Open-Carrier Attacked in Wal-Mart; Will Never Carry Openly Again

Yakima, WA – As I’ve noted before, open carry of guns is usually a bad idea for many reasons. When you advertise your firearm, you create opportunity–for others. Opportunities for the leery to get freaked out and for potential criminals to target you first in a violent crime or to try and steal your gun from you.

As I reported last October, that happened to an Oregon man who proudly toted his brand-new popper exposed–and then had it stolen from him at gunpoint.

Once again, open carry seems to have been the impetus for a crime against the carrier. Bearing Arms reports that a Yakima father was attacked while shopping with three children in Wal-Mart while openly carrying a pistol.

The victim, Brandon Walker, was attacked by a “disheveled” man who, after making eye contact with him several times, pulled a metal baseball bat from a rack and swung it hard at Walker’s head.

Walker stepped towards his attacker, leading with his shoulder to deflect the blow. He then stepped away from the bat man, drew his pistol and chambered a round, then told the bad guy to get down onto the floor. He complied.

Store employees helped contain the assailant until police arrived to arrest him, reportedly charging him with second degree assault (felony, max penalty ten years prison and $20,000 fine).

The attacker, who had been arrested before, said very little and never revealed his intentions in attacking Walker. Walker believes that the guy had to be coming after him to he could steal the gun, a Sig Sauer Model P226 in 357 Sig.

Bearing Arms reported that, in a phone interview, Walker stated that he would only carry concealed from now on.

Good choice.

Russ Chastain

Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.