Why Open Carry? Come out of the Closet!

1245A Defender said:

Thank you Phil,,, theQ for that!
You said it clearly and it makes sense,
it is clear, concise,
and ballanced.

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TheQ said:

My friends,

I've given this exact same speech at a number of rallies. I now would like to put it in writing.

Stay with me for a moment, and I hope the following question won't turn you off. Would you be willing to refute the truthfulness of this statement:

Regardless of how you feel about the matter, in the past 20-30 years the GLBT (Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transexual) community has gained acceptance for themselves and who they are?

I don't think you have to be pro-sexual preference choice to agree with that statement -- it's simply a fact. Now the question becomes, "how have they accomplished this?" I'm going to tell you how: THEY'VE COME OUT OF THE CLOSET! Their families, friends, and neighbors have all seen nice and otherwise "normal" people come out of the closet and shamelessly tell the world they are homosexual.

That's what you do for gun ownership the day you start to open carry and everyday thereafter that you continue to open carry. You walk around your neighborhood in the evening for exercise (physical) and you're open carrying -- you're showing your neighbors that you're a gun owner. You go to you local grocery store while openly carrying, you're showing strangers in your town that it's not just cops and criminals that carry gun -- but good, respectable, law abiding people carry guns too.

When the topic of gun control comes up, these people (some of whom may have been on the fence) remember you and you become the face of gun owners. They remember the nice conversation they had with you. They ask themselves: why should we limit his rights?

So I invite you: come out of the closet, but be polite in everything you do. Become the change that you seek. Be the face of gun ownership to your family, friends, and your community. Let people know that you are proud to be someone who takes defense of yourself and your loved ones seriously. Be a proud gun owner/carrier.

Carry on and carry proudly...

/s/

Phillip Hofmeister
President
Michigan Open Carry, Inc.

* Nothing in this article is intended to besmirch nor endorse the GLBT community or those who are gay, lesbian, or bisexual.

Phillip Hofmeister is the President of Michigan Open Carry, Inc -- a leading civil rights organization in Michigan that advocates for the lawful open carry of a holstered handgun.

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Permission is hereby granted to repost/distribute freely so long as everything above the line remains intact.

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OC for ME said:

...I do not see very many instances of in-your-face OCers protesting our plight.

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OC for ME said:

Though, I wonder if I could apply for a permit to be hold a in-your-face protest at the state capital while a bunch of us OCers were OCing while being in-your-face about OCing.....likely a bad idea.

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MSG Laigaie said:

I spent the weekend at a gunshow in Lynden, Washington extolling the virtues of Openly Carrying a firearm. Many people mentioned/complained about the report that tells/lies about the ninety percent of us that want MORE gun control. My suggestion was as follows.
Over four hundred thousand People are current holders of Concealed Pistol Licences in Washington State. If, on a preselected date, we all wore that same weapon out in the open, we would send a definitive message to both the DC reps and those in Olympia. They believe that out of site is out of mind. If they cannot see it it is not there mindset. Bring your weapon out where the POLITICIANS can see them. Remind them why the Second Amendment was penned.

Maybe we could make it a National effort to remind our reps where WE stand. Say, an important date, like 4 JULY 2013. Independence Day. THE day to remind them We are the People. We do not need to gather in central locations for rally's. Wear your weapon Openly as you go thru your normal day. Bring Open Carry back to the norm by helping a CCr come out of the "closet".

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MSG Laigaie said:

I spent the weekend at a gunshow in Lynden, Washington extolling the virtues of Openly Carrying a firearm. Many people mentioned/complained about the report that tells/lies about the ninety percent of us that want MORE gun control. My suggestion was as follows.
Over four hundred thousand People are current holders of Concealed Pistol Licences in Washington State. If, on a preselected date, we all wore that same weapon out in the open, we would send a definitive message to both the DC reps and those in Olympia. They believe that out of site is out of mind. If they cannot see it it is not there mindset. Bring your weapon out where the POLITICIANS can see them. Remind them why the Second Amendment was penned.

Maybe we could make it a National effort to remind our reps where WE stand. Say, an important date, like 4 JULY 2013. Independence Day. THE day to remind them We are the People. We do not need to gather in central locations for rally's. Wear your weapon Openly as you go thru your normal day. Bring Open Carry back to the norm by helping a CCr come out of the "closet".

Click to expand...

MSG Laigaie said:

I spent the weekend at a gunshow in Lynden, Washington extolling the virtues of Openly Carrying a firearm. Many people mentioned/complained about the report that tells/lies about the ninety percent of us that want MORE gun control. My suggestion was as follows.
Over four hundred thousand People are current holders of Concealed Pistol Licences in Washington State. If, on a preselected date, we all wore that same weapon out in the open, we would send a definitive message to both the DC reps and those in Olympia. They believe that out of site is out of mind. If they cannot see it it is not there mindset. Bring your weapon out where the POLITICIANS can see them. Remind them why the Second Amendment was penned.

Maybe we could make it a National effort to remind our reps where WE stand. Say, an important date, like 4 JULY 2013. Independence Day. THE day to remind them We are the People. We do not need to gather in central locations for rally's. Wear your weapon Openly as you go thru your normal day. Bring Open Carry back to the norm by helping a CCr come out of the "closet".

Click to expand...