryin' a gun" types. I've been asked by other store clerks half jokingly about it - I don't normally open carry unless I'm in the woods. I walked into Lees Camp store last year carrying, wearing waders and the clerk laughed and asked if I was going to shoot the fish instead of using a rod.
After delivering the rig to Klickitat, I stopped in Lyle to drain the lizard and parked next to two sheriff deputies in the little trailhead park (Seriously a 13+ mile long trail that runs along the river, with portapotties, good drift boat launches - and miles and miles and miles of fishy looking water - there's a chunk of heaven that was temporarily placed on earth if there ever was such a place) - the cops barely gave me a second glance.
