Gun Nuts posted something on Facebook earlier today that really resonated with me: “Open carry activists have had more success getting guns banned than Michael Bloomberg.”
Then someone shared this and it just goes to show how far the Crazy Open Carry Knights are willing to go to get attention. No one could be stupid enough to think forcing his way into a state legislator’s office is helping the pro-2A movement.
Think of all those restaurant and store chains that have banned guns over the past year or so. The majority of them were targeted by anti-gun groups who use these open carry narcissists to scare people. Why? Because most people don’t want to have dinner at Chipotle with a bunch of strangers waving semiauto carbines all over the place “because ‘Merica!”
The COCKs are almost solely responsible for every step backward the RKBA community has faced. Remember Starbucks? We went from a company saying yeah, you can bring your guns in here to… what? A major national news story about Starbucks changing its policy specifically because the OC idiots couldn’t take “yes” for an answer.
We get it, COCKs. You’d rather be on television bragging to your mouth breathing buddies about how brave you are in the face of unarmed mothers drinking lattes than doing something actually beneficial like, say, not scaring people … especially the state legislators who are going to vote on the issue you pretend means so much to you.
I’m seriously approaching the point where I wish you people would start to show the same level of dedication and demonstration for medically assisted suicide.
Train hard & stay safe without being an idiot about it! ToddG
Seriously, tell us how you really feel.
I think that’s the angriest post I’ve ever seen you write dude, but it’s also 100% bang on.
Great post and I couldn’t agree more. I especially love the last comment and am on wish the same for them, seriously LOL. Seriously though they are straight up a$$clowns.
I live near the Tarrant County COCKS and I’ve been very vocal every time I bump into them online or in person that they need to be carrying blue guns and signs, talking to people, and handing out literature – calmly and safely trying to win others to the RKBA side. I have even suggested the host nerf gun fights at the big capital protests as a way to get people to come over and listen to them. Anything in the world is better than what they’re doing. This line from the article you linked to sums it up perfectly:
You don’t represent me. You don’t speak for me. I don’t want your help.
But if not for them, who would there be to pull defeat from the jaws of victory?
Thats just it…
This isnt about the 2nd.
Oh, they will claim it is – and use that empty claim to justify their actions – but the fact is, this is 100% about ego.
I have dealt with OCTC closely – and it is always the same with them. They care about OC only as much as it will keep their names in the papers.
Todd, I have OC’d before. Not often but do on occasion – usually on a really hot day in summer. With that said, I agree with you in regard to the “in your face look at me” tactics. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth and even more so to those not 2A friendly. Frankly I found the video above disrespectful. There is no good reason short of making a spectacle to carry semi auto rifles in a restaurant. Additionally, appearances make all the difference. People often wont look twice if your wearing khakis, a polo and a glock/m&p style pistol in a kydex holster and not making a jackass of yourself. If you go in looking like Billy Bob and Jethro who were likely the products of a night of passion between cousins at a family reunion in West Virginia then you are bound to have issues.
Aren’t the OCTC people also behind the cop watch group in Arlington who very aggressively harass officers making routine stops? Or do we just have two nut bags around here with similar ego problems?
Are they even pro 2a guys. or could this be a way to undermine the OC movement in TX.
(in the voice of Dale Gribble)but still.
Well stated Todd, and right on target.
As Tam likes to say, there is a difference in carrying a gun and carrying a gun AT people.
I don’t really like the OC attitude. When confronted by LE or anyone how does not like them caring a firearm they yell, it’s my right! I have an idea, in a common and collective voice explain the law to them. Explain why you are doing it. You would be surprised how LE will respond and the person who is talking to will respond. Don’t bring your long guns with you. A handgun is fine. Your AR15 or AK can stay home. Every time I see a video like that, I feel the OC crowed is giving gun owners everywhere a bad name.
DAVES – I completely agree.
I’ve always been a big believer in the right of an individual citizen to possess the same weapons (think M-16 variants) as a common infantry soldier based on the concept of the militia and it’s mention in the Constitution. The only people who have ever made me question my stance and wonder if more restrictions might be a good idea are the open carry types. Now I have never changed my stance, but I’m saying the few times I’ve considered it even for a second…it was the OC idiots who prompted it. With friends like them…..well really they’re enemies of every emotionally stable gun owner out there. I’ve always loved their slogans about ex residing you’re freedoms or losing them as a justification for their childish antics. Let’s see, in California open carry was perfectly legal and then they started throwing their temper tantrums and hassling police and scarring moms and what do you know…..open carry is now illegal. There was never a push to make it illegal before those morons showed up. Thanks OC guys……
For me, they bring to mind the GPU’s Operation Trust.
“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety” —Ben Franklin
Whether you think this is in “context” or not the it applies anywhere. He may have been speaking of something else but that doesn’t change what the quote says. First of all were our Founders wrong as well when they physically resisted the tyrannical Britain? No, so why are these guys wrong to do the same? “…when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.” Waiving around rifles, regardless of their action, is the problem. Carrying a rifle around with you is not, and if you think it is than you are a pussy.
Look “NextGenAmerica”, if that is your real name, if this truly is tyranny, then they need to quit protesting altogether. They need to walk right in to that Chipotle and shoot someone in the face. Wait, what’s that you say? The tyrants don’t work at Chipotle? Oh, well then maybe these morons have the wrong target. Look, I think most of us would disagree with you that denying open carry in a shall issue concealed license state qualifies as tyranny.
Now, if it is such a big deal and they believe in their cause so much, they should sponsor and organize civil disobedience. They should congregate in the 100s or 1,000s and sit on the capital lawn, OCing modern pistols in defiance of the law. They should have placards, t-shirts, and pamphlets explaining why they’re doing this. Then they need to sit down and be 100% silent, because they can’t be trusted to speak and (in this case) have it NOT lead to a bloodbath. Let their prepared materials speak to whoever asks. If(When) the tyrants in Austin send their jackbooted thugs… er, the state troopers, they need to peacefully surrender to arrest and then fight it in court. if they’re that hardcore that this is tyranny they need to nut up and stop being, what did you call us? Oh yes… They need to nut up and stop being pussies and actually do something meaningful instead of picking stupid squabbles to get their name in the news.
None of us have an issue with fighting for more freedom. We have huge problems with people who are making extremely dumb decisions that are hurting the cause. Especially when said mistakes are being made by people with questionable motives – they seem more concerned with their own notoriety than righting any social ill.
I would point out that the Founders moved to physical resistance only when all other attempts to resolve their complaints with the Crown proved futile. To undermine a legislative and popular process that is working well is less then productive.
Nextgen, the founders began the revolution primarily because of government being foisted upon them without any local representation. Issues like imposed taxes with no local consent or say and of course the quartering of troops without any representation. Then there was the Massachusetts Government Act which again focused on no local representation in government actions.
We may not like current gun laws (I certainly don’t) but we have more then ample representation. We may not like our representatives but they keep getting elected because enough of our fellow citizens keep voting for them. If the majority of Americans tomorrow decided they wanted M-16’s legalized, all they would have to do is find a guy in each district who would support and/or bring a bill forward to legalize M-16’s. The bill would then become law and even if vetoed would simply be re-voted into law and no government agency (Supreme Court included) could stop it. That is the heart of a representative democracy (what the founders gave us) and is certainly not a tyranny. This is what the founders dreamed of and it’s what we have. Unfortunately many people don’t agree that expanding gun rights is a big enough issue for them to vote solely based on that issue.
P%ssy’s aren’t people who understand the law and constitution and work within it to expand causes the right ways. No, they are the people who quote historical figures out of context about issues that don’t apply essentially turning them into cliche catch phrases and throw temper tantrums when things don’t go their way instead of using their brain and advancing causes the right and honorable way….and not scaring moms and grandmas while they’re at it.
A mantra I hear often from OC advocates is “A right not exercised is a right lost”. Whenever I ask for an example of that (name one right that was lost because it wasn’t exercised) I never get a reply. It’s just posturing and attacking.
Not everyone knows that open carry of pistols is illegal in Texas, but open carry of rifles is legal.
Which explains the OC of rifles during protests, but not the way in which they’re carrying/displaying them AT people (in Tam’s words).
As someone earlier said, use blue guns, BP pistols, or empty holsters. Or go whole-hog and have a mass civil disobedience protest. But don’t carry rifles like that and be a jerk about it.
First off: stop referring to carrying long arms as open carry. It’s not the same thing.
Secondly: people have been openly carrying for years without incident, all over the country. I myself have been doing it in Pennsylvania for a decade. With the exception of a few speedbumps, mainly by uninformed LEO’s, I’ve done so without incident. It’s now common in PA, and no one really gives it a second thought, with the exception of Philly.
I’m sure if I had been carrying a rifle instead, my experiences would have beeen quite different.
Rifle carry has little to do with open carry, except when anti-gun mouthbreathers wring their hands over it. Ironically enough, this article could’ve been lifted from CSGV’s Facebook page, or Mother Jones, with the amount of venom dripping from the words.
I don’t like rifle carry. I think it’s stupid, awkward, and impractical. However, it’s a right that some choose to exercise. I reserve my right to call them retards for doing it, but I would never look the ban the practice.
Just please, stop calling it open carry.
Something else that comes to mind re: the hypocrisy of these rifle-toters is that they seem to do it in their spare time. I haven’t seen footage or read stories of anyone showing up to work at the office like this. Obviously this is because they would likely be fired. Strange how this isn’t seen as a tyranny to be addressed by blatant opposition. But that would actually cost them something, I guess.
I am a “Crazy Open Carry Knight”, posing with a battle rifle in public venues, in pursuit of personal agenda. The ensuing, nearly total California ban on open carry was the decisive factor in the Ninth Circuit’s ruling in Peruta v. County of San Diego, steering our state’s CCW policy towards “shall issue”. Which is to say, the mills of justice grind in mysterious ways.
I’ve open carried for years. I’ve been part of the “movement” in my state and helped get laws changed.
Later I became a police officer. I OC on and off duty. My chief doesn’t mind.
I oppose open carry of long guns. Most that I know who open carry do. It’s one thing to have a pistol in a good retention holster on you. Most folks don’t even notice that. But a slung combat rifle is way too far. When you have pro 2A gun loving open carriers calling you nuts… Perhaps you’ve stepped to far.
This is an article about stereotyping all open carry individuals as the same. I open carry, because that is what I have chosen to do. I carry my gun holstered and the only time I actuallt mess with it is in a public restroom when I’m tucking my shirt in. If someone who dares ask me on why I carry, I will always tell them to mind their own damn business and ontinue doing mine. The fact that some people are stupid enough holding on their hands or even walking to a business shouldering a rifle doesn’t mean that all those who open carry are crazy. So when it comes to your stupid article, I suggest you shive it up your ass buddy!
Jacob, are you retarded? The article is clearly talking about a subset of so called activists and is not referring to all open carry. You’re welcome to your opinion, but in this case, it’s formed out of either willful ignorance or a lack of reading comprehension.
Next entry should be about sheep dogs. These two seem to flock together. I’m not a sheep dog, if there’s a shoot out I’m not running towards the action. I’m getting out ASAP and the only sheep I’m guarding would be my friends, family or those immediately near me at that time. Other than that, I’m not your hero. I like guns but I don’t bathe in gun oil and dream of discovering a better cartridge. I’d prefer no one to know I have a gun on me.
A gun is NOT a badge, it’s more of a skeleton key.
“Wait, what’s that you say? The tyrants don’t work at Chipotle? Oh, well then maybe these morons have the wrong target.”
Kevin, you need to email me at xxxx@xxxx.xxx with a good mailing address so I can send you a free hat. I may first have to shoot some root beer all over if it from my nose because I was laughing so hard at your comment, but you could still wear it after it’s been washed.
To everyone who thinks I’m condemning all open carry under all circumstances, I’d invite you to re-read what I actually said.
To everyone who thinks their chest-thumping “It’s mah right!” posing, scaring soccer moms into joining anti-gun groups is somehow HELPING the RKBA cause, I suggest you get some professional help. A Logic 101 class at the local junior college will probably go a long way toward alleviating your derpishness.
Todd – Done. Thanks! Glad someone gets my sense of humor.
Wait, the guy with the camera is suppose to be on our side?
Oh no. We’re in trouble!!!
Here’s the question, Tod. Are they self-centered freaks, or is this a false flag op to derail OC legislation?
I suppose anything is possible and perhaps one day I’ll be proven wrong, but I really doubt this is a complicated anti-RKBA plot. It’s much easier to believe the guy is just an idiot. Hanlon’s razor and all that.
OC advocates in my State of Arkansas are just as dumb as those in other States.Who the hell wants to take his/her family into a department store,restaurant,coffee store and have people walk in carrying rifles and shotguns on their shoulders.In spite of the belief of the OC crowd this is not 1850 and no one wants to return to that era in history.From what I have observed most of the OC crowd are extremely immature and completely thoughtless in how they are perceived by the general public.In their blatant stupidity they are just adding fuel to the anti-second amendment gun control loons.
I agree about the rifle-toters (well, in cities; where I live, walking down the road with a long arm doesn’t really bother anybody), but where do we draw the line?
In TN, it’s the HCP possessor’s decision whether to CC or OC. I prefer the former. Yesterday, in Kroger, I saw some slob–and he was–with a semiauto on his hip. He was oblivious to his surroundings, & so clumsy he was bumping his hip holster & the Glock in it into displays, carts, etc. He didn’t appear or smell intoxicated, just dumb.
Such folks make us all appear the same to antigunners. I’m all for his right to carry a weapon, but such folks do as much damage to our rights as the rifle-wavers.
My question is partly rhetorical. I don’t know what to do about them without depriving them, & therefore us all, of rights. I don’t think stupid people should be allowed to carry around weapons (or vote, or drive, or reproduce, or…), but I can see no way of stopping them without hurting all free people.
The stupid, like the poor, will always be with us.
Budd — That’s a very fair point. And just to be clear, I’ve got no problem with people who OC in places where OC is commonplace and accepted. My concern and ire is aimed specifically at the folks who purposely carry for shock effect, the ones who pretend they are “educating the populace” simply because their parents clearly failed to give them enough hugs and attention when they were young.
No one thinks twice about people carrying hunting rifles around with them when hunting. Slinging an AR down your front for lunch at Wendy’s is a bit different.
Where do we draw the line? I don’t have an answer for that. My preference would be for the folks desperate to play Extreme OC to stop what they’re doing so none of us have to find out where the line gets drawn for us…
I agree Todd its a shame !
What can we do to stop it?
Thanks to all with opinions both good and bad (from my perspective).
Regardless of our own personal views, this is perhaps one of the most important discussion points with regards to modern day 2nd amendment rights.
Given the obvious public sensitivity to weapons ownership, especially semi automatic rifles, and “high capacity” magazine pistols, we live in a society that may not be of our choosing.
Nut jobs kill innocent people every day. We cannot fix that with legislation or magazine restrictions. However, we do influence it.
Personally, I struggle with the answer. Do you conceal a pistol legally to preserve the comfort level of some, or carry open legally in accordance with your personal choice?
I’ve seen the videos of open carry advocates carrying semi automatic rifles etc (AR /AK) in “downtown USA” to varying effect. Bottom line is it’s normally alarming to the general public, and thus the logic of said event should be considered. Speaking from direct perspective, I automatically view folks like that as a potential threat. I just think we need to be cognizant of this and choose carefully where we invest our political capital.
I’m not phishing for debate here, and as such am posting my personal email if anyone has personal comment. I’m an OIF III infantry veteran and West Pont grad, and legally carry every day. Reading an earlier comment re: Sheepdogs etc, I’ll just say for the record, regardless of what we say in advance, few of us truly know where we will fall out in the wolf/sheepdog scenario.
Regards. DavidASMoore@gmail.com
Todd G. You’re dead on brother.