• We are now running on a new, and hopefully much-improved, server. In addition we are also on new forum software. Any move entails a lot of technical details and I suspect we will encounter a few issues as the new server goes live. Please be patient with us. It will be worth it! :) Please help by posting all issues here.
  • The forum will be down for about an hour this weekend for maintenance. I apologize for the inconvenience.
  • If you are having trouble seeing the forum then you may need to clear your browser's DNS cache. Click here for instructions on how to do that
  • Please review the Forum Rules frequently as we are constantly trying to improve the forum for our members and visitors.

National Open Carry Day and introduction

Bullet Sponge

New member
Joined
May 5, 2013
Messages
4
Location
East Coast
Hey everyone! This is my first post and I would like to say hi and introduce myself. I am a former Marine that is currently in school as an administration of justice major. I am interested in gun rights because I think they are under constant threat. I have personally fought for America's freedom and I have an appreciation for the rights we enjoy. I would like to organize a national open carry day and if you have a fb great, if not that's cool too. Right now I think July 20th would be a good day for the first open carry day. Please let me know how you think we can make this happen.


National Open Carry Day is a cause designed to raise awareness about the dwindling rights Americans enjoy on behalf of the selfless sacrifices our veterans give every day. There are two sides to this ongoing debate of which our 2nd Amendment rights are being infringed upon. You have the case for public order and individual rights advocates. I think we can have both.
We are planning the nationwide event on July 5th, 2013. On this day around the country gun owners will wear their sidearm in the open while conducting their normal schedule. When all gun owners open carry for this one day, it will show our respective communities the wide range of outstanding people who support the rights and freedoms of all Americans.
If you live in TX, CA, IL, AR, NY or FL you cannot carry in the open, but we appreciate your support!
Please go to our page and like us. We will keep you updated as the date approaches with relevant news and our progress.

Jon


https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Open-Carry-Day/148696261973031?ref=hl
 
Last edited:

Grapeshot

Legendary Warrior
Joined
May 21, 2006
Messages
35,317
Location
Valhalla
Hey everyone! This is my first post and I would like to say hi and introduce myself. I am a former Marine that is currently in school as an administration of justice major. I am interested in gun rights because I think they are under constant threat. I have personally fought for America's freedom and I have an appreciation for the rights we enjoy. I would like to organize a national open carry day and if you have a fb great, if not that's cool too. Right now I think July 20th would be a good day for the first open carry day. Please let me know how you think we can make this happen.

Jon


https://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Open-Carry-Day/148696261973031?ref=hl

Welcome to OCDO Bullet sponge. Never met a "former Marine" before - always thought once a Marine, always a Marine.

The majority of us here see everyday as open carry day - no one day is more important than the others. We are each an army of one educating, defending and promoting self-defense through OCing, lobbying, letter writing, and speaking. Collectively, in groups generally of the state level, we have already become very effective at advancing the ball.

Your idea, while noble, is not original. There is a lot that goes into such an effort logistically (time & money too) that must consider various state laws, existing organizations and whether the effort is worth diverting resources from other campaigns/programs. An effort of this magnitude takes up to a year to get it up and flying, or it produces a low level response with the accompanying negative reports.

No slight intended, but you are new to this forum....an unknown quantity. Might suggest you get involved in your state level grass roots organization and help out there - develop a track record of seeing your ideas develop successfully. Then others may consider your thinking in the light you desire.
 

Bullet Sponge

New member
Joined
May 5, 2013
Messages
4
Location
East Coast
Grapeshot

I say former marine because I don't want anybody to think that I am still in.

I don't think that there are too many resources that need to be diverted for this style of event. It is simply something that you can let other people know about and then they can participate if they choose to. I do consider this forum to be grass roots movement given that I am starting at the community level, even if the forum is web based.
Yes, there are some states that people will not be able to participate with us and I just left that out because I thought it obvious to the reader. I don't think a track record is necessary to promote an idea and odds are there are many who think similarly to myself. I understand this is not an original idea, but it is an idea worth exploring. Thanks for the input and advice.
Jon
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Bullet Sponge -

A second welcome to OCDO.

You will have to forgive Grapeshot because at times his Old Timer's/CRS kicks in. He has met a former Marine before you - has breakfast with him most every Saturday, too.

As for a National Open Carry day -

a) I thought every day was National Open Carry Day
b) good luck trying to herd 50 states, let alone however many localities there are within the 50 states, towards any consensus. It's been tried before with spectacular results of the crash and burn category.
c) don't take b) as saying not to do it - just mentioning the extreme difficulty that would be involved. If you can pull it together and pull it off I'll propose you for President.
d) are you aware of any of the numerous nut-jobs that are currently planning Second Ament-related activities at the national level? If not, you would benefit by learning who/what you would be going up against.
e) FaceSpace/MyBook/Twatter are all good for getting the word spread, but you should be aware of the difference between those that jump on the "me too" bandwagon and those that actually show up. When the antis resort to buying bodies to carry pre-made signs they are quickly found out and made to look even more pathetic. "Our" side does not want to fall into that embarassment pit (I think).

On the other hand, going about your day open carrying and having some printed material available to hand the curious (many examples at the top of the various state sections) probably does more than a once-in-a-lifetime "march". Just be sure yopu have a digital voice recorder that can actually record all day, and batteries sufficient to power it for that long. Most of the time you will end up erasing a day of "nothing happened" but on that one occassion when you need proof, you wuill be glad you had the recorder going. (Ask me how I know.)

stay safe.
 

Bullet Sponge

New member
Joined
May 5, 2013
Messages
4
Location
East Coast
skidmark

I noticed you are from the 804 ! I used to live in the fan near Robinson St for about a year.
I was hoping I could some how strike something up and make this "viral", or whatever they call it. Yeah I think 50 states is a little ambitious, but I like to aim high. I am also well aware of the extremists that exist in the gun debate and will not be catering to those folks, but discouraging. I think one of the important messages that can be shared with people by having a NOCD is to show the wide range of people who carry. I am in the big picture concerned with all rights, but with a focus on the 2nd Amendment.
 

skidmark

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
Messages
10,444
Location
Valhalla
Many of us have our own personal National Open Carry Day every day, and seem to attract sufficient attention in small numbers. We get to have personal interaction with the curious as well as the oppenly opposed, and those interactions are viewed by others who are either non-committal or have just never bothered to think about the subject. I have had someone come up to me, after my conversation with a person who chose to engage me directly, and say that theu overheard what said and observed how I behaved, and seek additional information about OCing. That sort of interaction does not happen at a mass event. My experience is that mass events to/for/about any subject/cause engender one of only three responses: 1) Right on, brother! (But you'll never catch me doing it myself.), 2) It's those nut-jobs again. How can they possibly think that way when all the evidence points top the fact they are wrong?, and 3) :cuss: Now I'm going to be late because those whack-jobs are at it again (withouit bothering or wanting to know why the whack-jobs are out).

Given our numbers, even among the vast minority of folks who carry every day in any manner, most folks are unconcerned about us and about OC. Engaging them one-on-one just seems to have a better chance of moving someone from apathy to support for the cause, even if they do not become an active participant.

Pollsters tell us that for any given issue there are roughly 45% on one side, 45% on the other side, and 5% who for any reason cannot participate. That leaves 5% uncommitted, and we only need to sway 3% (well, 2.5% + 1 if you want to be really technical about it) to our side. The trick is to find those uncommitted and do so when the opportunity is there to sway them towards our side.

stay safe.
 

MSG Laigaie

Campaign Veteran
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Messages
3,239
Location
Philipsburg, Montana
On the other hand, going about your day open carrying and having some printed material available to hand the curious (many examples at the top of the various state sections) probably does more than a once-in-a-lifetime "march"..........stay safe.

Welcome to Open Carry mate. Skid has offered an excellent point. By wearing my weapon openly I have become an ambassador for Open Carry. This will happen whether you want it to or not. Taking it to the streets, so to speak is not an easy thing to do effectively. Unless you have experience with large events, try something on a slightly smaller scale locally. A picnic, well advertised, focusing on Open Carry and the 2A is always a crowd maker.

Daily Open Carry by Legally Armed Citizens is my own personal way to take it to the street. A smile on your face and a song in your heart helps to ease the fears of the hoplophobic public. Carry on, carry brochures. Good luck.
 
Top