Look back around the Ponderosa stupidity I warned everyone this garbage was coming , and when we have idiots who think it's a great idea to "in your face" carry long guns in Libraries and places just for attention and to promote themselves and a couple of others who quietly push the person to do it for their own personal reasons to promote themselves. Now that it went seriously bad those who suggested he do it are now distancing themselves and are ready to throw the person under a bus. To carry is a responsibility not just a right. Many times I have pointed out how we represent ourselves greatly impacts how the Public views us and how this happens is directly proportional to how your elected officials will abuse your rights based on what they think they can get away with.
We can sit here and pretend this was not the direct result of the Library and Ponderosa incidents but it is, and no one can deny this. And for those who will claim I am anti open carry of long guns don't even go there because I did it for 2 decades in Detroit with NOT ONE incident and with the full knowledge of Law Enforcement. These things are directly proportional to how one represents themselves. But I have said this countless times and it falls on deaf ears for the most part in this forum.
It is my bet that until people here "GET IT" and start policing their own by calling out idiot behaviors that cause open carry to become the victim of the stupidity of others. We must remember we are fighting an uphill battle and to have three of our help make it harder is ridiculous. But what do I know, my profession was all about public relations for over 36 years, and being careful how I appear to others...
Oh well I think once again this will fall on deaf ears.
So xmanhockey7 I disagree and I understand why you think this, but I know how public opinion works and Nazi Germany is a good object lesson in how the Public can be manipulated for evil intentions.
There is one point that cannot be denied....
The library in question had it's "no guns" policy in effect before any incidents occurred. And that means the library's policy was a bees nest already in place just waiting for something, anything (it didn't even have to be a person with a long gun but could have been a person with a properly holstered pistol), to poke it and set the bees off.
Quite often folks put all the blame on the one who poked the beehive for stirring up the bees but the truth is that beehive was still there with bees waiting to sting.... so... to put all the blame on the person who poked the library and brought this "no guns" policy to light and brought the anti gun intentions of this library into the open is forgetting that it was the library that had the anti gun policy in effect to begin with.
Now... granted the following is just my personal opinion...
It does no good to pretend that all is well just because the library wasn't enforcing it's "no guns" policy when that policy is still there waiting to be enforced. The real culprit in this entire drama isn't the guy with the long gun... it is a library that thinks it is above the legislature and that it has the power to enforce a policy with the same force as law.
And... like it or not... sooner or later some anti gun organization was going to come along and test whether they could get OC banned simply by declaring the right to bear arms in plain sight the crime of illegal brandishing.
So... we can complain all we want but this fight was coming sooner or later.
Now... ask yourselves... why would a
library want to ban OC everywhere throughout the entire State of Michigan? A library? Really?