TGO David

I've met Kirk. He's a clean cut individual who probably strikes people as being "someone who should be carrying a gun". Like it or not, everyone profiles. Everyone makes on-the-fly judgments about others based on the way they look, the things they do and the things they say. A person dressed smartly, business casual, with a tucked in shirt and a firearm in a nice belt holster is likely to be brushed off as someone who they perceive as being required to carry a firearm and not a threat to them. Unfortunately that could also backfire, but I'm not going to debate that again. A person covered in tattoos, wearing urban-style clothing, baggy pants, untucked t-shirt, etc. and a gun on their hip is probably going to receive a lot of scrutiny from their fellow citizen as well as the police. They won't strike most folks as being "someone who should be carrying a gun" because there are certain assumptions made about them based on appearances alone. Is this fair? Not especially. Is it a fact of life? You bet.

No, the people who have a problem with it are the bed wetting activist types who have nothing better to do than wage massive letter-writing campaigns, pester their equally liberal elected representatives, and generally make life miserable for the minority of gun owners who care about the right to carry. You do realize that the majority of people who own firearms don't have a handgun carry permit or even care an iota about carry, right? TGO's membership is an anomaly just like most Internet forums because here members care about it. I believe it's well within your right to carry openly and I think it's great that you have the choice to do so. I'm opposed to anyone taking choices and therefore freedoms away from the American people. But I also believe that it is pretty obvious that a person should use a little discernment when making a choice and that open carry has so many disadvantages that it's really not worth it. If you're trying to make a "We shall not go silently into the night!" sort of political statement with your sidearm, refusing to conceal it just because you don't have to, more power to you. That's your right. Just don't expect me to be excited about it. That's my prerogative and my choice.

I can't think of anything bad that could happen from having your firearm right out in plain sight like that.

The moderators here carry a big stick. Problem resolved.

I firmly believe that the demise of the Hickory Hollow area came with the proliferation of apartment complexes. I lived briefly in the Cameron Overlook apartments off of Bell Road during the mid 1990's right before it got really bad in Antioch. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. But back to my original point, apartments are full of two types of people: 1st - People who haven't bought a house yet but are working toward it. 2nd - People who have no intention of ever buying a house and just want a roof over their heads. Sadly the second group brings with it a large contingent of people who have no "pride of ownership" are are willing to **** the nest, so to speak. Crime and declining property values come along with them. As the property values decline, rent becomes cheaper, and when rent becomes cheaper the bar for admission becomes lower and you get more of the 2nd group than you do of the 1st group. The lowest common denominator becomes the majority. That's when you fence the place off, rescue those worth rescuing, and nerve gas the remaining vermin. This is why I will never be elected to public office, of course.

Yep... if you're trying to make sure the Pro-Carry support shown totally backfires.

I think the OC part of this is an idiotic idea and will just play into the hands of those who are trying to get Starbucks to change their stance on the matter. Discretion is the better part of valor. I don't expect you to completely understand that at 24 years of age, but I would hope that you'd at least consider the advice of people who have been on this earth almost twice as long as you and understand that sometimes our "opinions" on things like OC and the negative impact it actually has on people come from experience.

The only problem I would personally have with wearing that shirt is the last line. I don't want to hear any questions from anyone who reads my shirt. If I could get a version of that which replaced the last line with the phrase "Go pound sand" or "STFU and color" I would buy it. I mean, really... it just invites questions from the sort of arrogant mentaly-elite douchebag that I honestly don't want to be within breathing distance of.

Way cool... I had no idea that interest would be this high. I'll start getting my ducks in a row to do a repeat batch with the sticker dudes.

Plus you can use it as a framing hammer if you ever find yourself in a predicament where a house has to be built... like, right now... and you're without.

Love it.

I like the way you think!

I have zero intent to open carry. I never do so this day won't be any different. My firearm is not a political statement, it is a self-defense tool. If I were a carpenter I wouldn't walk into Starbucks carrying a nail-gun to thank them for not banning nail-guns. To each their own, but I'd seriously consider what message you are sending and what the reactions might be if you decide to open carry. If you spook the sheep, there could easily be corporate-wide backlash.

I can't wait to see how they paint preparedness as being the domain of freaks, weirdos and fringe lunatics... Doomsday Preppers - National Geographic Channel Series premiers on Tuesday, February 7th at 8pm CST.

General Class operator here.

Eh, there have been occasions where I needed a specialty tool that would work at least once and didn't want to spend the kind of money that buys longevity. Harbor Freight is good for that.

I'm going to close this thread down for about 24 hours so that everyone has a chance to take a breath and let emotions settle. I'm not giving anyone a free pass here but I'm also not wanting the thread to turn into a complete pile-up where folks let their feelings get the best of them. Rational discuss is always welcomed so we can aim for some more of that once the thread re-opens.

I'll be sure to stop in that day and buy some coffee and thank the manager for their pro-Constitution stance.

I'm continually amazed by the grace and leniency shown by members of this forum. It frequently leads me to wonder if I'm wrong for being such a hard-case and profiling people out in the wild on the basis of behavior patterns. So far the process has worked reasonably well for me and keeps me from being perpetually disappointed when people revert back to their own internal common denominators. It's also kept me alive on one occasion, but I digress.

No need. I am keenly aware of Drew's history and much like the councilman have also been the target of his words on at least one point over the past 10 years. I know him from the same place that I know Voldemort from, ironically. I'd like to think Drew has learned a thing or two about being discrete, especially given our conversation in person at Panera Bread about two years ago when I confronted him about the things he'd said about my deceased daughter. The story as presented in the news article is exactly as I remember it being relayed on various local car forums back when it was all current news. I'm sure Drew is correct in that his record reflects that he was cleared of all charges, however I am aware of numerous unrelated cases where a deal was struck with the Court and crimes were struck from records. It's not exactly rocket surgery. That being said, is Drew someone I want speaking for me as a gun owner? No. I am capable of speaking for myself and there are no ambiguities hanging out with the skeletons in my closet. Hopefully Drew is making better choices these days.

What an interesting turn of events we have here.

We picked up a bottle of that late last year and still have a little bit left. I will make a note to pick up more the next time we're out.

I've got a few of these left and can order more if we need. Let's put together a list of folks who want one (or more) and I'll see about getting an order put together the first or second week of Februrary. I will add a poll to this thread so you can indicate that you want a pair of them. I believe last time we did this it was something like two for $5.00, plus postage. So I figure it will be around the same ballpark again. Remember, vote in the poll to indicate that you want two.

I've stopped going to Harbor Freight since we got the Northern Tool in Murfreesboro.

According to the forum's settings, anyone can edit their thread titles. When you are viewing a thread that you created, scroll to the top of the page and find the link above the thread for "Administrative" and see if you can Edit the thread from there. I'll sign in using a dummy account in a few minutes and try it myself as well.