Open Carry on front page of Richmond Times-Dispatch today

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Wow, so apparently my suggestion of an art field trip didn't go too well with someone. Well "Concerned" can get over it. I didn't go to the museum to "show off my gun", I went to look at art (I was there from about 1 PM to 3 PM looking around, and I was there with my roommate and 2 VCU art majors). Yes, I went at that time because of the recent news article, but I still went to look at art. If I wanted to feel like a big man and show off, I would have walked in with my riot shotgun slung on my back, and my body armor. People need to remember that 'bad guys' aren't going to walk into an art museum for 2 hours and browse around with their gun on their side. One would think that they would much rather keep it concealed until they found a valuable piece of art, take it, THEN pull the gun out to ward off anybody trying to stop them.


"Museums are used as learning tools for thousands of children, do you think their parents feel safe when a bunch of total strangers showing off guns are walking around them?"

Yes, well when I was in the VCU library the other day there were a few gay men there wearing girl pants and makeup, and being very loud and disruptive. But is that against the law? No. Neither is open carry. Some people decide to be gay and flaunt about, some people decide to arm themselves and carry openly. Again, get over it.


Oh and "Concerned", walking into a school while armed is illegal. Walking into a public museum while armed is not. You should get your facts straight before trying to analogize something like that.

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You're missing my point. I don't have a problem with you owning a gun, I have a problem with you taking it into a place that shouldn't have any weapons in it. You say museums have crime in them, when was the last time someone was murdered in this one? Never. Why are you so afraid of being attacked anyway? Have you ever really had to defend yourself from someone trying to kill you? I've never had a problem, and I've lived in many cities. I own a knife, and I don't take it with me when I go to a museum. Seems silly.

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I've driven a car for 44 years and never had an accident. Was it therefore a silly waste of time for me to bother with seat belts all those years? I still wear them all the time, even if I'm just driving across my neighborhood on a clear day at 25 mph. There's never been a serious accident in the 22 years I've lived in this place. Am I being foolish or "paranoid"? Am I a safety extremist? Am I "expecting trouble" or trying to impress people with my overt safety consciousness? None of the above. I recall the 1950's when men rarely used seat belts, thinking they were only for those who were timid or insecure about their driving skills. I frankly don't give a damn if anyone thinks my seat belt use is unnecessary. Likewise with my carrying a gun. In 2 years of open carry, I have only had 2 or 3 comments, and never saw any children running in terror. Most people don't even notice, and that's fine with me.

There are no safe places, my friend. Your safety is primarily your responsibility.

Think about that the next time you buckle up.

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Concerned wrote:

I don't have a problem with you owning a gun, I have a problem with you taking it into a place that shouldn't have any weapons in it.

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This classification without explanation of a museum as "a place that shouldn't have any weapons in it" is arbitrary.

Given this arbitrary classification, one could lump in all or most public places outside a home (even public streets, parks, and places of assembly) as places where nobody should carry a gun.

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Well if you want to consider a Zoo a Museum (National Zoo is owned by SmithSonian) there was that shooting some years ago. Apparently Richmond Museum considers a possible problem since they post guards? (Since they are unarmed, I prefer the term, uniformed canaries)

As for the hostile protest, I've seen many hostile protests around children, by your rules, 1st Amendment shouldn't apply around children just like the second shouldn't either.

Concerned, since you are so worried about open carry and guns, please fill free to attend next VCDL meeting or one of open carry meet ups. Bring your children as well (many others do) so they can meet all these people as well. You might find many of them are not much different then you.

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I think it is a reasonable guess that "concerned" works with or is associated with the museum, and probably is very fond of it. And rightfully so, as anyone who has been there can attest. We all prioritize different things, and perhaps "concerned" is genuinely worried that open carry will scare some folks away from a particularly valued place, especially adults with children. I love the City of Richmond and the Museum of Fine Arts. I am not sure how far this will advance the discussion (if at all), but I can assure "concerned" that over 90% of folks in Virginiadon't notice openly carried guns, and of those who do, almost no one has a problem with it. Anyone on this board who has openly carried a gun hundreds of times in Virginia can attest to that. Most police officers don't even bat an eye. I have stood in line at libraries and at banks dozens of times without being much noticed. And when I have been noticed no one seems scared or even to care, and several times I have received positive comments. I thinksome people unfamilar (and unhappy with) openly carried firearms genuinely believe that the mere sight of a gun scares most people in the same way it scares them. For what it is worth, Concerned, this doesn't seem to be the case. The Museum of Fine Arts, the children of Virginia who benefit from such a fine place, and the right of Virginians to openly carry firearms will all be just fine.

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rabbit994 wrote:

Well if you want to consider a Zoo a Museum (National Zoo is owned by SmithSonian) there was that shooting some years ago.

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The terribly ironic thing about that in particular is that guns were already absolutely prohibited there because it is in D.C..

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Concerned wrote:

You're missing my point. I don't have a problem with you owning a gun, I have a problem with you taking it into a place that shouldn't have any weapons in it. You say museums have crime in them, when was the last time someone was murdered in this one? Never. Why are you so afraid of being attacked anyway? Have you ever really had to defend yourself from someone trying to kill you? I've never had a problem, and I've lived in many cities. I own a knife, and I don't take it with me when I go to a museum. Seems silly.

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Okay, maybe I was quick to call you a troll. I say so because I've had discussions like this before with other people face to face. But surely you don't think your argument will be warmly received on THIS website?

Your statement that a museum is a "place that shouldn't have any weapons in it" has no basis in logic. As Mike said, any public place could be described in such a manner, and yet it is public places such as museums, and the parking lots and walkways between them, that individuals are most vulnerable to crime. Just because you've been fortunate and haven't been approached by muggers or worsedoesn't mean you have any basis for restricting the rights of others to defend themselves in public places. So much for your argument.

Now, about your attitude: People carrying guns in public make you uneasy? What about black people? Gay people? Jews? Any other peacable citizens we should restrict to make you feel more comfortable? Those people in the museum were neither picking your pocket nor breaking your arm. They were minding their own business, and you didn't like their choice of apparel or their independent frame of mind, and that upsets you? It's called freedom. Get over it. Better yet, join the club. We've always got room for more.

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You <concerned>sound like the kind of people that are moving to Burlington, Vermont. Just last week it was on the news that some woman from the city who had moved to Vermont saw 2 hunters inthe woods near a school. She called the police and told them that "armed men were stalking the school". You are probably the same person who likes to see "poor inner city gangsters" get lenient sentences, while law abiding citizens have their right to self defense squashed. Just don't move to Vermont. Unlicensed carry is constitutionally protected here! Move from Virginia to Massholechusetts or the Peoples Republic of New Jersey. You would feel more at home there!