Shannon Watts Desperately Fears Open Carry
Background from the
OCDO Press Kit page:
Anthropologist Charles Springwood sums it up nicely when he commented that open carriers are trying to “naturalize the presence of guns, which means that guns become ordinary, omnipresent, and expected. Over time, the gun becomes a symbol of ordinary personhood.”
OpenCarry.org believes that “a right unexercised is a right lost,” and increasingly gun owners are agreeing – it’s time gun carry comes out of the closet across America!
It appears that Shannon Watts is well aware of how dangerous the normalization of Open Carry is to her agenda:
What Really Scares Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America’s Shannon Watts
Excerpts below, Italics are quote from Shannon Watts in a HuffPo article, linked at previous article just above.
Note: The linked article does start out with a focus on the controversy of open carry of long guns, which OCDO does not endorse. The author does eventually broaden the scope to include all legal open carry.
TFred
Open carry is a scary thing – right until it isn’t. At some point, anti-gun observers realize that an openly carried firearm is not a threat to their life or liberty. At some point, the sight of a gun on the hip of a fellow citizen becomes normal. It may take a bit longer for the public to become comfortable with a slung AR, but yes, that too.
The more law-abiding people who open carry, the less guns cause fear amongst non-gun owners. The less fear they have, the less likely they are to join a political crusade against firearm ownership or carry. Open carry normalization could sound the death knell of anti-gun extremism – if you forgive the expression.
Open carry extremists have shined a bright light on the NRA’s vision for the future of America, and it’s not pretty. Moms won’t let the concerted efforts by the gun lobby and open carry extremists to put our families and communities at risk go unchecked. With rights come responsibilities, and for the safety and security of our restaurants, state capitols, and other public places, we must push back on armed intimidation. After all, there are no panic buttons for the public.
Hang on. If there aren’t any panic buttons for the public — assuming 911 service is down — doesn’t that leave the public defenseless? Shouldn’t they have a tool that allows them to defend themselves against a lethal threat? And if they had that tool, wouldn’t it be a good idea to carry it openly to deter attacks, and protect their right to have it by exercising that right publicly?
Shannon gets it. And it terrifies her. Reason enough to open carry, I reckon. You?