As we celebrate Independence Day, we need to remember among other things not to take liberties with our liberties.

Open carry – that is, carrying or wearing a visible firearm out and about in public – has become a hot topic on both sides of the gun debate. On our side, there are some who claim “a right not exercised is a right that will wither away.” In recent years, it has turned out otherwise. Ostentatious open carry led to it being banned by the state legislature in California. More recently, a series of store and restaurant chains, most recently Target, have come out and asked customers not to come there armed with firearms. These have been direct results of AR15s, AK47 clones, etc. being carried in their premises for no reason other than “because I can.”

My own position is middle of the road. I would like to see the open carry of a handgun made legal in all fifty states without a permit, with the practice prohibited to convicted felons, those adjudicated mentally ill, and the like. First, legal open carry prevents arrest of concealed carry permit holders whose gun becomes visible when the wind blows their coat open. Second, when someone becomes a stalking victim or the target of death threats overnight, they don’t have time to wait for the bureaucracy to take weeks or months to process a concealed carry permit.

However, a growing majority of gun owners – including me – are fed up with clowns who sling a rifle over one shoulder, a camcorder over the other, and go out to show off and maybe taunt a policeman or two. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these people weren’t false-flag plants from the other side. Not all of them are, though.

It’s self-delusional to think that you’ll spread a positive Second Amendment image by frightening people already made leery of armed people in public by news reports of atrocities like Sandy Hook. The gay rights movement didn’t make the strides it did by having its members have sex with each other in Starbucks, and wandering into a coffee shop or department store with a loaded military style rifle won’t make positive strides for gun owners’ civil rights. A small handful of attention whores have done huge damage to the vast majority of responsible gun owners.

Enjoy the Fourth. I intend to be setting off some fireworks myself, but on the range. Hope you get some fun time for the holiday weekend as well.

1 COMMENT

  2. I heartly agree with your statement. As Bill Murray’s Dr. Venkman warned in Ghost Busters II, “You’re scaring the squares.” And in the process giving the antis far too many easy victories.

  3. Right on, Mas. Close to the center of the x-ring with only a little cutting of the ring and lead smear outside. Score is 10x in my book. However, comma…

    I do not think open carry activism can be explained by good intentions gone wrong. Look at their failures.

    If so-called good intentions get negative legislation, negative press, bans from one business after another, you’d think they would have to re-evaluate their intentions or their methods. But no, they kept it up.

    I differ from you in the point where you say ” I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these people weren’t false-flag plants from the other side. Not all of them are, though.”

    I’d be surprised if some of them were not. Either that or they are duped into being useful idiots for a cause they do not understand, and stupid beyond belief. Come on! How is the right to bear arms advanced by further restrictions?

  4. Amen.

    The other part of the problem is that the open carry organizations in states like Texas, where the legislature is gun-friendly, have no clue how to successfully lobby for pro-gun legislation. Nor are they willing to learn. To them it’s all about confronting people with open carry, even when they’re being confrontational with friends.

    Their tactics are like punching a buddy in the face, then saying, “How about you buy me lunch.”

  5. 1) “felony” and “mental illness” are terms which have been broadened to the point where I fully expect to see “felony parking violation” or “felony failure to hide wheelie bin” any day now. And the “mental health” thing is just a giant ball of eels.

    2) my state has a great many “felony” crimes that do not involve violent acts; furthermore, many of them are subjects to statutes of limitations. Yet loss of RKBA is permanent. That’s neither sensible nor just.

    3) Unlike the Second Amendment, there’s no enumerated “right to be gay.” The gay rights movement was to obtain something they’d never had, not something they had already.

  6. Mas like the saying goes, all analogies are wrong. If you lived in any of the large urban aress during the last 20 or 30 years you would have seen gay “pride ” and “stonewall ” celebrations with nude men with erections and masturbating marching in front of children on the streets. All sorts of such hijinks were intended as forceful destruction of traditional values. This played into the leftist politics of the elected officials and media, so it was all tolerated.

  8. I have long suspected these in your face, look at me, open carry folks were possibly anti-gun activists trying to fan the flames against carry of any kind.
    Their antics or “for the cause” actions have accomplished nothing but increased ammunition for the anti- 2nd amendment activist, embarrassment for pro- 2nd amendment advocates, and served to push the on the fencers over to the other side.
    There may come a day when I find it necessary to carry a loaded defensive rifle or shotgun in public. If that happens it will be because I know that I, and everybody else are already a target from an immediate threat, not to draw the attention of a threat to me.
    Rest assured that anyone walking into a Waffle House carrying an AK or AR while I am eating my breakfast had better think out every move he makes while in my presence. He has just become what may be an immediate threat to me and all others in the area.

  9. OC was banned by CA because there is no right to keep and bear arms in the CA constitution. CA citizens own and use firearms at the whim of the legislature. The privilege to open carry in CA was revoked.

    Regarding being fed up: I am fed up with all the homosexual and casual sex on TV, bad language and generally disgusting “shock” stories about murder, rape and other felonies. ***I support this as an expression of the right to free speech despite my reservations about the behavior.*** Doing otherwise PROVIDES AN OPENING FOR GOVERMENT TO TAKE CONTROL. Goverment has turned concealed carry into a PRIVILEGE in most states with OC being the true expression of the right. Advocating otherwise supports the government position in an indirect way.

    The argument that it does not win supporters is a false one. We are not supposed to be debating the right in the first place!

  10. Another scenario I dread, and I suspect anti-gun zealots and the media would drool over, is a continuation of my first comment.
    Suppose two members of the local Open Carry Club enter a restaurant and un-sling their weapon for any reason. At the same time, a CCL holder is enjoying a meal with his family, resulting in a confrontation or worse.
    Who wins? No one, except those who will scream “I told you this is happens when people are allowed to carry guns!!!”
    Again, I dread the day.

  11. Whatever happened to personel decorum? I was raised to be polite to strangers and, friendly. I would think it rude to walk amongst strangers in public with an FN FAl/L1A1. As Mas wrote, carrying a gun in public in the midst of a frightened public is going to turn many against gun rights. Right now, gun rights seem to be well protected.

  12. I grew up around the open display of sidearms in Town and of long guns in the Sonoran Desert. It doesn’t really bother me. The world is different than the one I grew up in.

    In my daily life, Discreet Carry works better. People tend to be put off by large firearms for all to see. Also, a firearm in the open is an invitation for a variety of issues. A situationally unaware long gun carrier may wind up as a robbery victim.

    Protections for Open Display need to be enshrined in law. I’ve had my blazer blow open in a powerful gust of wind. The world could see my Browning High Power in sharp contrast against my white shirt.

    As a reply to Long Island Mike and TRX:

    I am not gay. However, a significant proportion of my clientele are gays and lesbians. These are my least troublesome clients.

    Equal protection under the law is an American virtue. This extends to LGBTQ Americans.

    I’ve never seen dudes beating off at the various gay pride events I’ve seen. Typically the gay business owners who put money into these would crap, since that scares away tourists. Most of the gay and lesbians I know are business people. I also go shooting with a group of made up of mostly LGBTQ people. There is a growing subculture of LGBTQ gun owners.

  13. Right on! I wrote about this on my page and it hit almost 100 comments in 24 hours. Two or three thought somehow I was anti gun but the rest all agreed with me. Open carry generally makes you a target and carrying a long gun while shopping is a pain. Try getting to the ar on your back as you are attacked from behind while trying to get an item from a low shelf. Plus, their open carry track record is horrible. They have caused more rights to be taken away by private property owners than Bloomberg or MDA could ever have hoped for. Being a good Shepard of our rights sometimes means working smarter not harder.

  14. Thanks for speaking out, Mas. The ’cause I can crowd is doing great harm to 2nd Amendment advocates – even the NRA hedged its opposition to the flaunting of open carry rights. Day one of the police academy (back in the dark ages) taught us to not unnecessarily make targets of ourselves, on or off duty. Good advice then and now!

  15. Your scenario is certainly possible, Dennis. The one I dread is a near-certainty.

    Sooner or later someone in one of the long-gun open-carry demonstrations is going to twitch at the wrong time and experience an ND in the middle of the crowd. I’m sure anti-gun legislators already have open carry bans written, just waiting to name them after whoever the bullet hits.

  16. TRX – Spot on….

    If the rights protected by the constitution do not apply to all, then the rights cannot apply to any.

    Also, one must be very careful for what one wishes.

    One just might get it….

  17. Apparently you have all fallen to the slow progression of our eroding rights. Women children and sissy men are now deciding what our rights should be because god forbid they might get scared of someone exercising them.

  18. So, true Massad! I occasionally open carry my handgun because it’s legal here in the free state of Mississippi. However, I think it’s inappropriate to sling a long gun and go into a business. You want to open carry your rifle at a gun rights rally, hey I am cool with that. But it’s NOT appropriate at a business.

    Michael Bane recently said in his podcast. We are all in it to win it, when it comes to our gun rights. But, your actions MUST be winning hearts and minds. With Texas Open Carry and their recent shenanigans, our side is LOOSING and thats never good.

    We all support the right of Texans and everyone else to open carry, but lets do so in a way that PROMOTES gun owners as the responsible people that we are!

    Happy Independence Day!
    Chad Hendrix
    Biloxi, MS

  19. Mas,
    I couldn’t agree with you more about the open carry situation. Being a retired LEO and a Concealed Permit Holder for 20 plus years I feel that the concealed gun is to be kept that way until, God forbid the time that we need it to protect from a homicidal sociopath bent on destruction. While I understand the rights situation I still think that concealed until you need it is the way to go.

  20. I am generally against open carry because it scares the sheeple, and lets the bad guys know who to shoot first. Nevertheless, I’m going to try to make an argument for open carry anyway, just for the sake of having a fair debate. It may be that open carry supporters believe that long ago, seeing an armed man was normal, and no one thought anything was wrong with being armed. In fact, criminals were the ones who would conceal their weapons, and honest men would display them openly. It would be wonderful to educate society so that the presence of good guys and gals with guns was looked upon as normal. Toward this end I could see open carry supporters trying to condition the public to view guns as a normal part of American life. That’s a worthy goal, but probably unrealistic.

    Now, how would I go about trying to educate the public? I would first start by wearing NRA emblazoned clothing, then begin to carry empty holsters, and finally, I would openly carry one or two pistols. Carrying long guns is just too much of a jolt to the system of the sheeple. It is in bad taste. That’s why Charlton Heston held up a flintlock when he made his famous speech. He knew that his words would scare people enough, so he used a tame-looking firearm, not one of those scary black rifles! But the problem is, some Americans will NEVER feel comfortable around guns, no matter how we try to educate them. I would love to live in a “Polite Society” where enlightened people felt comfortable in the presence of firearms, but I think the public is just too dumbed-down for that.

    One more thing; if seeing long guns carried in public becomes normal for police, then the next mass murderer could just pretend to be an open carry supporter with a long gun, then begin his massacre without even trying to hide his weapon. At the present time, in our society, concealed carry is the way to go.

  21. Dennis, you make an excellent point. I feel while not all are anti-gun, I’m sure there those who are carrying a rifle loaded, in a store are trying to hurt us.

    It doesn’t seem natural to me, for some to carry an AR or AK into a store. I would keep mine in a case. Yes, those folks are anti-gunners.

  22. Long Island Mike , I’ve seen what you describe, homosexuals engaged in sex acts in full view of crowds. Fred in Arizona, you were prolly looking the other way, embarrassed?
    Open carry is begging for trouble. I’m too old to fight and really don’t like to be surprised. I’d like the law to be slacked up a bit though since the grip of my Sig does not always stay under my shirt tail.
    Carrying a long arm, rifle or shotgun, into businesses is childish. As long as it stays slung it won’t worry me but I’ve been around all kinds of guns since I was a toddler, not so the public who learned all about guns on the 6 o’clock “news”

  23. Open carry of AR’s and AR’s is stupid, and the ability to do so makes no point.
    Those that do so only demonstrate to the world that their real point, rather than to construct gun rights, is to shock, and this is purely destructive. Idiots use this approach in other venues, and we of the 2nd Amendment lovers club should shun, and ban these stupid, stupid people. And, in any case, tactically, you can’t get dumber. What fools.

  24. On the surface I would have to disagree with Mas. I do not agree with open carry. This lets the criminals know who to shoot first. When I was In AZ at Gunsite we were encouraged to openly carry and it really felt strange. Protecting the weapon from someone willing to grab it was of paramount importance. Now that we have concealed carry, in IL, the law states that the weapon must be MOSTLY concealed. In other words; If your jacket should blow open or if the bottom of your holster should show you could not be arrested. The yahoos in TX were imbeciles or plants.

    This Independence Day I have mowed the lawn, trimmed the trees and picked up after my Dog. Always my favorite chore! Plus I got a lump on my head from a low hanging branch that drew blood. My wife is still recovering from surgery but she managed to do the laundry and cook dinner.

    Tomorrow I intend to spend some time at our club range and shoot a few rounds in my Glock 19 in preparation for a Glock match in about 3 weeks in Indiana. Also I intend to do a few short range drills with my new Sig 400. I intend to get my wife to the range as soon as she is able to walk, and run her through a few drills with the Sig.

    Mostly on the fourth I think about how our country was formed. The odds of winning our freedom from England was astronomical. There is no way in hell that our current gaggle of politicians could have pulled it off. Back in 1776 we had statesmen not politicians. Look at the other countries that were colonized by the colonial powers. (England, France, Spain and Germany.) Nearly all of those conquered countries, when given their Independence, have had one revolution after another. However, I think we are close to that point now.

    In IL we have tried to alter our State Constitution. because of gerrymandering by our state assembly, most of our Democrat politicians run unopposed in the general election. Roughly 530,000 signatures were turned in to put a referendum on the ballot but it was thrown out by a Democrat Judge. Our Democrat House Speaker, Madigan also filed suit to declare the signatures invalid.

    Our fearless leader has been flipping the bird to Congress now for some time. What ever happened to the separation of powers? You know , the Legislature the Judiciary and the Executive branches. A bunch of spineless wimps in the Legislature that are only after what is good for their pocketbook and not what is good for our country.

    Well, my brandy needs a refill (Yes, I know I sound like Michael Bane and his martinis) It is dusk and the illegal fireworks are starting.—

  25. Thank you Mas for the comparison to the Gay and Lesbian. I remember back in the 90’s when they were holding all their public demonstrations of affection (aka; public make out sessions)
    This did nothing to help their cause, just as some if these open carry exhibitionists are doing to the gun community.
    I’m an NRA instructor, and FFL. If I’m in my local 7-11 and a couple of yahoos walk in with their pimped SKS’s; I’m going to take cover, draw my pistol and call 911.

  26. Reading this, I couldn’t help but think of the gay pride parades I’ve seen, which were in general very ostentatious, but you’re correct that the bulk of the gay rights movement’s are more low-key. So I wonder, would it do the gun rights movement good to limit Open Carry Texas style antics to a “Gun Pride” parade every so often, and leave the rifles at home the rest of the time.

  27. Mas, as usual, you make a good and logical argument for the best reasons for open carry. Texas did change the regulations on concealed carry in the last legislative session to exclude accidentally showing your concealed weapon as an offence. (I have read the law but have not had an update in class, so take it for what that is worth as I am neither a lawyer or legislator.) Part of the problem in Texas is the way the state laws were written and interpreted in the past. Handguns were placed in the status of prohibited weapons except under certain circumstances. Examples given were hunting, fishing, and activities in which a weapon of this type could be appropriately and legally used. Also, you could carry freely on your own property or business and when “travelling”. In the 60’s and 70’s when I began my interest in firearms, this was also interpreted (incorrectly, illegally and unjustly), be white, and not a hippie or other weird person. Long guns were not regulated as such and could be carried anywhere as long as you were not violating local laws or carrying recklessly. This was usually translated “shotgun and rifle in the gun rack or back seat of the car” and not carrying (brandishing) a loaded gun into a store, etc. The catch is in the interpretation. A shotgun in the gun rack in Jacksonville, TX (my home town) or showing your buddy a new, unloaded .22 in the Discount City parking lot was the norm but the same in downtown Dallas was not the norm and could get you in trouble or arrested. Some people, in there zeal for open carry of handguns, are violating what most of us in the past would have superficially looked upon as reckless carry. Hopefully, they aren’t really reckless in their manner of carry because an accident in a city like Austin or Dallas could set us back the “Ann Richards” years as her daughter is a candidate for governor. By the way, I am in no way a legal expert in this area and if you read the state penal code, there are so many lines through sections and added sections that only an attorney can begin to make sense of it. Fortunately my CCW instructor is also a licensed attorney here in Texas and I look forward to his class in a few months.

  28. I agree completely. Just because you have a right to do something, doesn’t always make it a good idea.

    Handguns are for responding to trouble when you’re not expecting any. Long guns are for when you know you’re headed for trouble and should be accompanied by. Friends, cops, air cover, etc.

  29. Fred, Lew, Long Island Mike – Gay rights aren’t really my bag. Not that there’s anything wrong with it of course, it’s just not my bag you understand. 🙂

    However I think Mas’ analogy is apt; yes I can well believe some gay people behave like jerks on gay pride parades, but I also believe (and my experience supports this) that the majority of gay people behave decently. (Just like any other sort of people.) However the objectionable behaviour Lew and LIM mention would not be found in the days when gay men and women could be put in prison for having consensual sex between adults in private. (FWIW in the UK, outside of the HM Armed Forces, lesbian acts have never been considered criminal.) Or if attitudes were more “liberal” considered mentally ill.

    Laws and attitudes have changed, the process was slow and not necessarily one I completely understand, but public displays of self-abuse where not part of the process.

    Just because some people abuse rights, doesn’t mean the rights themselves are bad.

    Heck, in the future it may actually be possible for two gun owners to get married . . .

  31. The extreme positions on any issue tend to feed each other’s positions by their actions. Open carry because you can seems like it fits this position. I truly believe that abuse of a right enhances the possibility of loss of the right.

  34. My home state has pretty simple laws against indecent exposure. Certain body parts are required to be covered. It’s not illegal to possess these body parts, only that they be covered up.
    I can satisfy these requirements by wearing a thong. Wearing only a thong in public on a beach or at a swimming pool would be appropriate. It would also be ok in a beachfront hotel or restaurant, but don’t be surprised if you are asked to leave if you enter less relaxed establishments under different circumstances (no shirt, no shoes, no service). I can enter these establishments wearing that same thong underneath a pair of shorts and never be challenged. I could also enter them wearing the thong over my shorts and draw attention to myself and look really stupid in the process.

  35. You nailed it! These wing-nuts aren’t merely taunting the antis, they are turning off large numbers of non-gun owners. These are folks who (formerly) had no problem with private gun ownership or responsible carry. This segment of the population, perhaps in excess of 75%, support gun ownership by others regardless of their own personal choice about firearms.

    It is unlikely gun owners will change the minds of the haters in a positive way. Gun owners stupid enough to partner with the antis to alienate potentially millions of voters through public display of their own arrogance probably shouldn’t own guns in the first place.

    The media love this. It provides tens of millions of dollars in production, airtime and print that the anti-rights crowd doesn’t have to pay for. Just wait till there is a negligent discharge that kills a kid in the toy aisle. I’m sure there are some sick people in the Bloomberg crowd praying for it.

    False flag? To borrow a phrase, “What does it matter?” We are all in the middle of the road here, and likely to get hit if we don’t get out of it.

  36. Meh… it’s private property/public access… acting out in a rude manner just goes to show one’s upbringing…

    We don’t win when we cause controversy that reflects badly on ALL Armed Citizens!

  37. I have been carry concealed since 1978 when I was sworn in as a Police Officer. My agency prohibited the open carrying of firearms for off duty and plain cloths officers for tactical advantages. As a result I always carried concealed. I only open carry when I am out in the woods hunting and carrying a sidearm for self defense of dangerous game, shooting ranges and in rural areas….
    My son has entered law enforcement in another state where they allow open carry he sees many people shopping in Wal Mart.. openly carrying. I have urged him to keep his firearm concealed unless he wants to be the first one taken out or identified if a robbery or active shooting was to occur. As an example you have haters against every group such as those who killed the two officers recently in Vegas. Why gamble with fate when going concealed is a viable option there are many quality holsters for this purpose and no need advertising your armed.
    I am not against open carry I just feel it is safer having the element of surprise tactically and have learned that in many training classes.

  38. Mas, I agree wholeheartedly. These 2A O/C supporters are doing more to hurt our cause than the Anti’s could ever do. Every photo I see, it seems to be the younger generation that is doing the long gun O/C. In my honest opinion, it is the “young, dumb and full of *^&” people that are trying to make a statement. And that statement is STUPID. I live in WV and have had my CPL for 16 years. But on occasion, I do O/C, but only my handgun……..I never never have a reason to O/C my AR’s. I just wonder if maybe some of these nimrods O/C long guns are possible anti’s incognito.

  39. Mas, Open carry is becoming more popular here in Georgia and I see a lot of people doing it but they are doing it wrong. My son is 10 and we discuss open carry one day when we saw a guy carrying a S&W M&P in a leather holster with his shirt tucked in and pistol visible to everyone. We followed him around the store for about 2 to 3 minutes and he never knew we were there. As soon as we got far away from him I looked at my son and ask a 10 year old what he thought about how the guy was open carrying? the First words out of his mouth was Daddy I could have taken his gun at anytime I wanted to. And then He asked if it was legal to carry that way? I told him yes it was but he spotted the biggest reason why someone should carry in a level 2 holster if they are going to open carry. To me The gun is there to see to anyone. To many people go into condition white when in a store with family because you attention is drawn away by your family or something that you want to take a good look at.
    Open carrying a rifle into a store is something I have never done and don’t plain on doing. Mainly because it freaks some people out and pushes them closer to the dark side thinking this guy is a nut and when they hear the gun grabbers talking about how evil these rifles are they are drawn closer to voting to ban al guns. Sure I would love to have a rifle instead od a handgun if ever in a gunfight. But is it really helping our cause to walk into Wally world with an AR or AK strapped to your back?
    I have never opened carried any firearm into a store. I think people are hurting our side by doing this more than they are helping. At 52 years old I try to think about everything I do and what is to be gained or lost. To me Open Carry is not helping us at all. Oppioin’s are like buttholes everyone has one and some stink worse that others. And this is what open carry seems to be one oppioin against the other.

  40. If you want to ‘Open Carry’ then get your gun club, or local range, to sponsor a march. Call the police chief and have a couple cops provide a car to lead the march.

    And all states must pass an ‘Open Carry’ law to allow anyone to get a police check, and a temporary permit.

  41. Some observations:
    My state has been open carry since it became a state. I grew up daily seeing pickups driving around with a shotgun/rifle in a rack in front of the rear window, no big deal. But when I worked on a construction job with guys from Detroit, they freaked out at the idea of anyone openly displaying a firearm. They had never seen anything like that. The sight of firearms does that to some people.

    In the past weeks I’ve chanced upon two people openly carrying a pistol in public. One was an older gentleman in a Menard’s store. He was partially disabled (if that sets off your PC outrage, too bad) and had a small amount of difficulty getting around. Frankly, he looked a little disconcerting with a gruff demeanor, but people tell me I tend to look that way even when I’m having a good day. He was carrying in a complicated shoulder rig that held his pistol (some sort of black, polymer wundergun, not a Glock but I didn’t scrutinize it too closely) horizontally under the armpit, without a jacket on to cover it.
    Taking the entire scenario in, I decided he probably knew what he was doing, given the gun he was packing, and the rig it was in, and that his disability caused him to decide not to be an easy victim.
    But how many others had enough knowledge and experience to come to that conclusion? I suppose he caused a lot of nervousness that day, and probably a few comments to store management, but I didn’t see any of that.
    My feeling is that while fully legal in my state and fully within his rights, and after a quick survey by me, not causing me any rise in threat level, he should have had a CCW permit and thrown a jacket over the pistol, just to not cause undue tension among the citizens with whom he was interacting.

    The second was a rancher in Wyoming who pulled into the local small town fuel stop with his pickup and flatbed trailer who was packing a Glock in a belt holster.
    Didn’t cause so much as a blip on the radar for me or anyone else including the local cop who was standing there paying for his snacks.

    I guess it’s all about where and when.

  42. I don’t recall where I saw it, but someone on the intertubes made what I think is a nice observation: a handgun is more of a defensive weapon, whereas a rifle is more of an offensive weapon. Openly carrying a handgun comes across quite differently than a rifle to me, and I think this observation might be why. Of course, the idiotic attitude and sometimes slovenly appearance of the confrontational OC people doesn’t help at all. It was disappointing to see the NRA back away from the “open carry is weird” blog post that they made a while ago: the tone of the post wasn’t good, but the message was spot on.

  43. Michael, what you said is, what I think, what many of us have been dancing around.
    When I was in High School, I would not be surprised if at least 1/3 of the vehicles in the parking area had a rifle or shotgun either in a rack or laying in the seat. In college I would upon occasion clean my rifle (an original 1894 Marlin 38-40) on the back deck of my car parked in front of my dorm. Police ( no campus cops back then ) would sometimes stop and talk guns with me. Different times.
    I currently live 30 miles from the closest town that has a store. Local folks routinely open carry up and down the rock public roads (the only maintained roads in the area) that we live on and no one raises an eyebrow. This changes when the “week-enders” show up to get drunk and raise hell on their atv’s in what they call wilderness, but what we call home.
    There is a time and place for everything, including open carry. Common sense and courtesy should rule, not in your face “I got my right’s” attitude that many seem to have on this subject and many other’s in today’s world.

  44. I had reached them same conclusions as you have. Texas Open Carry is causing a lot of damage to realizing these goals.

    Just tonight (Sunday) ABC National News carried a story about open carry. A lot of open carry rifles, aghast looks on peoples faces in restaurants. It closed with a lot of exposure for Moms Demand Action. I am just hoping they don’t replay this during the Monday prime time broadcast.

    Open Carry Texas, you need a different approach.

  46. I have not had the “pleasure” of coming across one of these open carry supporters with an AR or AK. I have seen open carry handguns secured (strapped) in holsters a couple times and it doesn’t bother me at all. Not too happy about the casual open carry handgun in an open holster. As a CHP holder, If I were to see someone with a long gun across the back it would put me on high alert. I saw pictures of some open carry proponents with an AK unslung in a restaurant. That is just asking for trouble. Bottom line is I agree with Mas on this one.

  47. These long gun open carry demonstrations are so obviously losing hearts and minds for 2nd amendment rights that I’m also wondering if liberals are behind this. Remember when Mark E. Kelly, gun-control proponent and husband to former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, purchased an AR-15 —which he now says he intended as an illustration of the need for more stringent gun laws? Isn’t this more or less the same thing?

  48. Well said, Mas. I have long held the exact same beliefs. I especially agree with the reasoning behind allowing open carry.

    There is an interesting situation for these new rules in my home state of MA. In MA, open carry is NOT allowed. But signage and rules against firearms are also not legally binding. In other words, you can ask people not to carry or forbid it in your place of business, but you will not be arrested for doing so. So basically the only effect this will have on MA businesses is they will lose business. Nobody will be “less scared” because they weren’t in the first place!

    But I have been thinking quite a bit about these new developments. In MA, when you do not have your firearm under your control, you must have it locked unloaded in a secured location, which generally means a locked box inside your vehicle trunk. The laws are not completely clear on this. This means, that in order to respect the wishes of, say Target (how ironically named), to not carry inside their store, I am legally MORE at risk to publicly unload and secure my firearm inside my trunk (which if seen could be considered brandishing, and maybe if searched, would be considered insecurely stored in my trunk), than I would be to just go inside the store with it on me, and nobody has any idea.

    I recently discovered that Costco bans firearms and has for some time, but do not post that requirement at their store. So I have carried in there countless times. I also am a fan of Chipotle’s food, so I had stopped going there with their new policy. But at this point, I’m not going to worry about carrying in those locations at all. I’d rather not risk jail time to obey the ambiguous wishes of these people who are trying to appease the anti’s, when the worst it gets me is kicked out of the store if they “discover” I am carrying (which they will not). Target, Chipotle, and Starbucks are all non-confrontive policies anyway!

    They are making it really difficult to respect the wishes of the private owners, yet be able to defend my own life, my family’s life, and possibly the lives of any innocents around me. At this point, I have to choose the least risky behavior and carry against their wishes. What other choice do I have?

  50. A handgun is defensive, it is what to carry just-in-case. A rifle is a real weapon, it is not just-in-case, it is for when one thinks there is a really high likelihood of really needing it. I’d wonder about any cop who went about his daily duties with one over his shoulder.

    If I thought I would need an FN-FAL to go to Target, I would not go there at all. Buying a box of laundry detergent on the way home from work is worth exposure to a high probability of a gun battle. Go to a different store. If there was rioting and looting and I had to rescue a family member whose car was broken down somewhere, then I would have a rifle. Basically a rifle ought to be out in public on when there is no choice in the matter.

    The bonus to CCW to the public is the deterrence to criminals, they do not know who is armed or not. Showing one’s hand either removes the deterence (hold up some other place) or results in the person making the conspicuous display the first target.

    Another post made a good point about open carry handguns not being in retention holsters. Unless I owned a retention holster and took some martial arts training I’d have no interest in open carry myself even if there was a legitimate reason for it. When I looked at the stats several years ago, cops were more likely to be killed with their own gun than by assault rifles (or any rifles), watch out or that might go for the open carry crowd as well.

    Think about this as well: a brand new Glock or a tricked out AR would buy a lot of meth or heroin for someone. Would one put on $500 – $2,000 worth of gold jewelry and stroll about in public and feel safe? A sucker punch, or a .32, to the back of the head and it is gone.

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