imported post
In my observation going way back Brad tends to be a fear monger.
I think he thinks it will drive people to his training course, but thats only a guess. I've never figured out his motivations though I think its fair game to share things Brad has shared with me.
Brad thought open-carry picnics were a bad idea. Strongly frowned upon them and when some of us were trying diligently to organize them, Brad sent PM's around to people who expressed interest in attending discouraging attendance. We ignored Brad's attempts to derail these events and people held them anyway... to GREAT public awareness success by the way: The positive media attention brought the issue front and center and raised public OC awareness to a new level.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hnOI0fWXNc
A few days after the AG memo Brad called me and suggested that I "lay low" and not speak to the media. I ignored his suggestion and a day later filmed a hidden-camera "Open-carry in the grocery store" piece with CH. 4 that brought a great deal of awareness to the issue.
Brad's case in West Allis also brought a huge amount of awareness to the issue. Arguably, I think it could have brought a great deal more if people involved had been willing to use PR a bit more to their advantage.
I respect that everyone has a different perspective on how to advance gun rights in Wisconsin. But it seems to me that Brad often leaps across the fine-line between being realistic and fear-mongering.
The threat title was posed "worst case scenario" which obviously has an open-ended answer...
The worst case scenario of sitting on your front porch drinking lemonade is that a 747 could fall out of the sky and squash you into your foundation... Of course that isn't realistic.
Thankfully Randy further qualified his thread title by stating:
so whats the worst thing that has occurred so far to a person who was legally opn carrying in wisconsin,meaning,someone who was doing everything legal and by the book,stopped by the law.
Obviously the answer to this question is also subjective. Brad claimed his arrest ruined his business among other things. How much that is true is a matter of judgement.
It hasn't yet been mentioned, but one of the co-plaintiffs in Wisconsin Carry's GFSZ lawsuit is Dave Bernson. He was arrested, spend the night in jail, his gun was confiscated and he has not yet gotten it back. It remains illegally seized by the City of Milwaukee and Police Department (coming up on a year)
So Randy, while the reality of life itself poses tremendous risk. Lets face it... LIVING is quite dangerous, there is a very realistic answer to your question and its two-fold.
First, the worst that has happened in Wisconsin
POST AG memo is a person was arrested, spent several hours in jail, gun was confiscated, and released without being charged. BOTH co-plaintiffs in our lawsuit suffered that fate. (Frank in Racine and Dave in Milwaukee) Frank got his gun back within a week or so, Dave has not yet gotten his gun back. We obtained a large damage award for Frank for his night in jail and illegal arrest. Dave's case is still in the legal process.
Second, the reality is that hundreds, if not thousands of people open-carry in Wisconsin every single day. Every week there are thousands of open-carry occurrences. Grocery stores, walking the dog, going to the bank, going to work, in large metropolitan areas, and in rural areas. In suburbs, and in the woods. Of those THOUSANDS of open-carry instances every week, we have just a handful of people who were illegally harassed. I think those odds speak for themselves.
If the motivation for your question is to assess what the worst possible thing that can happen from law enforcement while OC'ing is... If your concern is the worst possible scenario, you may not want to OC (and you may not want to drive a car to work for fear of an accident, heck, you may not want to go to work because we know people can be wrongfully accused of sexual harassment, you may not want to leave your house for fear of being assaulted out in public, you may not want to stay in your house for fear of being assaulted at home... Well... You get the idea)
life is a risk. there are no absolutes. You must decide for yourself what level or risk you are willing to take in your life. I do think its safe to say that moms, daughters, husbands, wives, school teachers, executives, doctors, lawyers, blue-collar and white-collar, old and young and everything in between open-carry on a daily basis in Wisconsin. ymmv