Been thinking of this one for a while, and with the vote on Open Carry coming up on Wednesday (and it’s going to be a close one folks – pester your misrepresentatives) I figured it’s time to have this talk.
I’ve been known in the past to defend the idiots who carry shotguns in the library, not because I believe them to be doing a good thing, but because the freak out over it is disproportionate to the damage they possibly can cause. Most of the battle we’ve had against OC hasn’t been from anti-gun groups, but from our own side. Gun owners have been our biggest hurdle to overcome, and it’s primarily an overreaction to just such events.
However, I cannot, in good conscious, say that these events won’t happen. Heck, the very first OC fishing event I went to had a guy toting around an AR-15 pistol on his back. Oddly, I didn’t find that inappropriate for the event, but had he decided to do the same thing while picking up a copy of Twilight from the local library, I think my reaction would have been quite different.
One thing that bugs the ever loving snot out of me about this bill is how hard it has been pushed as nothing more than a safety measure to protect accidental exposure. Just last week, someone was harassed for printing, so there is a lot of merit to that argument and I agree with it wholeheartedly. In fact, the best way to protect against accidental exposure is to permit Open Carry since what constitutes ‘accidental’ would be up to the responding officer. Allowing OC protects everyone, but it also means there will be people who openly carry their pistol on a regular basis, and this is what I want to discuss.
I will probably OC more often than many people. Heck, I’m more likely to do so than the rest of the Florida Carry board members and they had to drag me kicking and screaming into the organization ;) The thing is though, I will only OC where I was going anyway, and only to places I would have concealed. In other words, the only thing that will be different will be my method of carrying. What I won’t be doing is deciding to OC and head out to some place I normally wouldn’t have gone, say the library or a children’s park. Sadly, there are a bunch of OC activists who won’t see the harm in what they do when they decide to ‘make a scene’. The problem I’ve discovered is that it’s a small minority of ‘loud and proud’ OC’ers that cause many gunnies to view ALL OC’ers as crazy.
Take PETA for instance.
Now, I’m probably going to lose a few readers for saying this, but not everyone in PETA is bug-nuts crazy. Many people who donate money do so because they honestly believe that PETA is a worthwhile organization. However, when you think of PETA, you instantly think about people doing stupid stunts like protesting outside of KFC dressed up like bloody chickens in cages or screaming at people in a steakhouse. They have first amendment rights to do most of that (many times they go beyond just speech and move into assault which is wrong), but think about it – what’s your overall impression of PETA? A bunch of crazies right? Well, that comes from a VERY vocal part of their group, probably a minority if I were to look into it further.
Let’s not do that. If SB234 makes it through and we get Open Carry here in Florida, please don’t walk down the beach wearing a Speedo and a drop leg holster. Don’t walk into places you normally wouldn’t go and loudly announce that you have the right to carry. If you get asked to leave a store, leave. That is not the time to give a lecture on your rights to a manager who only wants to get his paycheck and go home. When you do these things, you become the PETA members of Open Carry. Sure, it’s your right to do so, and I’ll defend your right, but I’ll call you out on being stupid.
Be aware that the retail federation people are already looking into how to ban OC in stores. If you push too hard, they’ll push for binding signage and that’s a fight we could easily lose. Then we’re back to a patchwork of “Can carry here, but not here” and knowing how things work in the sausage making industry known as ‘the legislature’, you could make a safe bet that they’d ban all carry, not just Open. So think about that before you strap on a hog leg and head over to the little league game.
Please, use common sense. Yes, it’s our right, but we lost the ability to exercise it specifically due to people being idjits and being loud about OC.
Let’s not be PETA.
please don’t walk down the beach wearing a Speedo and a drop leg holster.