Carrying a gun openly in a city can — and does — offend people who might not have a strong opinion one way or the other about gun control. [More]Well, at least he didn't compare them to homosexual kiss-in participants this time.
[Via The Bitter Clinger]
9 comments:
I carry concealed, and the most important reason that I can think of to not carry openly, is that the bad guys will see it also, making sure you are taken out first, and from behind.
And that is a legitimate tactical reason for your particular circumstances and choices--ones I essentially share, by the way--but it is not one size fits all, and it should never be used to disparage those who choose a different option.
Open carry by a private citizen is "offensive" but open carry by a government agent is not? I guess it's not really about the gun then, is it? More like about political sensiblities.
Also the comparison of guns and "excretory organs" is offensive and distasteful.
It's one thing to make a mistake in judgment, but to insist on it after being corrected is worse.
Some people may be offended by a black man walking down the street. I mean, black people have a right to walk down streets, but some skinheads might have strong sensibilities one way or the other on the issue. So if you're black and have the need to walk on a public sidewalk, only do so in emergencies.
Brock, this "bad guys will see and shoot you" has been discussed endlessly among those who open carry. Look at opencarry.org and find many such threads.
The truth is that NOBODY can point to a single documented case where this has happened. I challenge you to find a verifiable account where a private citizen, openly carrying, has been so targeted. It "might" happen, but it does not.
The same is true for a bad guy taking your gun by stealth. How many verified accounts of that can you show me? It "might" happen to someone who was not well trained or practicing awareness, but it actually DOESN'T happen... Cops are another story sometimes, and not related to private open carry.
I have nothing against concealed carry, by any means, and if it was simply an option, I would do so sometimes. But it is NOT "just an option." I will never crawl to government to beg "permission" to carry - or anything else.
I always laugh when people complain that they can't "know" if one who is openly carrying is not a nutjob who wants to kill them... but somehow if the gun is hidden they have no such doubts about the people they pass on the street? Weird.
I don't have to prove I'm not a criminal. Prior restraint is the tool of our enemies.
So - the crux is, because some people piss themselves when they see a mere citizen carrying a gun, we should all be more sensible. Or because there are so many hoplophobes, we should be more sensitive about their dysfunction.
What's sensible about wetting one's panties when seeing a gun?
People are offended by so may things these days that one really can't do much without offending some fool.
To hell with people who view others right to bear arms as offensive. And to hell with their apologists.
Lets everybody remember that Clayton is not saying HE finds open carry as "offensive", but that other non-sympathetic citizens might be turned off by open carry movements and so be driven further away from our position. Thats an honest opion.
I think he is generally wrong.
But that is no reason to throw him under the bus or attack him with some of the viscious and stupid comments I saw over at PJM.
We gun owners better stick together. Clayton is no Zumbo.
Scott W
Phx AZ
You spoke too soon David..
Gay Parades
If gay pride parades like San Francisco’s were held in every city of 10,000 people in America, gay rights would go down the tubes in no time at all. Even the Democrats would be running from it.
And yet I see the same arguement that Cramer is putting forth starting to perculate rather well in the free speech department. Unpopular speech is now labeled hate speech regardless of content because someone finds it offensive. If we start abridging our rights, even further, because it "offends" people's sensibilities we will "nice" our rights out of existance. Screw that.
I was particularly offended by his reply in comments that you shouldn't open carry unless there is a "need," like anyone knows what the future holds, or when and where they "need[ed]" to be carrying openly or concealed. David is 100% correct here; this is a decision to be left ot individual adults based on their tactical decisions.
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