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The 1st Great Maine OC Picnic 4/25/10

Grapeshot

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Weather stayed blue bird clear!

Fantastic event - well organized - and perfectly executed.

Everyone involved should be both pleased and proud - well done.

I've taken the liberty of reposting link to pictures that caddydaddy took.
BTW - love that jeep with the .50 - classic !!!!

http://s547.photobucket.com/albums/hh449/caddydaddy472/Guns/Portland%20open%20carry%20meet/

Post any and all of your experiences here. No matter what anybody might have suggested, you are the good guys and gals. No one screamed and ran away - just normal good citizens taking responsibility for their safety.

Did any of the media do any recording? Links to that would be good.

Yata hey
 

MrJoshua

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That is what was left of the demonstrators by 3:30ish. They had about 40 tops at 2:30 but most had hightailed it by 3. They didn't seem all that into it once they realized they couldn't be within shouting distance.... Just my take on it.
 

shanebelanger

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So far the press has been mixed... some good, some bad. Should be interesting how this plays out. They really like to show the people who tend to get worked up and raise their voices... So far so good, I'm going to keep googling this and see what else shows up!
 

shanebelanger

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GoldCoaster wrote:
Looks like a good turn-out. How many of Portland PD were there?

Is that just down the street from USM? my alma mater!
Yes, literally a walk from the portland campus. And there was about 8 officers there, they told me that they planned on having 2 but the protesters were causing trouble so they called for more force. They told me that we were doing great and that all the trouble was coming from the protesters!
 

Grapeshot

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shanebelanger wrote:
GoldCoaster wrote:
Looks like a good turn-out. How many of Portland PD were there?

Is that just down the street from USM? my alma mater!
Yes, literally a walk from the portland campus. And there was about 8 officers there, they told me that they planned on having 2 but the protesters were causing trouble so they called for more force. They told me that we were doing great and that all the trouble was coming from the protesters!
That always seems to be the case whether it is tree huggers, anti-Bill of Rights or save the polar bear people. They paint themselves with the very tint they attempt to splash upon those that love freedom - they express themselves in radical rhetoric, get loud, abusive and sometimes profane - they can act like undisciplined children.

They allow themselves to be a very ineffective counter-point through lack of discipline. When one's methodology is not acceptable, the message is tainted.

Would love to have had a recording of the protester's words/actions and what LE told them. Anybody want to file an FOIA request for any radio traffic related to the picnic?

Yata hey
 

Grapeshot

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shanebelanger wrote:
thats actually a really good idea... do you think the FOIA request would hurt us in the yes (sic) of the public/police?
"yes" = "eyes" ? Not tired are you? :p

It is public information, legally requested.

Of course the truth can hurt - they'll just have to grin and bare it.
Pun definitely intended. :lol: hint: drag cursor.

When you are in a battle for public image/perception it is best to remember that key word "public."

Yata hey
 

shanebelanger

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Grapeshot wrote:
shanebelanger wrote:
thats actually a really good idea... do you think the FOIA request would hurt us in the yes (sic) of the public/police?
"yes" = "eyes" ? Not tired are you? :p

It is public information, legally requested.

Of course the truth can hurt - they'll just have to grin and bare it.
Pun definitely intended. :lol: hint: drag cursor.

When you are in a battle for public image/perception it is best to remember that key word "public."

Yata hey
haha yeah, I am tired... I need to go to bed... interview ar 6:04am tomorrow. Today was exhausting, so many interviews...
 

caddydaddy

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shanebelanger wrote:
So far the press has been mixed... some good, some bad.
On channel 8, they showed an icon of Maine with a pistol and an AK-47. Dang it, I knew I should have brought mine! :banghead:
 

shanebelanger

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http://gunowners.org/sk0802.htm

Just thought it was cool and heres my full debrief-

We currently have $82.56 in our bank account (that will be started tomorrow). The facebook group that we talked about is up and running, it's called Maine Open Carry. This is a private group that you can join but only members who have joined can see the wall and what we write.

Overall, the event went quite well. The media is kind of keying on things such as the confederate flag and some anti-obama bumper stickers more than I would like, but that is to be expected I suppose. They also liked that fake air-cooled machine gun mounted on the jeep haha. Dan Skolnik also came over trying to incite an argument although I stepped in front of him and got him to leave. I'm going to talk about that during any of my post-event interviews. I would have to give this event an A, it went off without a hitch. There was good food and good people. I hope to have many more events, perhaps not so much like this but we were talking about getting a trash pickup across the state going. So people in every town going to their local park at the same time and doing community service while openly carrying!

We really put out a good image here today guys, thank you! I really wish that people wouldn't need to shout to get their point across as i'm sure you've seen in a few videos online but overall I can't complain! (He did make really good points, simply in the wrong way with the wrong body language)
 

somegunguy

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I went yesterday, and it seemed like a good group of people. It looks like I missed the "heated" debate that WMTW was reporting on. The protesters were already moved down the parking lot by the time I got there. Usually, I'll carry concealed, but I showed up just to show support. What most people don't realize is that people carry concealed all the time, and they just don't know about it. That's part of the reason some people get nervous when they see someone carrying openly.

The 1919 on the jeep was a nice touch. :D
 
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