I dont think open carry is worth a flip, if for god bid you are thrust into an insident, you would be one of the first targets. It is documented that a person with a knife,within 10 pace's, can cut a subject faster than they can react and draw their firearm and shoot, why help them make you a target!. As for states with conceiled carry laws, the proof is in the pudding!, crime rates lower than the national average with the states that dont allow CCW. To go one step farther, the town of Kennesaw Georgia requires at least the head of household to be armed, crime in that part of the state is nill!. Look at it this way, if your the crook, are you going to be that brazen if you know your next victem could accually fight back and kill you? I dont think so!. If the school's and colledge campuss'es would commit part of their staff to learn weapons training and carry a concealed weapons, the outcomes of the school related shootings would diminish, would'nt stop, but the body counts would never be as high as they have been in the past!. A national CCW has been talked about in the past, it is growing legs everyday, more and more states are getting it finaly, even letting other states CCW permits to be used as long as you follow that states guidelines, unfortunatly, the up-comeing elections can put a sudden hault to this prossess, you can blame the brady-bunch and liberal government for this. I also dont beleive that everyone that can legally buy a firearm be allowed to carry without extensive training, it takes alot more than knowing how to operate it to be able to use it responcibly. Everyone should be able to compleate a self defence course, " not the normal course you receive to get your CCW, but a true to life course, how to use it, when to use it, alternatives, and the laws that pertain to takeing anothers life! for just the basics, this is more than a day course. Countless hours also are needed in shooting for self defence, going to the range once in a while, shooting targets doesnt cut it!, you need to practice defensive shooting, working senerios from contact shooting, shooting while seeking cover and every other perdicument that you might have to face. To sum it all up!, CCW is good as long as the person that carries a firearm for self defence does it with respocability, I read an article a while back that stated that," people who carry CCW are in fact a comunities security force", I happen to agrea with this statement, you are out there to protect more than just yourself!.