You're saying that today, the OC of long guns in Florida is more important than the OC of handguns.
No. I didn't say that. I'm saying that there shouldn't be a preference.
And I'm saying, no, if we have to prefer one
If we have to prefer one? How about not preferring one? We don't have to... It's a self-imposed limit on a website that says "a right unexercised is a right lost." It the choice to lose in advance and then declare victory...
the OC of handguns is more immediately useful
An opinion that I have proven false. At least for myself. I'm much more comfortable with a rifle, much faster on target, and much better trained. The smallest minority is the individual. Is this not about an individual right? I carry what suits me best.
and serves as a better potential means of furthering the right in general – to include the OC of long guns too, hopefully sooner rather than later. But I'm not the one who called either "worthless", so you started us down that road.
Handguns are useless. TO ME. I have them, but I can't take them seriously. Why force myself to settle for the tool I'm not very good with, when I'm so damn good with a different one?
I'm not the one who said your mode of carry was "worthless". I'm simply explaining the preferences of this forum.
Point taken. This forum wants to fail. It's why I don't spend much time here anymore. I want to win. I don't hang out with people who don't want to win.
I myself spend a lot of time in public places, driving around, etc. A handgun is far more convenient for these purposes, to the point that it's doubtful I'd regularly be armed at all if long guns were the only option.
I'm not suggesting any mutual exclusivity. Carry an RPG if you want... I think there might be overpenetration issues if you don't know how to handle it. But, I figure, if you are carrying it, it's because it's what you're best with and have considered that, and will consider that whne choosing your target, and what is beyond it.
My RFB has started a hell of a lot more conversations thant he handgun that most people don't even notice... If nobody knows, how is it helping?
But this is why, when it comes down to it, I never advocate for or endorse the prohibition of any non-aggressive preference. OC, CC, long gun, handgun, gay, straight, Christian, atheist, teetotaler or drug addict (licit or otherwise), any mix of all of the above – none of that concerns me.
I agree. We can't fight about agreeing, can we? I'm simply pointing out the self-destructive nature of this forum. If you don't fight to win, you won't. Florida Carry is slowing figuring that out...
In my experience, that particular rule isn't enforced against every violation of its letter. Although, this is perhaps getting a bit off-topic from the OP.
I only suggest that the OC map is deceptive. It tells people that ther is no OC in TX. And GA is Licensed OC only. Not true. It jsut depends ont he gun in question. Both TX and GA are Gold Star if you've got a long gun. And while I know that isn't the objective of the site, it's still very useful information in the same general thread. The agenda is too tight.
Anyway, accusing someone of being "politically correct" is really an uncharacteristically (for you) thoughtless denigration. I think we can do better than Limbaugh/O'Reilly-level discourse, here.
It was stated more for the purpose of being concise and expedient. Much like cursing. Sure, I can convey my thoughts without it, I can be downright poetic if I want, but it just saves a lot of time to say "f*ck." We both get the idea. The handgun notion is all about not offending the sheeple. But who takes the baton next? The people who aren't allowed? Where do you go from here when you've already decided that everything else is off limits? How do you win when you're afraid of the finish line?
You're right, there is some consideration made for "public sensitivities", but that's only natural. Most of us aren't at war with society.
Ah, the faceless monolith. When a society declares ware on common sense, it declares war on those who have it. It's an intersting slight of hand you pulled there. Societies of all kinds are always declaring war on the rights of the individual. Read a book... Societies are formed to bully and subjugate those who don't willing give in to collectivism.
Heck, I myself believe that society itself is pretty decent for the most part
We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one. Societies are formed to benefit the individual, in theory, but in practice, never do...
and that government is in many ways not a product of our society, but a separate parasitic entity feeding on that society and sometimes shaping it (or attempting to shape it) to fit its own ends.
I wish it were so. But believing it through rose-colored goggles isn't going to make it that way... I intend to know the truth and provide for it. Hope and Change, eh? OK, that was a cheap shot... Just giving you crap.
I would like to see the RKBA's acceptance in American culture continue to exist, and preferably grow. I would like that, really, more than I'd like to win some kind of epic legal struggle where I "force" (<-- forgive the loose usage) acceptance on everyone (how does one do that, anyway?). Thinking about it, I feel that the only truly voluntarist way to get what I want is through the maintenance/establishment of socially shared values.
And how will you share those values if you've muzzled yourself and curtailed your own rights?
There are times and places where the OC of long guns is eminently practical. For instance, whenever there are hogs about.
There are other times and places where a long gun seems starkly out of place, to the extent that people will actually start to question your motives (if not intentions) – see the hoopla over "Starbucks Appreciation Day" and a few of the rather douchey selfies which resulted and are floating around. In most (if not quite all) of these times and places, carry of a handgun instead seems far more
normal. If the normalization of daily firearm carry is the goal (it's one of mine), then it stands to reason that doing so in the manner which strikes
most people as the most
normal is the best way to go about it.
You made my point for me... Normal. Would OCing a handgun have been called normal by ANYONE 15 years ago? So, this is where you stop? Right on the edge? Why is one considered "more" than the other in the first place? Allowing it to be framed int aht disingenious way is the first slide downt he slippery slope you just barely manged to pull yourself up out of! If you're going to stand right there at the edge, expect to be going back down soon...
You can call that "political correctness", if you like. But I'll call
that intellectual laziness.
I do call it political correctness, because that's precisely what it is. You even defined it as such yourself by talking about 'normal' the way you do. Normal is in charge of rights? Normal decides I should carry a handgun I suck with instead of the rifle I'm good with?
Normal rests on it's faux-laurels instead of considering what to do next. I think the Forum's goals started as a way to limit the scope of the mission so that success could be more easilly defined, but has become a crusade against common sense under the guise of "I'm acceptable and you're not" snob crapola. I couldn't give a flying fornication about what normal is. Not becasue I'm at war with society, but becasue I'm an individual. Like it or not, war has come. It just so happens that said society has declared war on the rights I hold dear and I don't see that cutting off my nose in advance to spite someone else's face is a path to sustained respect for individual rights. Cuz, you know, a right unexercised is a right lost... Why negotiate your rights away when you can throw them away outright and declare victory? If you don't win the fight because you never bothered to fight the fight, you haven't won. You surrendered pre-emptively just so you could say "I didn't lose" and color it as a win...
I'm saying that my position is fundamentally different and more useful becasue it is based on a bigger goal, not 'limited victory' which is, in fact, not a victory at all. To merely not lose by forfeit is not a victory (I split the living crap out of that infinitive, TWO words shoved in there!). I see your points, but I also see past them. I started OCing my rifle out of an odd necessity of unexpected circumstances. But, it's been a lot better for me and for conversation. So, I've stuck with it. I was subscribing to the "I might scare people with my badass rifle and that won't do any good." I didn't take any ****** selfies. I've no desire to wag my d!ck at anyone. It just makes sense for me. It's not about everyone else, that would be collectivism by definition. It's not that I don't care, it's that I don't pretend that it applies. There is no right to be a neurotic panty wetter that tells other people to piss on their own rights.
Tubgirl gun owners. Pre-emptively crapping in their own face so that the job is already done and they don't have to worry about anyone else crapping in their face. Get mad if someone else doesn't want to crap in their own face along with you. The Devil you know, right? You didn't lose, you can call it a win now... Leave out the part where you forfeited...
Of course, I've been crude and abrasive. I don't beleive crude topics deserve to be presented out of flavor. Mmmm, flavor....