Robb has some worthwhile thoughts on the latest OC dustup:
There is a big difference though in carrying a firearm and going about your business and carrying a firearm because Dagnabbit! I want people to SEE ME! Riding on back of the Drama Llama does not help. Really. In my line of activism, the two results I want are people to see the pistol, but not become alarmed, or to miss it completely. What doesn’t help is having too many people getting upset. Our actions are cumulative. Upset enough people enough times, and eventually you can turn someone who was at best ambivalent toward us hostile.
The real concern should be that there are OC bills currently in Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma, all of which are jeopardized when our opponents are able to point out that passage is going to mean people showing up to the local library with a 12 gauge. It’s one thing for them to throw that out there hysterically, it’s quite another when they can point out examples to legislators.
We need these bills. If I ever go visit Everglades National Park, or Big Bend National Park, I don’t really want to have to conceal if I’m walking the trails. I doubt I’m the only one who feels the same way.
Yep, big forests call for big guns. Libraries, not so much.
Heck, if I ever visit Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument again, it’ll be in the company of the 10th Mountain or the 1st MEF.
When the park rangers are walking around in full battle-rattle, I stay away.
You might be misreading me just a bit.
Do you know who my main opponents are in getting Open Carry passed here in Florida are?
Not the Bradys. Not anti-gun politicians.
Gun owners.
Those wonderful people in your comments telling me I deserve to get thrown under a bus because someone exercised their rights in a way they don’t approve of. Those are the same types of people I’ve had to deal with telling me the same crap they spew – “There’s no need to open carry because it makes us all look bad”, “You only open carry because you want to make a statement”, ‘You’ll ruin gun rights for the rest of us.”
Same stuff I hear here. Glad to know my back isn’t covered.
Which is it Robb? Are you open carrying for your protection or are you doing it to be seen and make a statement? There is a big difference between the two.
I know I know, I questioned OC and the motives of the OC’er. Now I’m the enemy. There is a time and place for everything.
David, you’re not the enemy. I’m not the one claiming I’m going to throw others under the bus to protect myself.
As for your question, right now I have to do a little of both. We hold our open carry events to show that it’s not a big deal. Unlike 43 other states, Open Carry is illegal in Florida unless you are hunting, camping, or fishing. By having monthly OC events all over the state, we can show the public that nothing happens. And yes, we’ve had a guy OC an AR pistol on his back, and that was probably the most productive outing we had.
The trick is to just fish. Not to stand in people’s way or scream I HAVE A GUN AND IT’S MY RIGHT DAMMIT. We do not approach anyone and let them approach us if they want.
The breakdown in communication here is that somehow I support Mr Shotgun In the Library dude. I do not. I think it was a stupid stunt. Sometimes those stunts work for the better, sometimes they don’t. Unfortunately, I don’t have the answers to when the best time is. In his case, OC is perfectly legal in the state and I don’t see much of a reason to carry a long arm like that other than “Oooh! Look at me! I’m LOUD & PROUD”.
Here in Florida, it’s NOT generally legal. So using it as activism makes a bit more sense, even if sometimes that means someone with an AR pistol will show up. When it finally passes, and make no mistake about it, it’s going to pass, I will OC a lot more than most gunnies. I personally find OC to be tactically superior than hoping I’ll be able to turn the tables with my super ninja, SURPRISE I HAVE A GUN! technique. Plus, I live in a warm climate. OC is infinitely more comfortable with the clothing choices I have during the hot season (March through November).
Now, when OC is legalized and I carry, part of it will be activism, but primarily in the way I conduct myself. I believe that the vast majority of people who will OC will also be polite and non-assholish. But, there will be the rare instance of some idiot who, now that his custom Kimber no longer garners him any attention, will resort to being an idiot. I can’t stop those people without harming myself. And as I see them as an exception and not the rule, I’m not going to expend too much effort in trying to do so.
I don’t have an issue with OC. I have an issue with the attention whores who seem to be magnets for confrontations that end negatively. Why are forums littered with these negative encounters? Why are we reading about OC’ers being forcefully removed from private property after refusing to leave when asked. Every cause has passionate people who both help and hurt the cause. Being confrontational and quick with a foul tongue will not further too many causes or win too many people over. I just wonder how long it will be before the true people actually trying improve OC laws get tired of the trouble causing attention whore and start dealing with them?
David, how should I, as an Open Carry activist trying to get OC legalized here in Florida, deal with them?
I’ve already called them out for their poor behavior. What can I do short of demanding that the government use their force to prevent them from doing stupid stuff?
Half of them are doing this because they believe the government is trying to take away their rights. The only option to shut them up is to prove them right.
You talk about people not noticing…I’ve seen this in Virginia and in (SURPRISE) Connecticut.
The only people who seemed to express any shock at seeing me armed in Virginia were people who I swear were about to rob the shop I was hanging out in…the looks on their faces…
In CT, I walked out of a bookstore and saw a gorgeous woman walk past wearing a gun on her hip. I approached to talk to her and warn her (in case she didn’t know) that she may be approached and harrassed by cops who think they’re supposed to arrest her for doing something legal…turns out her shopping bag had been blocking my view of her badge.
I proceeded to educate her (a police officer) on the laws in CT regarding OC. She seemed pretty shocked when I was able to tell her exactly where it says that I’m allowed to OC as long as I have a permit to carry.
Nobody else even seemed to notice the beautiful woman with the gun…
Rob, I support your efforts to get a Florida OC law. I think your style of advocating for it is effective. I also think that the offensive stuff we see getting into the news in Michigan harms us all, OC proponents et al.