Nashville Rally... Would you carry like this?

[Jonnin]

Not with a glock.  I am perfectly comfortable carrying *some guns designs* without a holster in a variety of ways, but glocks and similar guns with nothing but a soft pull trigger to prevent accidents, I would not be happy with that.   I would be fine throwing my beretta nano in a pocket without a holster -- I can barely pull that trigger on purpose, let alone accident and it would be perfectly safe carried any which way.   Not too keen on IWB, holster or not, but I would not care for any setup that it could fall out so easily.  Maybe around the house, but not in public.

[mikegideon]

Has anyone noticed that the guy looks like he was dressed to carry concealed. I think he may have pulled the tshirt over the gun just for the photo. Perhaps someone wanting his 15 minutes of fame complying with the photog's request or, as David suggested, they brought their own guy. I'm guessing they expected to find the "guy dressed in camo with an AK-47 slung over his shoulder" and had to set this up when they couldn't find the poster child they were looking for.

 

It wasn't their own guy. Somebody in the comments was related to him (brother?).

[TGO David]

David, your arguments against open carrying are always well thought out and rational. Frankly I find it hard difficult to argue against anything you say. And as I said above, I don't open carry. I just think that if someone does open carry we need to realize two things: First, we probably aren't going to change their mind. And second, they are NOT part of the problem. The problem is those people like Suzie Homemaker. If you're friends with her you need to change her mind. And if you're not, you're probably wasting your time trying. 

 

Nah, I'm just a guy who thinks too much and has spent a lot of time observing people in the wild.  The psychology of why people do things fascinates me and irritates me at the same time.  I'd never be a good therapist as the result of the latter.  I'd probably be like the Gunny in that GEICO commercial.

 

What I wish were the case is if open carry didn't raise an eyebrow.  If society would get past it's retarded view of firearms as being "scary" and not even pay that person a second thought.  Unfortunately society has relegated the wearing of arms to a time past and feels that we are so civilized now that it's just not necessary.  That whole "thin veneer of civility" thing keeps people from noticing just how uncivilized this world is and how needed the implements of self defense really are.  People want to believe that guns aren't necessary because they want to feel safe.  Those people have their collective head in the sand because they don't want to feel like they can't walk into a convenience store at night without the risk of getting held up in an armed robbery.  They don't want to believe that there's a certain danger in walking down Printer's Alley in Nashville at 11pm because they might get mugged.  They don't want to see the world as it really is because then they'd have to worry.

 

Like I said in another post, there's a reason why so many anti-gun leftists suddenly change their mind after they've been beaten half to death in a mugging, or sexually assaulted in a parking garage late at night.  Suddenly they see the world for what it is and realize that the only person who can keep them from ever being a victim again is them.

 

Until their eyes are opened to the truth of things, seeing guns on people's hips is a reminder that they don't want.  A reminder that there are bad people in the world that want to do bad things to the rest of us, and sometimes a gun is what it takes to keep that from happening.

[DaveS]

Not sure what message this guy was sending. This was taken at the rally in Austin Texas. The ribbon says "Newtown" and he's carrying an Assault Rifle.

 

 

Dave S

Edited January 21, 2013 by DaveS

[Guest PapaB]

LagerHead said:

If anyone changes my mind about that it will be the folks here who think that simply carrying a gun in public is anywhere near the same thing as "beating someone into submission."

 

Please don't misquote me or mis-state what I said. At no time did I suggest that "simply carrying a gun in public is anywhere near the same thing as "beating someone into submission."" I carry a gun in public as do most of us with HCP's. I refer to those that carry open because they feel the need to make a statement in an attempt to force the sheeple into accepting lawful carry. That doesn't even refer to everyone that open carries, just some. Those that feel they have the right to force the sheeple into accepting guns are who I referenced. Their attempts are honest and true, I'm sure, but imho they're misguided and cause more people to feel more strongly against guns than the number of people they win to our side. That's why I said it "doesn't advance our cause, it sets it back".

 

 

TGO David gave some very good reasons why people don't like to see guns being carried.

[The Average Joe]

I've been told that if people are allowed to carry guns there will be shootings in every Wal-Mart over parking spaces. I've also been told that when people are allowed to carry in restaurants where alcohol is served that it will be the Wild West all over again, with gunslingers battling it out drunk in the streets. Don't believe everything you're told. 

 

Unless of course there is actual evidence to back this up. ;)

Hey, just sayin...(Hypothetically) the next time I decide to knock over a liquir store, gas station, or a bank and I see that big piece of Austrian plastic hanging off your hip or outside your pants as you're paying for that Diet Coke and Snickers bar...I'll shoot you first. :P

No evidence, but a damn good theory. ;)

 

 

 

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Sometimes we gun owners are our own worst enemies. We piss and moan and bitch and whine and complain - rightfully so I might add - when someone tries to infringe on our right to carry concealed. But let someone have the nerve to open carry and public, lawfully, and we don't even wait for the gun-grabbers to skewer him. We do it ourselves. God forbid some smelly hippy of a leftist freedom hating hoplophobe gets upset over the sight of a gun! Oh my we couldn't have that, could we?

 

Yes, this is a war of perception. And the people's perception right now is that only a few extreme whack jobs carry guns in public. And we are part of the reason they think that way. You really need to examine yourself thoroughly and decide whose side you're on. Instead of lambasting those who believe the 2nd Amendment applies even if you wet your pants at the sight of a gun how about laughing at the wet spot at their feet instead? 

 

Open carry isn't my thing, but if you're going to do it,(and I don't care if you do or not) show a little respect for how you're doing.
The least the D*Bag that showed up in the paper could have done was O.C.ed like he knew what he was doing. After all, we are trying to "sell it" to the opposition. Sunday's paper showed the epitome of what the opposition is using to try to take away from the rest of us. Dude was "showboating". He made THEIR point. His method of open carry made him appear a thug.
Hypothetically, he showed up to a wedding in a wife beater, cut offs, and flip flops. He embarrassed the family....
The least he could have done was respect the weapon (as well as the situation at hand) and provided a proper holster for the weapon. :grouchy:
 

[LagerHead]

Hey, just sayin...(Hypothetically) the next time I decide to knock over a liquir store, gas station, or a bank and I see that big piece of Austrian plastic hanging off your hip or outside your pants as you're paying for that Diet Coke and Snickers bar...I'll shoot you first. :P

No evidence, but a damn good theory. ;)

 

 

 

 

Open carry isn't my thing, but if you're going to do it,(and I don't care if you do or not) show a little respect for how you're doing.
The least the D*Bag that showed up in the paper could have done was O.C.ed like he knew what he was doing. After all, we are trying to "sell it" to the opposition. Sunday's paper showed the epitome of what the opposition is using to try to take away from the rest of us. Dude was "showboating". He made THEIR point. His method of open carry made him appear a thug.
Hypothetically, he showed up to a wedding in a wife beater, cut offs, and flip flops. He embarrassed the family....
The least he could have done was respect the weapon (as well as the situation at hand) and provided a proper holster for the weapon. :grouchy:
 

 

I've already stated I don't open carry. I believe it has also been pointed out that there are in waist band holsters that don't show anything outside the belt line. Is it not possible that he was wearing one of these and his shirt rode up as suggested before? I think your characterization of him as a "D*Bag" is pretty telling and illustrates the exact point I was trying to make about us being our own worst enemies. The funny thing is we bash the elitists who try to take our guns while the elitists within our own ranks invent arbitrary rules about the "right" way to carry. Maybe we should rewrite the 2nd Amendment to read, "[,,,]the right of the people who carry approved handguns in approved holsters while wearing the approved attire shall not be infringed"? 

[TMF]

He didn't need to have his weapon exposed. His tats are enough to scare the average person and perceive him as a dangerous individual, even if in reality he is in his church's choir and makes his money as an even tempered florist.

[TGO David]

The least the D*Bag that showed up in the paper could have done was O.C.ed like he knew what he was doing. After all, we are trying to "sell it" to the opposition. Sunday's paper showed the epitome of what the opposition is using to try to take away from the rest of us. Dude was "showboating". He made

 

Why exactly is he a douchebag?  :confused: