Open carry guy at farmer's market in Northern VA

[CCT125US]

So, what you try to talk to this guy to get him to stop? And if so, what would you say?

Initial thought is that an armed man, confronting another openly armed man, to talk about how he is wrong, could end badly.

However, upon further review, I might consider the following, if my family were not present.

Strike up a conversation, play dumb, invite him to sit for a cup of coffee. Let him talk, pontificate, bloviate at length, and then after careful evaluation, possibly reveal that you too are enthusiastic about the 2A. Share what you do to increase awareness and further the shooting Sports.

[the Schwartz]

I am going to go ahead acknowledge that I am about to pose a suggestion/question that, in all likelihood, is a bad idea.

So, if any of ya’ll found yourself there at the farmer’s market when this fool shows up, is there any prospect of perhaps talking to him and trying to get him/them to understand why doing what they are doing undermines the very thing that they purport to be trying to accomplish? And if you were to undertake this Quixotic quest, how would you approach that conversation? Serious question. As distasteful and frustrating of a conversation that this would be, at the end of the day he is undermining *our* rights and how *we* are viewed by the non-shooting public. And this one tac-tard act is going to leave an impression on far more many voters than all of the responsible gun-owning activities of everyone on this board combined.

So, what you try to talk to this guy to get him to stop? And if so, what would you say?

It might be a bad idea, but at it core it is still an astute question and one that underlies the posts that I have made.

Many claim that there is a problem, yet no solutions have been offered.

Gonna sit tight and watch. Maybe something good comes of this. We'll see.

[BehindBlueI's]

So, if any of ya’ll found yourself there at the farmer’s market when this fool shows up, is there any prospect of perhaps talking to him and trying to get him/them to understand why doing what they are doing undermines the very thing that they purport to be trying to accomplish?

Me? No. See this thread? Want to do that in person? That's what you get, at best.

[blues]

Hell, I'll admit to not really cottoning to a workman I didn't know OC'ing on my property when he was there to do some concrete work on my walk.

He was a middle aged gentleman and, as it turned out, a good and likable guy, but I sort of wanted to know that before I came upon someone just showing up armed.

[STI]

If I get the opportunity to ask one of these fellas what their plan was for being leg- or ankle-kicked from their 6, while not coming across as confrontational or condescending, I’ll take it.

It could be an illuminating conversation for at least one of us - worst case it’ll be a real life version of the piss tasting going on in this thread

[RevolverRob]

Ever since I've been on this forum I've had a history of being abrasive and holding no punches. I assure you, as can the rest of the forum that has known me since the beginning that this is not what my posts look like when I'm triggered.

I'll vouch for TGS on this. He and I both have abrasive personalities and tend to not hold punches. And we've exchanged blows a time or two. But I interpreted nothing out of his question as anything less than the question asked and nothing more than a semi-serious question with a hint or sarcasm.

Nobody ever went vegetarian after having a PETA-tard throw blood all over their leather coat.

True story.

If a PETA-tard threw blood on my leather jacket, we'd be having a discussion about how they'll be paying for the replacement or repair of that object.

Hell, I'll admit to not really cottoning to a workman I didn't know OC'ing on my property when he was there to do some concrete work on my walk.

That is actually perfectly legitimate. Seriously, your private property and you have the absolute right to prefer to be aware of individuals carrying arms and being entitled to discuss your concerns with said individual directly.

Which I suppose gets to the heart of these OC issues. We not only have rights to carry arms, we have rights to not be carried at. I'd guess most OC people don't understand what the Constitution means...Because the number of times I've heard stupid things like, "You (the individual) cannot deny ma rights!" Let's me know that people have a fundamental misunderstanding of how rights in this nation work.

[willie]

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.....

[blues]

That is actually perfectly legitimate. Seriously, your private property and you have the absolute right to prefer to be aware of individuals carrying arms and being entitled to discuss your concerns with said individual directly.

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

[wvincent]

Move this thread back to civility, please.

If so, consider me apologized. I could have said it way better.

[BehindBlueI's]

If I get the opportunity to ask one of these fellas what their plan was for being leg- or ankle-kicked from their 6, while not coming across as confrontational or condescending, I’ll take it.

It could be an illuminating conversation for at least one of us - worst case it’ll be a real life version of the piss tasting going on in this thread

From experience, you'll be told it's never happened. That OCers are never disarmed is a sacred belief. I have the advantage of having multiple case files of it happening that I personally worked. Then those guys just failed "situational awareness". Not much you can do when 3 people ambush you and know enough rudimentary tactics to approach from different angles. Then how do I know they were targeted for their guns? Maybe the gun was just a happy accident? From the interviews with suspects who were caught. You might then get "well, concealed guns get stolen to". Yes, they do...which means they weren't concealed very well or it was a happy accident...but usually the first. CC gun grabs have mostly been either known parties or gun sale ambushes, sometimes both. Then it will either bifurcate into I'm a liar or it'll never happen to me.

I've tilted at the windmill before.

OC isn't always harmful. I remember rallies in Ohio to get concealed carry passed where state residents were encouraged to open carry a handgun and out of state residents were encouraged to wear an empty holster (it was unclear if the state open-carry-with-no-license applied to residents only or not and the organizers didn't want any test cases). Context matters, though. The more people that see you as a "problem" are more people supporting the eventual "solution".