Thank you for that. I have been restraining myself from further response to this threat because it is drawing out all kinds of stupid, but the repeated misstatement and mangling of basic safety rules was really making me dyspeptic. However, the first rule should be simply, “1. All guns are always loaded.” Any weapon in battery is considered loaded regardless of any ‘belief’ in whether or not a round is chambered, and using the term ‘treat’ invites careless violation by people who believe they are too smart or experienced to have a negligent discharge. Cooper himself was adamant on this point and every experienced shhoter and trainer will recall multiple instances of checking a firearm, believing to to be unloaded, and then rechecking or dry-firing (in a safe direction downrange) only to find that they were mistaken, because people are fallible. And while some mistakes in life are reversible, like overdrafting your bank account or undercooking a baked potato, ‘accidentally’ shooting someone is not.
I truly hope that I never become so paranoid or so frightened by my world that I start thinking that way. I practice normal city home security: keeping doors locked, and making access to windows (rose bushes work very well) and back yard more difficult than the casual criminal wants to deal with.
My main problem with open carry is that it is completely hypocritical. They feel so threatened simply by being in public, that they need to arm themselves. For what situation? Presumably, if someone were to appear in their area armed with a weapon, they would be on alert with their weapon, ready for trouble.
But that’s not how they expect the unarmed public to respond. If we show signs of fear or alertness at the prospect of a man or group of me. strolling into our area heavily armed, we are the ones overreacting. YOU chose to carry a gun, just in case this very situation were to come up. I do not have a gun, and I’m supposed to just be chill?
Fuck the open carriers. I’m diving behind a table and preparing to defend myself if people I don’t know enter a public space heavily armed. And you can bet I’m taking my children out of the area as soon as possible. I don’t know you, and I’m supposed to trust you because you choose to arm yourself in public? That’s ass backwards.
And all those people you said “you won’t” to? Odds are excellent that each of them will survive too - will die of natural causes, or of something (e.g. car crash) that a gun would have been useless against.
You may not realize this, but the U.S.A., even urban U.S.A., isn’t some Escape From New York - style dystopian nightmare.
I did once, as a restaurant patron was paying his bill. Our table was right next to the register, so the pistol on his hip was just about in my face. He was a regular, joking with the other patrons – I seem to recall hearing him say something to the effect, “of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most”. That was just a tad off-putting.
Here is a proposal for all those who want to carry weapons openly in public: why don’t you volunteer for your local police or sheriff’s department Reserve Officer program (nearly all police and sheriff’s departments have one because they are often in desperate need of people and are often strapped to provide coverage during public events), go thorugh their POST-certified or equivalent officer training academy, do your probationary patrol period with a training officer, and then work your three days a month (or whatever the requirement for your department is) to maintain standing? You’ll provide a public service, get at least the minimum of training and certification that law enforcement agencies provide, and once your probationary status is up, get to carry a service weapon on a 20 lb duty belt and shotgun or carbine in your patrol car, and then whatever personal weapon your department permits in off-duty periods. Assuming, of course, you can meet all of the background, academic, physical, and probationary requirements and you are actually serious about wanting to be responsible and protect the public.
Or don’t. But pretending as if carrying a battle rifle around in Wal-Mart is somehow responsible or smart just because it isn’t illegal is pretty much the definition of unmitigated assholism, and if anything, is going to make you a target for some punk looking for someone to shoot.
I honestly do wonder about that, too. I mean, I grew up with a gun in the house, have shot them, and I know enough about guns that the video SigMan posted to is something I feel should be basic knowledge, but clearly, it’s not. But I also live in Chicago (in the city, southwest side) and it’s never once even occurred to me to be so paranoid that I need to walk around everywhere in the house with a gun at me at all times. I don’t understand living in that kind of fear. In fact, I don’t and have never owned a gun (though I am not against gun ownership in general. I just don’t want them in my house.) I feel more comfortable with my big-ass dog around letting me know what’s up vs. having a gun. I mean, I don’t begrudge people who want to keep a gun and walk around with it in the house – that’s clearly their right, and I have no problem with it. But I just don’t understand living in that type of fear.
