Open carry is more than open carry

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http://www.secondamendmentmarch.com/node/161

Open carry is more than open carry

Submitted by brian_jeffs on Wed, 12/02/2009

[size=[b]Open carry is more than open carry
[/b]][/size]Brian G. Jeffs, Board of Directors
Second Amendment March
It’s true that open carry has many advantages: a faster draw, a larger caliber handgun and greater round capacity; sure it’s been shown to deter crime, and it is immensely more comfortable to carry in warm weather, but it is much more than that.

Open carry brings gun ownership out of the closet. It shows your friends and neighbors, your state and your country that you are not afraid of taking on the responsibility of protecting yourself and the ones you love from evil. Open carry is a visible expression of our natural right to self preservation. Open carry makes a statement that we are not afraid to stand up to the “politically correct” ideology that has created a nanny state, where the government is there to help us if we just do as they say, and a pox on anyone that disagrees.
Open carry can lead us out of this stupor and deliver us once again to the days when a man could stand tall and be proud of his community, his state, and his country.

When you open carry you are saying to the world, I’m my own man, I’m able and willing to defend myself, my family, and if need be my community, my state, and my country. It also states that I’m willing to stand up and speak truth to authority. It’s shameful that we as law abiding citizens must stand up to authority, the very authority that we have empowered, when questioned about our lawful right to openly carry a firearm. But stand up we must. The open carry of a firearm speaks volumes and it’s says much more than just open carry.

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Pretty much what I've been preaching for years.
But face facts, the majority of Amerikan sheeple will NEVER be "comfortable" with it, get over it.

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Good writings - Thank you

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mark edward marchiafava wrote:

Pretty much what I've been preaching for years.
But face facts, the majority of Amerikan sheeple will NEVER be "comfortable" with it, get over it.

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Get over what, exactly???

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Get over the fact the majority of your fellow Amerikans don't and will not ever respect the fact we are not ashamed to flex our rights.

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I couldn't have said it better myself. This is precisely why I prefer open carry to concealed carry, and why I am such a big proponent of the open carry movement. I am not ashamed to carry a gun, and I feel no need to hide it from anyone. In southern California we have perfect open carry weather 10 months of the year, so I have little excuse not to do it; not to mention the fact that I and most everyone else here can't get a CCW. But a concealed gun never stopped a crime before it started, and I can personally cite at least one incident that I am 99% sure was prevented by myself being present and visibly armed in public. I am a believer. I have yet to make any babies cry, or send people away screaming in terror, so I know open carry does not have the negative social aspect that many who have never open carried claim that it has. In fact I have had more people approach me with supportive words and curiosity than anything else. So the argument that open carry should not be done because it might garner a negative attitude from the public towards gun rights and gun owners is simply preposterous. I know better because I have seen the truth with my own eyes. If you love liberty and your God-given right to bear arms, you need to start exercising it. Carry on!

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mark edward marchiafava wrote:

Get over the fact the majority of your fellow Amerikans don't and will not ever respect the fact we are not ashamed to flex our rights.

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Wow...you're such a "glass-half-empty" kind of guy, aren't you?

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mark edward marchiafava wrote:

Get over the fact the majority of your fellow Amerikans don't and will not ever respect the fact we are not ashamed to flex our rights.

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I beg to differ 95% or more of my encounters are positive ones, just most people don't realize it's legal.

Great article this is why I have argued with Dave from SAF and someone elsethat open carry can also be a first ammendment issue, I view it as such. It has proven to be so time and time again with me.

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Remember all those "Question Authority" bumper stickers you used to see all over the place?? Well, the people who sported them on their cars have scraped them off, because they figure that now THEY are the "Authority" and they will brook no questioning of it. As I have said repeatedly I live across the street from a rabid Demon-Rat who allows his house to be taken over as an HQ for any and every Rat candidate that runs, and although he was Deeds HQ in the General Election he was McAuliffe HQ in the primaries. I make it a point, when that house is dressed up for a campaign, to OC up and down the street - just taakin' a walk, you know - just to make a point.

"Question Authority"?

Indeedy!

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If 95% of Amerikans are so outright supportive of OC, then why is it BANNED in some states and highly frowned upon by most others?
Why don't we see governors leading an OC march annually, to honor this right?
Or unconstitutional gun laws falling like leaves in the fall?
Could it be you're overlooking the MAJORITY of Amerikans who say nothing TO you, but are thinking, "the cops need to arrest this man, he scares me?"

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mark edward marchiafava wrote:

If 95% of Amerikans are so outright supportive of OC, then why is it BANNED in some states and highly frowned upon by most others?

Because decades of anti gun coverage by the media, anti gun policies in schools indoctrinating our children, and anti gun policies/laws from politicians pushed by the leftist anti gun agenda has resulted in the brain washing of society.

Why don't we see governors leading an OC march annually, to honor this right?

Because Governors are political animals concerned only with protecting their political butts. They listen to the loudest political voices and those loudest voices sing the anti gun song.

Or unconstitutional gun laws falling like leaves in the fall?
Could it be you're overlooking the MAJORITY of Amerikans who say nothing TO you, but are thinking, "the cops need to arrest this man, he scares me?"

Or could it be that because the pro common sense pro gun folks have not been the loudest voices that politicians, schools, and the media are listening to?

Could it be that the anti gun propaganda (and it is a concerted propaganda effort when the only thing seen/heard is the negative side of something) pushed over the past many decades has worked so well the majority of Americans have learned to feel fear when they see a gun?

Could it be that finally there is an effort to fight that anti gun propaganda with pro gun propaganda (use their own rules/methods against them kind of thing) and... because it is causing a reaction (my personal "responses" to my OC have been nearly all positive)... it is working?

Could it be that the time to counter the leftist whiney anti gun/anti personal responsibility/anti freedom BS propaganda has come?

Could it be that the average person can learn that a gun is not necessarily something to fear?

And, lastly, could it be that the MAJORITY of Americans really don't have an opinion about guns either way but base their opinions on what they see in daily life... either on TV or on the hip of a polite and law abiding person?

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My responses are in red above...

Please understand I'm only responding to the points contained within your post... not to you personally.

As an added comment... I've often seen a strange reaction while OC'ing from folks when I politely hold the door open for them... or invite them ahead of me in a check out line... because the rearranging of attitude going on inside their heads is plain to see. After all, isn't a man with a gun supposed to be a bad ass jerk like the TV says instead of this nice polite fellow helping them in real life?

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/rant on

Convince the majority that gun ownership is a right (even though everyone here knows it is), and open carry won't be viewed as "man with a gun" and viewed in a negative light. This is accomplished through responsible gun ownership and educating the "sheeple and Amerikans" as some of you so thoughtfully put it, as to what the 2nd amendment is all about.

Calling people names (Ameri"k"ans and sheeple) doesn't strengthen your argument; in fact, it lessens it. Just because the majority doesn't agree with your views doesn't make them wrong, they're just opposed to your views. Whether this is influenced by the media, anti-gun propaganda or whatever, doesn't change the facts. Also, by referring to those who don't agree with you as "sheeple" you put yourself in the difficult position of defending your rights, when you shouldn't have to. A sub class outside of "normal" society... a minority, if you will. It is a huge burden to bear, to be sure, but open carry and knowing the rights to do so doesn't make you more American.

We do live in a democracy, right? Majority rules, and all that?

Just for the record, I own a firearm and believe in the 2nd amendment. I believe in the right to open carry, now that I know what it entails. A year ago, if I saw someone walking down the street with a firearm in a holster, my first thought would have been, COOL! Then, I would have assumed they were in a security/LEO profession. It wouldn't have struck me as suspicious, just odd because it is so uncommon. I now know that all of us, every red-blooded American, has the right to carry openly.

In about 2 weeks I am taking my CPL class. If you want to open carry, feel free to do so, just be prepared to deal with the obvious harrassment and disapproval from all the "sheeple" and obvious Amerikan's who disagree with you.

I believe, however, there are more positive encounters than negative ones, though the negative ones tend to get more attention. Personally, I don't want any attention at all, I just want to be left alone, to pay my taxes and be the best AmeriKan I can be.

Educate.

/rant off.

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All the education in the world isn't going to sway most Amerikans' emotional rejection of an armed populace. Accept that fact and move forward.
No, this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a democracy. Why would anyone even think that?
Overall, your post sounds exactly as I'd expect from a properly taught slave.
Pay your taxes and never say a word.

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Again with the name calling.Slave? Does that make you feel better about yourself, you poor minority? You've certainly put me in my place. Well played, you fine example of American values.

I'll pay my taxes, obey the law, and put up with individuals like you who have a right, whether it is or not, to their opinion.

BTW... the proper spelling is AMERICAN.

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mark edward marchiafava wrote:

All the education in the world isn't going to sway most Amerikans' emotional rejection of an armed populace. Accept that fact and move forward.
No, this is NOT, I repeat, NOT a democracy. Why would anyone even think that?
Overall, your post sounds exactly as I'd expect from a properly taught slave.
Pay your taxes and never say a word.

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Sounds like you have had some real negative reactions and are basing your opinions on this. I didn't say 95% of America was supportive I said 95% of my encounters are supportive (and I live in an extremely hippy liberal town). On the few negative ones others around supported it.

At an open carry picnic we had up here even some who didn't like guns supported our right because they felt if they were to trample on the 2nd, what other rights were to be trampled upon. (Although they are being trampled on)

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sudden valley gunner wrote

Sounds like you have had some real negative reactions and are basing your opinions on this. I didn't say 95% of America was supportive I said 95% of my encounters are supportive (and I live in an extremely hippy liberal town). On the few negative ones others around supported it.

At an open carry picnic we had up here even some who didn't like guns supported our right because they felt if they were to trample on the 2nd, what other rights were to be trampled upon. (Although they are being trampled on)

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I'm hoping that when I decide to OC that I will be met with this same reaction. I plan to attend OC rallies and picnics (I make a mean potato salad).

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It would be more accurate to say I've had more REAL LIFE experiences than most here and, and, and I do not subscribe to some of the foolish notions some here share.

Example: I ambushed a rather thuggish state representative, Donald Ray Kennard, on live talk radio in Baton Rouge (WJBO).
Good ole boy Donald Ray bragged I was the ONLY person his office hears from with opposition to his concept of demanding a thumbprint in order to obtain a driver's "license." I pounced on him with "as we speak, I have five persons lined up here, calling your office to also express displeasure with your Nazi agenda. Since your secretary, Mary, hung up after hearing from the FIRST one, she was UNABLE to hear from the other four. THAT is why you think your constituents / slaves are behind you."

It was truly funny to hear him try to weasel out of that one. The point I'm TRYING to get across is just because you don't APPEAR to run into stiff opposition isn't because everyone's on board with you. In the case of OC, most people don't WANT you to OC, as it offends their twisted version of Utopia.

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Mike wrote:

http://www.secondamendmentmarch.com/node/161

Open carry is more than open carry

Submitted by brian_jeffs on Wed, 12/02/2009

[size=[b]Open carry is more than open carry
[/b]]Brian G. Jeffs, Board of Directors
Second Amendment March
It’s true that open carry has many advantages: a faster draw, a larger caliber handgun and greater round capacity; sure it’s been shown to deter crime, and it is immensely more comfortable to carry in warm weather, but it is much more than that.

Open carry brings gun ownership out of the closet. It shows your friends and neighbors, your state and your country that you are not afraid of taking on the responsibility of protecting yourself and the ones you love from evil. Open carry is a visible expression of our natural right to self preservation. Open carry makes a statement that we are not afraid to stand up to the “politically correct” ideology that has created a nanny state, where the government is there to help us if we just do as they say, and a pox on anyone that disagrees.
Open carry can lead us out of this stupor and deliver us once again to the days when a man could stand tall and be proud of his community, his state, and his country.

When you open carry you are saying to the world, I’m my own man, I’m able and willing to defend myself, my family, and if need be my community, my state, and my country. It also states that I’m willing to stand up and speak truth to authority. It’s shameful that we as law abiding citizens must stand up to authority, the very authority that we have empowered, when questioned about our lawful right to openly carry a firearm. But stand up we must. The open carry of a firearm speaks volumes and it’s says much more than just open carry.

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I completely agree.

Often times I feel that the people who hurt the gun rights cause the most are the coward gun owners. The ones that treat their guns as dirty little secrets, hide them away, and lie about owning firearms altogether.

I understand the desire for security and fear of repercussions when you admit you are a gun owner. But as Benjamin Franklin said "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." They think hiding their guns gives them a little bit of short term security, while in the long run they are hurting us all by reinforcing the idea that "guns are bad" and need to be hidden away.

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Actually, poll after poll after poll conducted by the "liberal" media all show that gun ownership is a right in the majority's mind. And the majority keeps getting bigger.

Unfortunately, the majority of government is practically immune from prosecution as the pro-criminal safety, victim-disarming traitors they are, so even if 99% believed it to be so, there would still be 1% in government to persecute the 99%.

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mark edward marchiafava wrote:

It would be more accurate to say I've had more REAL LIFE experiences than most here and, and, and I do not subscribe to some of the foolish notions some here share.

Example: I ambushed a rather thuggish state representative, Donald Ray Kennard, on live talk radio in Baton Rouge (WJBO).
Good ole boy Donald Ray bragged I was the ONLY person his office hears from with opposition to his concept of demanding a thumbprint in order to obtain a driver's "license." I pounced on him with "as we speak, I have five persons lined up here, calling your office to also express displeasure with your Nazi agenda. Since your secretary, Mary, hung up after hearing from the FIRST one, she was UNABLE to hear from the other four. THAT is why you think your constituents / slaves are behind you."

It was truly funny to hear him try to weasel out of that one. The point I'm TRYING to get across is just because you don't APPEAR to run into stiff opposition isn't because everyone's on board with you. In the case of OC, most people don't WANT you to OC, as it offends their twisted version of Utopia.

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Again, I never said everybody is on board, but I open carry practically everywhere I go, do you? It's great you ambushed your state rep. on finger print , but we are talking about open carry here. And in this state because of our actively open carrying it is becoming quite accepted.