OFCC Picnic in the Park 4

imported post

reefteach wrote:

I thought it would be easy to find OCDO members at the picnic, but so many people were open carrying there that I couldn't sort them out.

Click to expand...

Same problem here..

Click to expand...

I'm guessing about 150-200 people were there. And about 2 dozen people were open carrying. Many people started concealed, and eventually transitioned to open carry:monkey

Click to expand...

They came over to the "dark side":lol:

Click to expand...

I was standing about 20 feet from the governor, open carrying a Taurus PT145 in tan Bianchi holster while eating a hot dog. Several people mentioned before hand that because of the press, open carry would be a bad idea. I think it was a great idea, and I'm glad so many people felt comfortable doing it. It really put gun owners in a positive light. I wonder how many soccer moms noticed people lawfully carrying at the park.

Click to expand...

So much for some of the doom and gloom predictions. Supposedly, according to some people; anyone OCing was going to ruin the event, and OCers should plan their own picnic since it was a picnic for CC. "Unfortunately" for that arguement, several mods from over on the OFCC forums were OCing as well, so there goes that... Maybe they understand it's not about choosing "sides"? :idea:

Click to expand...

State representative Michael DeBosespoke there. He is the Cleveland politician that voted against concealed carry. Then was mugged at gunpoint, and turned pro-gun. He said "I'm not packing today butI can see aWHOLE lot of YOU are! This is the safest park in Ohio!"

Click to expand...

I enjoyed speaking with him. I thought it was great that his wife won the training session! But he REALLY needs to get a gun and start carrying!A license that says he's allowed to carry isn't going to stop him from getting mugged again! But at least he's headed in the right direction, right? I was standing near the parking lot when he arrived, and no one noticed because it was while the governor was trying to leave. He came up to me and I welcomed him to the picnic. The first thing he said was "Oh man, I'm overdressed!" I laughed and told him not to worry about it. (He was wearing a suit and tie, and the governor was in jeans and a collared shirt) He seemed a little uncomfortable at first, but he warmed up to the group very well. I am sure he is not used to speaking to a pro-gun group, so that may have contributed to it. But I hope to see him do good things for Ohio gun owners!

Click to expand...

There was a sheriff there, who got bored and left before it was over.

Click to expand...

I wonder if he was there in case some of the other people at the park started to get worried or thought they should call the police?

Click to expand...

One interesting thing to concider: Where were the republican politicians?

Lots of Ron Paul shirts and hats.

Click to expand...

What about the pickup truck COVERED in Ron Paul stickers? That's sure to get a few: :shock:

Click to expand...

I did meet BB62 for sure.

Click to expand...

Only person I met from opencarry.org was Leatherneck. Maybe that was because I felt a little weird walking around staring at people's chests trying to read different styles of handwriting...:question: Did have one funny incident. While I was sitting with my wife (who swears I'll never get her to go to another one) in my VERY comfortable red lawn chairs (with footrests, oh yeah..) a guy came up to me to let me know he thought my gun was falling out of my holster. It wasn't but I thanked him, and told him it was fine. He said, you really should check it. I looked down again, looked back at him, and said yes, it's fine. He just walked away shaking his head. I don't know if he was upset I was OCing, or what, but he definitely wanted me to do something more that tell him it was ok, but oh well. I think he was just trying to help. I've got pictures I can post, but I can't seem to figure out how to copy and paste them from My pictures file. If anyone can help me out, I'd be glad to put them up.

Click to expand...

imported post

DNGREER,

That is weird about the guy telling you your gun was falling out. Does your holster have a thumbreak or other form of retention? Do you remember who it was or what he was wearing? Strange.

imported post

Fobus holster. no thumb break or strap. The guy had sun glasses on, gray hair, probably in his late 40's, and some sort of racing t-shirt on. It seemed he was just trying to help.

imported post

man i completely forgot about it until like mid afternoon on saturday,pleases to hear a lot of people were OC'ing

imported post

As One of the One's that transitioned from CC to OC, only thing I felt embarassed about was Someone behind me having to have handing my my spare Mag cause it fell out of my back pocket, those darn wooden benches get uncomy even if you have a big tail like I do... (my GF noticed that in some of the pics that my butt looks big, lol well I do have a 44 waist) I was a little embaressed, but it happens. I think someone made mention that that might not be not something that you'd want a someones' kid picking up, but then again, any of the kids that where there would have known exactly what to do and how to with anything there. The young ones I seen around were Very well educated, and respectful. I would like to have seen more pics of people and their guns. After all it was about 2a GUN RIGHTS that we were all there wasn't it?

imported post

Things like that are going to happen after sitting at picnic tables for 5-6 hrs...

imported post

http://www.delgazette.com/local.asp

A link to media coverage of the picnic. It's the only media coverage that I can find. It really pisses me off, too, because if 10 anti gun people would hold a picnic, there would be more press there then you could count. But 200 people drive from all over the state, and all the coverage it gets is from a small local newspaper. Thanks to the Delaware Gazette for their coverage, but still. It's frustrating to see the liberal spin the media puts on anything they report, or just ignore things they don't like.

imported post

Link to some pictures that other people took:

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a59/Animal81/Party%20In%20the%20Park%20IV/

imported post

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/119105647113790.xml&coll=2

More press coverage:

Gunnin' for a good time:

Things you might overhear at the picnic Gov. Ted Strickland is attending today:

A. "Dang, this potato salad sure is yummy."

B. "Where did you get that holster? My snub-nosed .45 would look great in that."

That's because Strickland is headed to Liberty Park in Powell - a Columbus suburb - for the fourth annual Ohioans for Concealed Carry Party in the Park. Strickland will give the keynote address to about 200 or more gun lovers expected for the occasion.

While the Democratic governor from Scioto County has long slept with the Second Amendment under his pillow, it's a little surprising that he's making the picnic today. After all, he gave plenty of ammunition (sorry, couldn't help it) to the gun crowd when he picked running mate Lee Fisher, a politician who had a holster for the gun restrictions he's supported. "There are a lot of people who had a hard time accepting that," said Jeff Garvas, head of Ohioans for Concealed Carry, about Fisher riding shotgun for Ted. "That probably lost him a bunch of gun owner votes."

And then there's the little matter of the concealed-carry group's gubernatorial endorsement last year of Ken Blackwell in the general election.

Strickland might hold a gun, but he apparently doesn't hold a grudge.

Have a question about state government and politics? Ask Plain Dealer Statehouse reporter Aaron Marshall by e-mailing him at

amarshall@plaind.com.

imported post

Maybe the man was not talking about your pistol but your gun. This is for fighting and this is for fun. Maybe you checked the wrong thing.:quirky

imported post

Dngreer, you guys looked too comfy in those chairs. I stopped by at one point and said hello--I was the guy with the tan/gray Columbia hiker vest and light blue Blackwing Shooting Center ballcap. Hey BB62, Reefteach was the blonde guy who spent so much time chasing his kids around, as memory serves.

And BB62 was the guy doing an all day impression of the Cardiff Giant. :lol:

imported post

Brian D. wrote:

Hey BB62, Reefteach was the blonde guy who spent so much time chasing his kids around, as memory serves.

Click to expand...

Yep. That was me. They had a great time.

I forgot you were on here Brian. Thats 2 OCDO members I met at the park that day.

imported post

Brian D. wrote:

Dngreer, you guys looked too comfy in those chairs.

Click to expand...

Yeah, it was almost like having lazy boys at the picnic. I remember meeting you. So how many people from OCDO were actually there? 4 or 5?

imported post

Well let's see. There was dngreer, BB62, reefteach, fireman joe, and myself. Not much more to say about the OFCC Picnic from my perspective, it was just too doggone pleasant to have any negative rants, which are of course the "meat and potatoes" of most l-o-n-g forum board threads.

imported post

don't forget leatherneck; so that makes six. Not too bad ofa turnout for the ocing Ohio nation!

imported post

dngreer wrote:

don't forget leatherneck; so that makes six. Not too bad ofa turnout for the ocing Ohio nation!

Click to expand...

D'oh! How could I forget Lthrnck? I spent 45 minutes or so at the end of the Picnic listening to the audio tape of his (very likely unlawful) detainment by local police in his hometown, for having the audacity to OC in apark during a municipally-run festival.

imported post

Pics, finally!

imported post

Pics, finally!

imported post

imported post

Someboy needs to update the camera's date/time!