My main purpose was simply to get a group of like minded people together and hang out. If something more came of it, advancing public awareness, educating people, etc. then great. If not, then at the very least we might make some new friends or contacts in the community. As for your comment about using a handgun rather than a long gun, frankly I'm not rich enough to attempt to challenge the loopholes in that law, nor do I think this is the time to do it. When 1527 becomes law, and yes I believe it is a matter of when not if unfortunately, that would be the time to start challenging the loopholes in 144. However I think that at this point it would just make them close those loopholes rather than repeal. As for your question about the net positive, I believe that the activity itself is a net positive. This is one of the few communities in existence within the US that it is difficult to organize a get together around, mostly because of the lack of public awareness about the issue, about safety, etc. Almost everybody that I have met who is an advocate of OC, and almost everybody that I have talked to are down to earth, laid back people who simply want the choice to be their own about whether or not they OC. I agree that there can be a net negative for the community if it is not handled properly, but I don't believe that it is a guarantee that will happen.
There simply must be more considered than to use open carry as an excuse to socialize. Or to educate people, even if it is to show how ridiculously restrictive gun ownership has become.
Here's how your proposed event plays out: You get 10-30 people together to carry long guns at a venue that won't throw you out when the first customer complains or calls the police. Since you have advertized far and wide on the internet for willing participants in this endeavor, Karen Arntzen from the Brady Campaign has mobilized 3 or 4 of her die hard anti-gun advocates to welcome you to your meeting equipped with signs mocking gunowners making up for 'genital deficiencies'. While 3 or 4 counterprotestors isnt an army of opposition, they want to take the opportunity to use your event as a backstop to bounce their strident 'no-guns-anywhere-at-anytime' message off of... so in advance of this conflict someone will contact bay area media to cover the event and to ensure that their journalistic integrity is maintained, the media will be sure to get reactions from both sides of the story. (This is in spite of the 30 of you outnumbering the 4 of the Brady bunch.) The intent to educate the public would be twisted into something more contraversial and put on the evening news with equal standing with the anti-gunners, who will likely better prepared to interact with media than any of your participants. The appearance of this story is seen by legislative staffers and brought to the attention of area legislators- and they are reminded that pending legislation to prohibit what you are doing is being considered.
So, instead of advertising your intent to carry long guns at a particular date and time, dont. This way you will not engage the Brady campaign and may remove the media element. Hiding your intentions from the enemy here is essential. You cannot afford to give anti gunners equal footing, particularly when media is involved.
Instead of inviting 10 or more participants, dont. Keep your numbers between 3 and 5. Your intent shouldnt be to make this into an 'event', but to demonstrate that this is usual, normal, ordinary...something that is as natural to do as to put on a seatbelt or have a fire extinguisher, or have a spare tire.
Instead of making this a social event that trivializes the activity, dont. Compose and print out information about this activity to distribute to interested observers. This is a first amendment activity that has stronger protections here than in most other states. Add a community service element or contribute in a way that others cannot.
Instead of using long guns to make your point, dont. Claim ownership of one or more of the exemptions and carry a holstered handgun fully in compliance of the law. Even if the legislature does notice and revisits the law to eliminate exemptions, this forces them to reneg on exemptions that Portantino wrote into the law. Eventually, they will burn the special constituency that they wanted to protect. This would hurt
them more than it would hurt us.