Open Carry.

Open Carry.

by Zef Medina on Thursday, October 13, 2011 at 8:55pm ·

wildedtx.blogspot.com

According to Wikipedia: In the United States, open carry is shorthand terminology for "openly carrying a firearm in public", as distinguished from concealed carry, where firearms cannot be seen by the casual observer.
Recently Open Carry has gathered some attention in California when it was banned by Governor Brown.
www.latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/10/gov-jerry-brown-makes-it-illegal-to-openly-carry-a-handgun-in-public.html

Quiet simply Open Carry is not about being a cowboy and carrying around a six-shooter on the hip, it is a way to make a political statement.  It is a way for the average person to say I support the 1st and 2nd Amendment and a way for law abiding citizens to show their open defiance against the criminal element that control the city parks without carrying a sign that says,"gangs suck!"

I am not going to sit here and tell you I carry around a pistol on my hip when I go to a Home Depot and pick up a bag of fertilizer.  In fact when I saw a gentlemen doing just that I looked at my wife and said 'what is he doing?'  From my perspective, Open Carry makes a target to those that would look to do harm and steal the weapon. Criminals do not get their firearms by walking into the local gun store and buy an AK47 off the shelf for their violent crime. They steal them (hence them being criminals and not being able to buy them). Why make myself a target, when I can go under the radar and legally carry concealed and not draw any unwanted attention?

For the same reason the ACLU and the NRA exist, to protect and vocalize the rights guaranteed by in the bill of rights.  In this case the 2nd, 'the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.   And the 1st, 'or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble,'  Is this an ACLU case, no, I do not think they would touch this one with a ten foot stick.  Will the NRA fight it, to be determined.

Recently I had a discussion with someone on FB about Open Carry. He brought up that being former law enforcement he was not in favor of Open Carry because untrained civilians handling weapons and then follow on issues with responding law enforcement called to respond to the issue.  Anyone around long enough has seen a safety issue with someone handling a firearm. But in the articles about Open Carry you never hear of anyone handling them, they just have them it.
www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2009/06/gun_owners_show_support_for_op.html

At a recent Open Carry Barbecue in August a group of 20 showed up at a Portland park to grill some hamburgers and hot-dogs and 'have some fun.'  They wanted to demonstrate that law abiding citizens can and do carry a weapon. Of course reading the comments to the article several of the anti-gunner compared the peaceful gathering to a Freudian problem and dismissed the peaceful assembly.
www.pressherald.com/news/Right-to-Carry-Barbecue-draws-20-people.html

What the Freudians, Governor Davis' and anti-gunners also fail to address is that people Open Carry because they live in an unsafe places. Laws, lack of police officers, and rampant crime in large metropolitan cities often leave law abiding citizens on their own if they are faced with a violent crime.  But hey, its not like Los Angeles has 26,618 violent crimes this year, or that 'My chances of becoming a victim in Los Angeles is 1 in 142 or that in California it is 1 in 197'...
www.neighborhoodscout.com/ca/los-angeles/crime/

Open Carry is a way to make political statement, it is a way to support the 1st and the 2nd Amendment. It is not about walking around in spurs, cowboy hat or threatening the public.  It is a way of taking back a right and providing safety for one's self.

Originally posted:  https://www.facebook.com/notes/zef-medina/open-carry/225593357500818