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Because da scary guns...So it sounds like NRA and SAF have placed their bets on concealed vs open carry. Why? Why not both? I'm sure the answer lies in some politically-laden excuse, but to the average Joe, this does not bode well.
I can't speak for the NRA or SAF, but the NRA helped author the 1967 California law that banned the open carry of loaded firearms. That was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan. That was in response to a group of 'scary Black Panthers' who legally paraded through the halls of the California capitol building with long arms.
God forbid that American citizens should exercise their 2A rights. Things were different in the 60's. The Black Panthers were feared. 'Civil folk' simply felt that no one should want to openly carry a gun back in those days. It was evil in their eyes.
Many of the open carry states don't have ANY law regarding open carry, they simply have no law forbidding it. In other words, it's a freedom not yet regulated. For a lot of people that's a truth that simply can't be handled. Regulation means control. If they can give you a permit to carry, whether open or concealed, they can also take it away; exactly why the Young v. Hawaii case is being litigated. Our argument needs to be that whichever it is that is allowed, it is by right and not decree. Until the courts conclude that we have a basic right to carry, whether open or concealed, determined by the states, this will never end. I personally don't believe there should be any differentiation between the two, we should be able to carry in any way we choose. The 'permitless carry' states are beginning to prove that out. Last I checked there were around a dozen permitless carry states. As that trend grows I think we'll start seeing some of this anti-gun mania begin to subside.
Also, who needs the NRA if there's a national right-to-carry that's clearly defined? NRA needs to collect dues. There is not a justification on the planet for taking a stance against open carry. I've open carried for years and more often than not the people around me have no idea I'm armed. I also have a CPL and at times choose to conceal. We got our CPL's primarily to protect our rights to carry in our vehicles in Washington State, where in Nevada and Arizona no permit is needed.