Paul Helmke wants to know if NRA approves of people carrying to town hall meetings. I have a confession to make. I’ve carried a loaded firearm to several public gatherings over the course of the past few months. I’ve even been in close proximity to elected officials. I know this might come a complete shock to our Brady friends, but no one ended up getting shot, threatened, or otherwise intimidated. In fact, given that I carry concealed, I’m pretty sure no one ever knew! The horror!
I couldn’t have been the only one either, given that there are 600,000 people with Licenses to Carry in this state, and given that approx 6,000 or so are in my county. The anti-gun folks love to paint us all as having “all the earmarks of a tinderbox, and is exacerbated by the presence of loaded firearms,” like the guns are speaking to us, and egging us on to cause mass carnage because we’re clearly all unable to contain ourselves.
Public gatherings certainly do attract their share of kooks, rabble rousers, and whackjobs. That’s why I’d prefer if ordinary, responsible gun owners went strapped to these types of events. Trust me, it’s not the guy open carrying a 9mm with a provocative sign you need to worry about. In that case, the gun is a prop, just like the sign. The ones you need to worry about aren’t going to advertise themselves. They also aren’t likely going to give a crap whether you tell them they can’t carry there.
When I attended the big KC Tea Party in April, I carried. I saw a number of others carrying as well.
No shots fired, no guns brandished (although MO has no brandishment prohibitions), no one intimidated (unless it was the criminals in the neighborhoods surrounding the Liberty Memorial.) A very nice and vocal Tea Party. My wife and I had a ball.
Guess what?? I carried amongst many elected officials when I was an elected official! Senators, Congresman, State Senators and State Representatives. I even was within 20 feet of Bob Dole.. Egads!?!?!?!?
Oh, and nothing happened, ever..
They’d probably totally freak if they really knew how many people were actually carrying at these events. They get all worked up over the open carry person or the concealed carry with a weapon big enough to be discovered on someone’s hip. They miss all the guns in purses, pockets and on ankles that are out of sight, out of mind due to their small size or good concealment.
I know. I hate to break it to many of these people getting their panties in a bunch, but they are around armed people all the time, and they don’t know it.
A picture of my anti-gun senator right next to a M1 Garand.
http://levin.senate.gov/photos/gallery/index.cfm?gid=8
I carry all the time, even around politicians.
A ‘Don’t ask, Don’t tell’ policy just might be a good idea. You don’t ask about my concealed firearm that I have a permit to carry, I won’t tell you about it, we’re all happy.
Note, ‘you’ referring to Lois and Co. in a later post, not the maintainers of this fine site.