Open carry guy at farmer's market in Northern VA

[wvincent]

To me, it's all about normalcy.
We don't expect to pull up to a public venue with our family, and see LE or private security with slung long arms.
We don't expect to see LE or private security at Starbucks or the local eatery with slung long guns.
If we do see this, most of us probably re-think our visit there that day, as it is abnormal, and possibly perceive an increased threat.

So why would anyone think seeing a bunch of questionable civiy's doing it would be cool?

Third world shit hole, with AK's stacked on benches, MAM's wandering around with long arms, with dead critter's hanging up by the butchers stall, right next to the guy selling dates and figs. Coffee so thick and black you can stand a spoon in it, in little bitty cups, (actually that coffee sounds really good). Yep, public carry of long arms is the normal at the hole in the wall, third world bazaar.

Not so much here and now.
If it did become the new normal, I would have to wonder what tragic event caused it.

Open carry, winning hearts and minds since...............Never

[RevolverRob]

Yes, Rob, I'm well aware of the law and my rights under them.

Sorry, let me clarify that I meant something more subtle there -

Not only was your response perfectly reasonable and legal, it demonstrates the dichotomy that it is unreasonable for someone who might desire to open carry to expect to have that right any/everywhere. Yet many of them operate under that very assumption, re: the individual doing concrete work on your property.

For instance, I have no idea why I would ASSume that it was perfectly fine to carry an AR15 in a Farmer's Market. Or a dog park. Or a bank. Or a Chipotle. Or on someone else's front lawn for that matter. As in, I just really do not understand the mindset of people who think, "It's mah rights, I'll do what I want."

Maybe it's the way I grew up; where you didn't cross another man's fence/property line wearing/carrying arms, unless you wanted to be met with an armed response. Or maybe it's that I worked in construction and carried a gun and always kept my arm concealed, because it's polite and appropriate.

I guess I'm with @CCT125US on this - open carry in most circumstances just strikes me as deviant behavior.

[trailrunner]

One of my adult daughters lives in Alexandria. She leans hard left, but on guns I’ve managed to convince her to keep an open mind.

She showed me that photo and asked me about it. She will continue to keep an open mind, but these incidents don’t make it easy.


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[Trooper224]

Most of us here, "most" of us, realize that guns are serious tools for serious purposes. They aren't fashion accessories or political statements. Tools not talismans, to paraphrase Pat Mac. Far too many people in our society have turned firearms and their ownership into a fetish and this does us far more harm than good.

I prefer to live in a polite society. A polite society does not involve openly carrying firearms. Forget about all of the tactical disadvantages the practice brings about, it simply isn't polite, mature behavior. Attempting to "normalize" people to firearms through open carry is an ignorant fools errand. You don't convince anyone of anything by throwing it in their face, be it guns or gay marriage.

I look around the world at all of the places where people commonly carry slung rifles and exposed handguns as a "normal" practice. There isn't a single one of them that I'd like to call home. I have no desire to live in such a society.

[jc000]

...Ridiculous high powered, probably Chinese scope paired with a fixed front sight...

What’s wrong with a scope and an FSP? Sheesh…

[Cypher]

If I saw a dude carrying an AR in a mall or farmers's market, I would be tempted to walk behind in case somebody needed to shoot him in the head. There is some jest to this statement. Some not all. First let me say that tailing people for such purpose is not in my nature. Neither is shooting another. But.....

Honestly I would assume he was just another open carry idiot and go about my business.

If I had any other inclination it would be to leave

[Stephanie B]

Those clowns are making the case for the other side.

[Cypher]

I saw this on Facebeast it's from gunfreezone.net


https://gunfreezone.net/open-letter-...-carry-idiots/


I live in an open carry state and no one really looks twice at an openly displayed handgun on a belt. At most you might get a question about what model you're carrying. I don't open carry because I've actually had people try to take my gun off of me but I support having the right to make your own decision in the matter

The problem is the idiots who feel the need to run around with an AR strapped to their back or even worse take it off their back for a photo op. I think so many people did that that it became the public perception and it hurt gun rights overall.

ETA after reading this entire thread I want to reiterate a comment that another poster made. This is a forum for firearms enthusiasts. People here strongly support the second amendment and Not One Single Person participating in this discussion supports this person's actions.

There's no way he changed the hearts and minds of people who aren't second amendment supporters

[Baldanders]

He did that in Old Town Alexandria? That's not exactly friendly territory. It will be viewed negatively. Nobody will feel like guns are "normalized" for them.

Moron.

I swear it's as if the antis have started impersonating gun nuts (and I *am* a gun nut, so I get to use that term) and are doing this to elicit a negative reaction. I mean, we can't be *that* tone deaf, right?

Chris

Unfortunately, many pro-2a folks are completely oblivious to all arguments except ones that involve "mah rights!!"

Who needs to be concerned about "tone" when you can bleat "what part of 'shall not be infringed' do you not understand" over and over.

[Joe in PNG]

A handgun carried in a holster (quality kit preferred) isn't as obviously threatening.

A scary black rifle carried in a ready position is.

One thing that is often forgotten is that if enough of the people are frightened & outraged, they can make the Second Amendment go away. It may be via Constitutional Repeal, or it may be via voting in people who will basically throw enough bans and restrictions to basically do the same thing.