The Truth Concerning Open Carry
BY Herschel Smith
10 years, 5 months ago
I won’t wade into the recent debate over rifle-toting folks going into stores and restaurants, except to say that I’ve never done it and don’t intend on doing it. I don’t buy the explanation that there is no safe way to observe muzzle discipline with a rifle, but I also don’t buy the notion that a rifle is the preferred weapon (and I don’t buy other things, like the notion that I’m safe when I get on the road in an automobile). If your state doesn’t allow open carry, then replace the legislators until they do.
But there was a moment of honesty about open carry (of any weapon) displayed in a recent dustup over the issue that deserves your ponderance.
“We’ve had a tough time over the years promoting Lake Ozark as a family area,” said Alderman Larry Buschjost, who voted for the ban. “We want you on the Strip with families, everywhere in Lake Ozark with families. We want you to bring your kids down here and let them loose. For the life of me, I don’t understand why I would have to carry any type of gun, concealed or otherwise. “
As with collectivist South Carolina Senator Larry Martin (who needs to be replaced and defanged as soon as possible), when a legislator objects to open carry, he or she is rarely objecting solely to open carry. It’s the very idea that you would have a weapon at all that they don’t like. The good part is that if you let them talk long enough, they’ll often tell you exactly that.
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On June 13, 2014 at 9:57 am, Carl Stevenson said:
We carry weapons because of criminal threats to our lives and freedom … An increasing number of which come from statist tyrant wannabes like Martin.
On June 13, 2014 at 3:15 pm, milesfortis said:
I don’t open carry. Not because I think it’s wrong, but for tactical reasons. Yep, I’m not going to give some criminal any advance notice.
Like you, I don’t open carry longarms (except during hunting seasons, but that’s not the point) in public, or plan to either. If it ever comes to a point where I do, I expect that “it” has hit the fan.
I don’t care if someone else carries a handgun openly (criminals are not noted for doing this), but when someone is carrying a rifle into public places it makes me wonder.
The main problem I see is that a significant number of open carriers of longarms in public places have been what the popo call “active shooters”.
How am I, or anyone else, to tell what this person is up to before starting to take defensive actions. Is that rifle loaded? Is it being carried in a manner making it easier to put into action? Is it being handled in anyway approaching a manner where the next step is to bring it to a firing position?
Handguns in a holster are easy to figure out.
If it’s in the holster, things are cool. It the wearer begins to pull it, things are probably going bad, right skippy now.
As I’ve said on some other blogs; One of these open rifle carriers may make just enough of a “wrong move” and a CCer may reasonably decide they’ve done gone and crossed the Ability/Opportunity/Jeopardy line and away we go to the races.