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Wish I had known about the meet as I would have loved to attend with my holstered unloaded sidearm!
Would someone please let me know when the East Bay Contra Costa County group meets. I only read about this in the "Martinez Gazette", a week late! Sure would have liked some heads up if someone would like to e-mail me a when and where for next time.
Open Carry advocates hold gathering Downtown
By
GretaMart[/url]
Staff Reporter
April 29, 2010
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Bay Area members of the Open Carry movement congregated in Martinez last Saturday, meeting at the Downtown Starbucks for coffee, muffins and the opportunity to make theirpoint.
Open Carry advocates have increased visibility around Contra Costa County over the past six months in an apparent effort to attract support for openly carrying an unloaded weapon in plain sight, usually holstered on a belt or chest. While the guns are forbidden by law to be loaded, ammunition can be toted on a personsimultaneously.
According to eyewitnesses, about 15 men met in the morning hours at the Starbucks and stayed roughly an hour, milling around both inside the coffee shop and around the adjacent Main StreetPlaza.
The Gazette attempted unsuccessfully to locate a spokesperson for the movement. The manager at Starbucks said he could not comment on the incident and referred inquiries to the company’s corporate headquarters in Seattle, which provided noresponse.
However, plenty of opponents to the Open Carry adherents expressed their disapproval of theeffort.
“I just think these guys are hilarious, as in absurd and ridiculous,” said one eyewitness who requested anonymity, adding that they look like a bunch of ‘losers’ who are so [emasculated] that they feel the need to carry guns. “Do they think they look cool? Really, what is thepoint?”
Commander Gary Peterson said Monday that the department knew about the meeting slightly beforehand when one of the members telephoned headquarters to advise of theirpresence.
“This is not the first time they’ve been to town, they met once at the Starbucks at Nob Hill,” said Peterson. “They normally have someone videotaping police interactions to protect their rights. We are authorized to contact them to determine if the guns are loaded or not. It puts our officers against a rock and a hard spot because people tend to be uncomfortable aroundthem.”
There were no reports of altercations stemming from Saturday’smeeting.
“I understand we all have the right to carry unloaded firearms, I’m not disagreeing with that right,” said Mayor Schroder on Wednesday. “But it’s a little intimidating and notnecessary.”
On April 18, approximately 15 Open Carry proponents met at Red Brick Pizza in Pleasant Hill, and earlier in the year about 100 met at Buckhorn Grill in Walnut Creek. After the event, the owner of the Bay Area restaurant chain, John Pickerel, sent out a press release announcing the company’s new policy of no gunsallowed.
“The Buckhorn Grill would like to apologize…we have not in the past nor shall in the future allow weapons in our restaurants from our employees, vendors or customers. We made an exception on February 6, 2010, and regret this decision now. We were misled with some facts,” wrote Pickerel. “The local police were involved and we knew none of the weapons were loaded, but it still caused tension with the large mob of people arriving as a group instead of individually. It was supposed to be a group luncheon, and it turned into an…organized propaganda meeting with an agenda. We apologize for any inconvenience to our regular customers, it will not happenagain.”
A California legislator from San Diego, Lori Saldana, has introduced AB1934, which, according to the bill’s text, “existing law, subject to exceptions, makes it an offense to carry a concealed handgun on the person or in a vehicle, as specified…existing law provides that firearms carried openly in belt holsters are not concealed within the meaning of those provisions. This bill would delete the exception pertaining to firearms carried openly in beltholsters.”
