California has one of the most strict gun laws in America, Among them are the open carry and concealed carry laws which prohibit a person to carry a firearm on their person. Concealed carry is allowed in California which allows a person to carry a concealed firearm in public, instead of open carry which allows a person to carry a firearm openly in public. Now there are various arguments to both laws that each have points to make. Open carry allows someone to carry their firearm out in the open as I have stated before, which initially to someone may seem to be intimidating at first.

 Open carry can deter crime and stop people from doing actions they would have done, if they had no idea someone had a firearm. Open carry could stop someone from commiting crimes which could indeed save lives. Concealed carry is legal in California and open is not. Which proposes an interesting question should open carry be legal in California and not concealed carry? People may be un-eased by the fact they cannot tell whether someone has a firearm or not.

 With open carry someone can always be aware of someone who has a firearm if they know they have it. It could add a sense of security to someone if they know they have a firearm, of course this could easily go the other way, someone could feel very un-eased by a person if they have a firearm.

 Open carry seems to have more positive than negative effects. Concealed carry though effective could easily not be criminals could feel safe in their environment if they know there aren’t any guns around and could result in more casualties because of that. Both sides each have points to prove and both have flaws as well. There was a court ruling in Aug, 2 2018 that may change the laws in California, though it has not been changed it may still be able to.

“Open carry is limited to engaged in the protection of life and property.” This would allow a person to open carry in the case of danger on their property. Being able to open carry in California would be a very hard law to pass through due to how democratic California is. It would take quite a lot of effort to push the law through. I had interviewed two students at Pitman high school on what they thought on the topic of open carry in California.

 “I think that open carry should be aloud in California because it can scare away anyone that would want to do harm if they know a guy has a gun.” My second interview had a different take on the topic. “I don’t think open carry should be a law in California because it would scare people off from places if they see a guy with a gun walking into a building.” Both are valid arguments but what do you think after reading this article, should open carry be passed as a law in California?