Open Carry Rifle Activism - Enough Already

I am a freedom loving, 2nd Amendment supporting gun lover. I think all free men and women should have the right to carry a firearm or other tool to defend themselves. You will find fewer people with stronger stances on the 2A. One thing that is really pissing me off though - are these fools that are open carry activists who are toting Rifles around with them - and most of these guys are carrying cameras because they're looking to incite incidents with the police.

I won't give any specific persons the added fame - but search YouTube and you'll find plenty of these assholes videos. These people are doing NOTHING to help the cause of gun rights - they're not doing a damn thing to make the general public fence-sitters on the gun rights issues side with gun owners and carriers. They are scaring the shit out of people and causing outcry - and in some cases (like in California, or here in my home state of Oregon with Multnomah County/City of Portland) - they are actually responsible for push back that has banned open carry.

There have been plenty of incidents in my home state, even in my home town and nearby cities, of these clowns. Two idiots walking through downtown Portland with slung AR-15s generating 9-1-1 calls. One particular jackass has made it his mission to walk around random cities with a camera, a rifle, and an open carried pistol - trying to incite police response. He claims he is "educating them" and "normalizing open carry" - let me be clear - he's not normalizing anything - but this guy and the other clowns like him are going to get open carry rights removed for all of us eventually.

These people live in some damn fantasy world where they think it should be OK for people to walk around with rifles and that people will dig it. They don't get that MOST Americans aren't cool with it - and don't want it to be normal for people to walk around with rifles. It's one thing to carry a pistol for self defense - and most people seem to be accepting, or at least indifferent to that. But rifles are a whole nother story. It is not, and never has been, normal to walk around with a rifle in a city, in this country. And it never should be!

Rifles are NOT ideal personal defense weapons - they're big, they are clumsy in tight quarters, and they are way more prone to shoot-through over penetration. We don't live in a war zone, and despite what the chicken hawks in the government and media spout - we are NOT under the constant threat of terrorism that say, Israel, finds itself in. These open carry activists continually cite Israel as their ideal, for open carry acceptance.

What they fail to grasp - is that Israel actually has very restrictive gun laws - and the people you see pictured toting a rifle around with them, are off-duty military. And you'll notice that those rifles are almost always carried unloaded. And the people in Israel accept those few rifle-toting folk, because they ARE under constant threat of terrorism from Palestinians and other muslim groups that want to see Israel wiped off the map.

Aside from the World Trade Center attacks (both Clinton and Bush eras) - and the Boston Marathon bombing this year - we haven't seen much else in the way of foreign terrorist strikes on US soil. It's not an every day occurrence. We don't have hundreds of would-be suicide bombers walking around out midst.

And once again - let me point out - those open-carry rifle toters in Israel are off duty military personnel and they HAVE to have their weapon on them. Average citizens in Israel are NOT packing around M16s.  They have a tough time even getting a license to own and carry a handgun, and they are limited as to the amount of ammunition they may possess or purchase. Israel is NOT the shining beacon of gun rights or norms that the minority of folks on the gun rights side think it is.

The only other places in the world where it is normal to carry a rifle around - are third world shit holes like Somalia, and other war-torn lawless countries. Those folks live WROL day to day. It really seems to me, that these open-carry rifle advocates really want to see the US fall into such times just so they can live out their masturbatory fantasies.

It should never be normal or accepted for people to walk around town with rifles.

These open carry advocates cry like babies and claim they're hassled by the police "for doing nothing wrong" - no, you HAVE done something wrong. You're walking around town with a slung rifle like an asshole - drawing the attention you WANTED, and you play the victim and hope you can catch the cops in some tricky civil rights lawsuit trap. You are trying to get paid (from taxpayer funds, I remind you) for your asshattery. The police have a duty to investigate things out of the norm - and toting a rifle around town IS NOT NORMAL.  People call the cops - the cops HAVE to respond. The cops see you walking downtown with a rifle? They HAVE To check you out - they don't know if you're "sane" (which I question, since you decide that walking around a crowded area or down Main Street with a rifle is OK) or if you're about to be the next spree-shooter.

Its asshats like this that will push people to the anti-gun side.

The more people pull this crap - the more I'm OK with cities, states, and counties banning long-gun carry in urban areas.  For the illiterate about to jump me for saying I"m OK with banning open carry - read that again. I said I'm OK with banning open carry of long arms - not handguns. A handgun in a hip holster is NOT as threatening, as some assclown carrying an AR, an AK, a shotgun, or an MP5 clone - by appearance alone.

These clowns are going to wind up causing enough push back to ban open carry entirely - including in the woods. If you want to go on a woods walk or a hike with a slung rifle - great. I'm all for it. In town - not so much. 

There was a case just a couple days ago - in Edmonds, Washington, of a man with a rifle being shot.

Edmonds, WA Police Shoot Man Carrying Rifle

This is going to happen more and more. Cops don't like dealing with armed public to begin with - they don't know if you're going to try shooting them, or if you're a Good Guy. What they do know - is that you have a gun, and that makes you a potential threat to them. Cops are going to err on the side of you being a badguy until they prove differently. They roll up on you toting a rifle around, and you're way more of a threat to them than some guy with a pistol - and any gun nut will instantly recognize why - rifle rounds pierce soft body armor. Your .223 - even with jacket soft point hunting ammo - will slice through level 3a armor like it wasn't there.  The cops are certainly going to handle you like a suspect until they determine otherwise - it's their job. If you do something retarded like give them a hard time, start fucking around with your rifle, or refuse to disarm when they order you to, expect to get shot, and don't expect sympathy from me or most of the gun rights community.

Stop living in the fantasy world where rifle toting is normal and okay - it is NOT. You will never make it so, until the country falls into a WROL state. Even then - anyone with a visible rifle is an instant target of everyone else. WROL - Without rule of law - means just that. You walking around strapped up with your AR and a dozen mags makes you a delicious target for predators. Expect to be in a firefight with that fancy long gun. Expect to be in more than one, if you're lucky enough to live through the first.

Stop using your rifle as a stand in for your penis. Seriously - you're not macho, manly, or cool walking around with a rifle. YOu are scaring soccer moms, little children, and normal people who are not used to seeing guns in general - and definitely not used to seeing someone toting a rifle around on their shoulder or worse, in their hands. Stop putting MY freedoms at risk over your childish need for attention. Stop putting MY tax dollars at risk by seeking confrontations with police. It wastes their time, and taxpayer money having to deal with your stupid asses. You want them to focus on "real criminals" STOP WALKING AROUND WITH A RIFLE AND DRAWING ATTENTION TO YOURSELF - they'll have plenty of time to deal with "real criminals".  You're wasting tax payer money - and you're really risking wasting money if they wind up shooting you (I'm sure your family would love to capitalize on your corpse and sue the cops for wrongful death - and I'm sure you'll sue them if you live) or if they DO find something to take you to jail for - you're going to waste our money by jailing you, trial costs, appeals costs, etc. And again - you're only pushing fence sitters to the anti-side!

Scaring people will not make carrying a gun any more accepted. It's going to turn the rest of the country into California. STOP IT ALREADY.

We are winning in most aspects of gun control - Colorado just booted two legislators that helped push their new gun control laws. We're winning on getting concealed handgun license laws in every state. But for every small victory we make - there's ass clowns pulling stupid shit like walking around with a long gun - giving the antis the ammunition they need to paint us all to be crazy ass Rambo wannabes.

These people will cause us to loose the fight. Knock it off!

If you want to seriously promote gun rights, get involved with the NRA, the GOA, SAF - bring new shooters into the community. Get involved - don't just walk around scaring people, unless your goal is more gun bans, more carry bans, and making life tougher for the rest of us.