More open carry guys scaring the public

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I think the main problem with this debate is that some people just can't seem to figure out that just because we think something is a bad idea and is inappropriate, that doesn't mean we think it should be made illegal.
 
Frank, thanks for adding the John Adams quote, that says what needs to be said.

It's a guess but aren't most laws based upon the actions of a very few people.
 
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We are close to a close when we start insulting each other.

Since this is an important topic - we will let it run for a bit but dial it back.
 
Full disclosure: I do not advocate carrying long guns into Target.

However, I have seen dozens of posts here stating that "common sense" indicates one thing or another. You better be careful with that; Barack Obama and many others use the same "common sense" argument to try to relieve us of out 2nd amendment rights.
 
The difference is of course, is that the people arguing common sense on this thread are not seeking to make something illegal based on that common sense, only that people with brains shouldn't do that.

I have the legal right to walk down the street in my underwear and wearing a rubber chicken for a hat. That doesn't mean I should. :cool:
 
My opinion of the in your face demonstrations hasn't changed. But the way some people here are talking about controlling how others choose to exercise their rights is terrifying to me.

Further, people here expressing the idea that no one should ever open carry in public no matter what the reason is also troubling to me.
 
For every thing there is a time . I do not open carry every where I go . But if there was a reason that called many of us to the town square with open carry of long arms I reserve that right .
 
"Further, people here expressing the idea that no one should ever open carry in public no matter what the reason is also troubling to me. "

SA, I didn't see anyone saying that. Maybe in this and other threads some have said they prefer to not open carry, but no one has said one should never open carry. What we are saying is open carry for provocative reasons is hurting our cause.

These idiots are protesting to the wrong people. And protesting for what? Open carry of long guns isn't illegal. If they think they're so rightchos, they should be dancing on their capitol steps with their open carry handguns if that's what they're protesting about. Not parading around Target, Starbucks, Chipotle or wherever trying to convince the soccer moms.
 
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The MSM has lost so much "gun credibility" that if they said "Guns shoot bullets" I would have to double check.
It doesn't matter whether or not they have credibility with us; it matters whether they have credibility with Joe American on the Couch. And they're rapidly building that.
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I understand that. I am not addressing them; I am directing it at members of this forum.

The reason I brought it up is that some ABC links were posted...the same MSM outlet that brought us "Young Guns".
 
Tom Servo,

I am on my phone and unable to do quotes but in this topic and others on these forums people have clearly stated they oppose open carry other than on your own property or in the woods.

Frankly, as long as the law allows and I use my own common sense I will carry when ever I see fit no matter what some here feel about it.
 
on these forums people have clearly stated they oppose open carry other than on your own property or in the woods
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I’m sure you can find someone who said something like that, but I believe the general consensus on TFL is that open carry is everyone’s right. However, like any freedom we only ask that people exercise it with proper discretion.
 
This needs to be clarified.

There is a big difference between mandating illegality and feeling that a particular action is ill advised from a political impact point or view and feeling that it is practically and tactically stupid in some situations.

Oppose is playing with words. Many have supported it as a legal option but regard the practice to be ill advised according to the situation and locale.

Common sense - well, that's lacking in some of the instances we have seen.
 
These idiots are protesting to the wrong people. And protesting for what?
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The answer is that they're not protesting. They're not demonstrating.

How are they articulating their views? They're not. They're not giving speeches. They're not handing out literature. All they're doing is walking around with guns.

Without context, that's going to confuse people at best and frighten them at worst.

I am on my phone and unable to do quotes but in this topic and others on these forums people have clearly stated they oppose open carry other than on your own property or in the woods.
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That's different than the post to which I replied, in which you claimed the utterance was "no one should ever open carry in public no matter what the reason."

It's also different than your earlier accusations that people wanted the practice made illegal.
 
SocialAnarchist said:
Further, I restate my point that there are indeed members of this forum that are supposedly staunch Second ammendment advocates that are more than willing to stop my legal open carrying of a pistol.
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How else am I to parse that statement?

Turns out OCT has decided to change strategies, and now they're going to carry toy guns. I suppose that's a marginal improvement.
 
But the way some people here are talking about controlling how others choose to exercise their rights is terrifying to me.
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It's about wanting people to control themselves when they exercise their rights so that they do so in a prudent manner.

1. When a person goes out with a gun in public and does something that garners a lot of attention, that person becomes a de facto spokesman for the gun community. It is natural, predictable and correct for the gun community to hope that person, as a self-appointed spokesman for all of us, doesn't do or say something stupid/ill-advised or damaging to the RKBA.

2. Those who can not or will not control themselves in public will find that the public will take steps to control them. If that happens by the passage of laws, there is ALWAYS collateral damage.

When people do ill-advised things in public with firearms, it is the RESPONSIBILITY of the gun community to stand up and make it clear that those persons do NOT speak for the gun community, that they are NOT representative of, or representatives for the gun community and that we do NOT support their actions.

That's what this thread is about.
 
Well Tom,

It seems that many here want to stop the open carry demonstrations with rifles. Yet no one, including me, said to make it illegal. The same holds true for open carrying a pistol. Some here have stated they don't support open carry in public, someone even called it needless posturing. So while they aren't calling for making it illegal, they certainly aren't defending my right to carry are they?
 
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