# Nut With Gun at Town Hall **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 14, 2009, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377 "2009-08-14T03:04:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/141 "2009-08-16T18:25:16Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > This is incorrect. > > In many states openly carrying a firearm is protected by the state constitution. There is no such right to carry a chainsaw around in public. You would actually be more open to a disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace charge while carrying a chainsaw than you would openly carrying a firearm. I didn’t say I walked around with it _running_. And as far as I know, none of the places I’ve lived in required any sort of special licensing to carry a chainsaw. And I’ve had them in New York City (now in rural New York), Washington, DC (where I lived twelve blocks from the Capitol), and a few other states. Cite that possessing a chainsaw is a chargeable offense? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/142 "2009-08-16T18:35:17Z")
> [@Miltonyz](#): > > It a 22 so its stopping power is nonexistent. A .22 stopped Bobby Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![emcee2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emcee2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emcee2k)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/143 "2009-08-16T18:36:46Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > … Hey, it was your logic, not mine. I thought it was a bit absurd, myself. I also wouldn’t bring a chain saw into a grocery store if there was only a slight possibility there would be a tree to cut down. Just in case my point wasn’t clear: You don’t need a loaded firearm in a grocery store. It’s stupid and dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/144 "2009-08-16T18:37:20Z")
I wish we could go back to swords. Think about it – if you have a gun, you could possibly run out of ammo. With a sword, that ain’t gonna happen. And it looks pretty damned badass. 😉 > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Some of my guns are military-pattern (AR-15, FAL), and were designed and optimized for _conflict_. While I certainly enjoy shooting them on the range, they will _ **also** _ come in handy if I need to defend myself and my family from anyone who systematically infringes on our natural & inalienable rights. In the same vein as the militia did at Concord. And at Ruby Ridge? :dubious: \*Note: I have nothing against guns, or people owning guns. Just the crazies with guns, the conspiracy theorists with guns, and most of all, stupid people with guns. ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/145 "2009-08-16T18:53:04Z")
> [@Miltonyz](#): > > How many Olympic sports are based around nuclear weapons? …Not enough? ---
**Author:** ![Miltonyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Miltonyz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miltonyz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/146 "2009-08-16T18:55:23Z")
> [@](#): > > A .22 stopped Bobby Kennedy. Yep. A 22 can and does kill but it’s a very poor weapon for the job. It’s the equivalent of a steak knife compared to a katana. People are killed all the time with steak knives, but thats not their intended purpose nor what they are good at. I think we mean different things by stopping power. In the gun world stopping power does not refer directly to lethality, but rather how quickly a threat is removed. A 22 can kill and maim but chances are very good that before my assailant died they would have stabbed or otherwise done me harm. Unless I hit the heart, brain, or major artery it will not cause enough trauma to incapacitate an attacker. I don’t carry for protection and my guns are unloaded and trigger locked so the previous is a complete hypothetical. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/147 "2009-08-16T18:56:25Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Of course, I named my cat Ash, so that may suggest a certain proclivity for some of the above. Not just “You Are What You Eat,” then? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/148 "2009-08-16T18:57:16Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I didn’t say I walked around with it _running_. And as far as I know, none of the places I’ve lived in required any sort of special licensing to carry a chainsaw. And I’ve had them in New York City (now in rural New York), Washington, DC (where I lived twelve blocks from the Capitol), and a few other states. Cite that possessing a chainsaw is a chargeable offense? You don’t need a permit to openly carry a firearm in most areas either. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/149 "2009-08-16T19:13:11Z")
> [@Larry\_Mudd](#): > > Not just “You Are What You Eat,” then? No no… as in: Shop Smart. Shop S-Mart. _[Ash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Army_of_Darkness_poster.jpg)_ > [@pkbites](#): > > You don’t need a permit to openly carry a firearm in most areas either. I didn’t say that the main benefit of carrying a chainsaw was that you could open carry it in more places. I was reacting to your suggestion that doing so would result in charges against me. My main point was that carrying a chainsaw, in many cases, is _more_ effective than open carrying a firearm. As has been alluded to above, until the open carrying of guns is much more prevalent, it will still cause some people to be nervous (if for nothing else, the oddity). Now a chainsaw, unless I happen to be coming directly home from hockey practice (and was in a rush to leave the locker room), is much less likely to make people nervous. When trouble starts… then the _real_ advantage shines through. A madhouse full of screaming people because some lunatic is shooting a gun isn’t going to instantly be able to tell that _I’m_ not a lunatic with a gun, that _I’m_ the good guy. But two seconds after someone starts shooting and **RRRRRRRRROOOOAAARRRRRRR** , ol’ faithful comes to life and heads towards the gunfire, you can be sure people will know which side I’m on. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/150 "2009-08-16T19:26:24Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I was reacting to your suggestion that doing so would result in charges against me. Which I am correct about. A guy walking through a crowd with a chainsaw, running or not, is far more open to a DC charge than the same guy with a holstered handgun. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/151 "2009-08-16T19:36:31Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Which I am correct about. A guy walking through a crowd with a chainsaw, running or not, is far more open to a DC charge than the same guy with a holstered handgun. Cite? I’ve carried one from my house on East Capitol, to and around Eastern Market, then \*on the Metro \*all the way to Roslyn–and back (the return trip was a few weeks later when the person I lent it to returned it). This was in a post-9/11 Washington DC environment. If you’ve any sense of DC geography, you know how close to the Capitol that is. I’ve brought them to be sharpened, and bought them (and accompanied people buying them) in retail stores with nary a look or a hint of paperwork. Now, I’ve never tried carrying one into a bank, so I can’t say what the attitude would be there. But if all you’ve got against my contention that carrying around a chainsaw can be more effective than open carrying (for purposes of self- and public-defense and making for awesome YouTube footage) is the **unsubstantiated** claim that the latter is likely to get me arrested, then you’ve completely conceded the point (barring providing some cite that proves that the public carrying of a chainsaw a chargeable offense in most jurisdictions). ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/152 "2009-08-16T19:57:41Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Cite? In October of 2006 I cited a man with Disorderly Conduct for walking down a busy street with a chainsaw. It wasn’t running and didn’t even have the blade on it. We received half a dozen calls about him. When the main complainant asked why he was walking down the street with a chainsaw like that he told them they’d read about it in the morning paper. When I questioned him he told me he had just been fired from a haunted house and the saw was his and he was walking home. That story checked. I never went to court on it, so I assume he didn’t fight the ticket. **Qualifier:** I have no idea what the DC laws are in New Hampshire. Whether or not this would qualify I know not. Wisconsins DC law is pretty broad. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/153 "2009-08-16T20:04:34Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Of course, I named my cat Ash, so that may suggest a certain proclivity for some of the above. Not just “You Are What You Eat,” then? ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/154 "2009-08-16T20:30:29Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > In October of 2006 I \*\*cited \*\*a man with Disorderly Conduct for walking down a busy street with a chainsaw. Waitasecond… you’re saying your _cite_ is your cite? That’s fucking awesome. **Larry Mudd** – I am embarrassed to say I’m missing your reference. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/155 "2009-08-16T20:47:53Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > Waitasecond… you’re saying your _cite_ is your cite? That’s fucking awesome. Yes. And I’m looking through my old notebooks to see if I can find the guys name so I can post the case from [CCAP](http://wcca.wicourts.gov/simpleCaseSearch.xsl;jsessionid=412526D2E5D5D9E70BD2D23EAE51B96F.render5). However, because it was a municipal citation it might not be on there. Some are, some aren’t. I’d like to bring something else up. On the cite I gave the reporter said that the Chief of police stated it was legal for that gentleman to have his gun as long as it wasn’t concealed. Either that Chief doesn’t know the laws of his own god damned state, or the reporter reported it wrong. Getting a concealed weapons permit is quite easy in New Hampshire. It’s very possible that there were quite a few people legally armed there. And still, nothing bad happened. How about that. Those of you who get hysterical over guns possibly deal every day with people who are legally armed. And nothing bad happens. Get over it! [http://wethearmed.com/index.php/topic,5164.0.html](http://wethearmed.com/index.php/topic,5164.0.html) ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/156 "2009-08-16T21:16:13Z")
I was born and raised in Texas, where carrying a gun around was as common as dirt. People getting shot at the Dew Drop Inn or the It’ll Do lounge equally unremarkable. I suspect there’s a connection. A fight that anywhere else would end with a fat lip or a busted nose, ended with someone plugged. And I didn’t even realize until I left that it ain’t necessarily so. Now I live in the People’s Republic of Minnesota. When I go to a bar here, the odds are good there is no one within twenty yards of me carrying a gun. I find that soothing. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/157 "2009-08-16T21:21:26Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Now I live in the People’s Republic of Minnesota. When I go to a bar here, the odds are good there is no one within twenty yards of me carrying a gun. How the hell would you know? X-ray vision? And if you’re comforted by 20 measly yards, you’re quite ignorant about bullets. And how about some cites about your Texas claims. Open carry is illegal there and legal concealed carry hasn’t been around that long. Citing criminals deflates your credibility. ---
**Author:** ![Miltonyz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Miltonyz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miltonyz)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/158 "2009-08-16T21:25:16Z")
> [@](#): > > I was born and raised in Texas, where carrying a gun around was as common as dirt. People getting shot at the Dew Drop Inn or the It’ll Do lounge equally unremarkable. I suspect there’s a connection. > > A fight that anywhere else would end with a fat lip or a busted nose, ended with someone plugged. And I didn’t even realize until I left that it ain’t necessarily so. > > Now I live in the People’s Republic of Minnesota. When I go to a bar here, the odds are good there is no one within twenty yards of me carrying a gun. I find that soothing. Of course you are aware that places that have allowed concealed carry have not seen increases in violence? And that cowboy’s gunning each other down over any offense has also not happened? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/159 "2009-08-16T21:37:48Z")
No, I guess I didn’t know that, since I only lived there. Granted, it was a while ago. So, people are a lot smarter now? ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377/160 "2009-08-16T21:50:35Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > How the hell would you know? X-ray vision?.. Well, they’re Minnesotans, aren’t they? If I got to High Mass at the cathedral, the Archbishop may be strapped with a Glock under those robes, I don’t have x-ray vision, so I don’t know. > [@](#): > > …And if you’re comforted by 20 measly yards, you’re quite ignorant about bullets… Would that I were. I know some people who entirely ignorant about ammunition, I find their company pleasant. > [@](#): > > …And how about some cites about your Texas claims. Open carry is illegal there and legal concealed carry hasn’t been around that long… Could well be true, haven’t lived there in many a year. So, people are different now? Was it, by chance, 1968? > [@](#): > > …Citing criminals deflates your credibility. I may very well offer a rebuttal as soon as I figure out what you’re talking about. Actually, no, I’ll go to my fall back position: keep the damn things, you need them so bad. Fuck it, its just not worth it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nut-with-gun-at-town-hall/506377.md?page=9)