# Person openly carrying an AR-15. Reasonable articulable suspicion of crime? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 27, 2018, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583 "2018-10-27T10:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![BeenJammin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beenjammin/32/448_2.png) [@BeenJammin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeenJammin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/321 "2018-10-31T23:31:57Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > Probably more of a novelty than “widely used”, but that was … interesting. > > ETA: I might have to file this away for the next time someone claims you can’t use explosive for hunting. You’d be surprised. I saw one of these videos a year or so ago where they took out a whole herd of like about 50 with a larger charge at what looked like at least 300 yards away. Made about a half acre of porkburger. ---
**Author:** ![BeenJammin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beenjammin/32/448_2.png) [@BeenJammin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeenJammin)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/322 "2018-10-31T23:33:42Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > What do you get? The type of person who is some sort of meddling crackpot who can’t keep their nose out of other people’s business. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/323 "2018-10-31T23:44:23Z")
> [@begbert2](#): > > I suppose I should give this part of the post some attention to, given the thread we’re in. > Sure, I don’t deny that the majority of guns are used for things other than murder weapons; you can tell that fact by the fact the country hasn’t been completely depopulated. > > But how many of those uses take place in the aisles of Walmart? > > … > > But even so, I’m still thinking that it’s more likely that the dude is carrying his rifle for less innocent reasons, if he’s packing it through the Walmart aisles. He is being a jerk and a show off, showing part of his collection. Look, I have said it many times- carrying your AR15 or AK 47 around in Walmart is being a jerk. But it’s not illegal (in open carry states) and it is not cause to dial 911. I look on it as having CSA flags all over your pickup truck. Worth rolling your eyes, and thinking the guys a idiot, but not calling 911. \*Maybe, \*in some states where open carry (altho legal) is unusual, \*maybe \*you might call the non-emergency number and tell them “FYI, there is some bozo toting a AR15 around in the Walmart”. That might be a bit of a over-reaction, but at least you didn’t tie up a 911 operator, so I will give you a pass. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/324 "2018-10-31T23:48:19Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > In any case, I’m not sure why anyone is haranguing you for calling the cops. If it makes you feel better, it’s only your own time that you’re wasting. If your cops feel like bullying some innocent on the street, then it’s a good lesson for that cop, too. A lesson in what? Telling the Good Guys With Guns apart from the Bad Guys With Guns? Explain, please - how \*do \*you do that? > [@DrDeth](#): > > No, since RPGs are illegal in the USA > [@DrDeth](#): > > They can. Bazookas are illegal in the USA without a special permit. So are machine guns, howitzers, etc. Doesn’t that outrage you? Shall not be infringed, right? > [@](#): > > However, I am not trying to pass laws that limit your choices in kids cartoons nor am I calling the police on you for watching Ren & Stimpy. Cartoons can’t kill me. See the difference? > [@](#): > > Before one tries to pass a law banning or limiting something, it behooves them not to be ignorant about it. (Fill in obvious retort here :rolleyes: ) > [@pkbites](#): > > You think someone hell bent on murdering a lot of people at once is going to be thwarted by a ban on a piece of plastic? Your ignorance is showing. Then you must have a constructive, non-“ignorant” idea of your own to offer. What might that be? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2018, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/325 "2018-10-31T23:55:16Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > He is being a jerk and a show off, showing part of his collection. > > Look, I have said it many times- carrying your AR15 or AK 47 around in Walmart is being a jerk. > > But it’s not illegal (in open carry states) and it is not cause to dial 911. > > I look on it as having CSA flags all over your pickup truck. Worth rolling your eyes, and thinking the guys a idiot, but not calling 911. > > \*Maybe, \*in some states where open carry (altho legal) is unusual, \*maybe \*you might call the non-emergency number and tell them “FYI, there is some bozo toting a AR15 around in the Walmart”. That might be a bit of a over-reaction, but at least you didn’t tie up a 911 operator, so I will give you a pass. I agree that 911 is probably not merited, without additional reason to suspect. For example if I saw a dude creeping around a theater carrying an AK47 with something resembling night vision goggles on his head, I’d think it was worth an urgent response. Strolling around Walmart smirking at people and calling people racist epithets? Well, as noted I myself wouldn’t call anyone; I’d leave. But a more responsible citizen would probably want him kept an eye on. And all of this is predicated on the idea that the sight is extremely unusual - as noted there are areas where people carrying deadly weapons is commonplace, and in such areas nobody should bat an eye (and seriously, they probably don’t). ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/326 "2018-11-01T00:07:07Z")
“If you see something, say something”, isn’t it? ---
**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:** [November 1, 2018, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/327 "2018-11-01T00:18:12Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Then you must have a constructive, non-“ignorant” idea of your own to offer. What might that be? It’s not an idea, it’s a fact. Banning bump stocks will have no effect whatsoever on someone who wants to bump fire a semi-auto firearm. It’s a completely pointless knee jerk reaction to one incident. To think it will have an effect is ignorance of the dynamics of bump firing. The technique existed a long, long, long time before any of those stocks were even made. ---
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/328 "2018-11-01T01:01:14Z")
> [@BeenJammin](#): > > The type of person who is some sort of meddling crackpot who can’t keep their nose out of other people’s business. So you didn’t read my whole post then. Good to know. Next time I’ll post in picture book form so you can follow along. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/329 "2018-11-01T10:23:21Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > It’s not an idea, it’s a fact. Banning bump stocks will have no effect whatsoever on someone who wants to bump fire a semi-auto firearm. It’s a completely pointless knee jerk reaction to one incident. To think it will have an effect is ignorance of the dynamics of bump firing. The technique existed a long, long, long time before any of those stocks were even made. You were asked for _your own proposal_. Really, I did use common English words and grammar. If you don’t have anything to offer except to sneer at those who are trying to fix a problem, you could easily just say so. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/330 "2018-11-01T11:43:47Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > If you don’t have anything to offer except to sneer at those who are trying to fix a problem, you could easily just say so. Except there is no problem to fix. One incident, as horrific as it was, is not an epidemic. And either way, the proposed solution is pointless as it prevents nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/331 "2018-11-01T13:40:39Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > A lesson in what? Telling the Good Guys With Guns apart from the Bad Guys With Guns? Explain, please - how \*do \*you do that? I won’t explain that, as it wasn’t the “lesson” I meant. The lesson being, guns are normal, and harassing people based on a crackpot reporting a lawful carrier is a waste of that LEO’s time. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/332 "2018-11-01T14:23:19Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I won’t explain that, as it wasn’t the “lesson” I meant. The lesson being, guns are normal, and harassing people based on a crackpot reporting a lawful carrier is a waste of that LEO’s time. If you think the guy _reporting_ the person open-carrying an AR-15 through town is the crackpot, then your “normal” isn’t mine. ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/333 "2018-11-01T14:30:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > then your “normal” isn’t mine. This is the problem, isn’t it? There are very significant cultural divides in the US. Why can’t we appreciate and accept the differences (or even ignore them), and go about our business? Why should Rhode Island’s gun sensibilities dictate Alabama’s gun laws, and vice versa? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/334 "2018-11-01T14:32:38Z")
What’s strange is that I don’t see any posts by **Balthisar** in the “Living while Black” thread where he decries the waste of LEO’s time after being called out because an unarmed black person is scaring a white lady. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/335 "2018-11-01T14:33:08Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > This is the problem, isn’t it? There are very significant cultural divides in the US. > > Why can’t we appreciate and accept the differences (or even ignore them), and go about our business? Why should Rhode Island’s gun sensibilities dictate Alabama’s gun laws, and vice versa? Are you saying that the NRA has no business supporting or opposing local laws involving gun rights? ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/336 "2018-11-01T14:36:13Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Are you saying that the NRA has no business supporting or opposing local laws involving gun rights? I believe in free speech, so I don’t believe that the state should silence lobbyists. I envision a world in which the state is stripped of any power that might be useful to a lobbyist or their client. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/337 "2018-11-01T15:25:41Z")
> [@DavidwithanR](#): > > There is no reason to OWN that gun other than a murder plot. Openly carrying it is not even required; merely wanting to buy it is sufficient for questioning. The majority of AR-15’s and similar type rifles are purchased for hunting and sport target shooting purposes. They mechanically operate like other semi-automatic rifles but are cosmetically designed to appear like military rifles. They do not have full auto or auto burst capability. It’s the equivalent of getting pearl handled grips on your pistol. You like the looks of it. You should seriously do more research before posting such ignorant responses. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/338 "2018-11-01T15:29:57Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > The majority of AR-15’s and similar type rifles are purchased for hunting and sport target shooting purposes. They mechanically operate like other semi-automatic rifles but are cosmetically designed to appear like military rifles. They do not have full auto or auto burst capability. It’s the equivalent of getting pearl handled grips on your pistol. You like the looks of it. > > You should seriously do more research before posting such ignorant responses. Talking strictly about AR-15s(no lumping in undefined “similar type rifles”) what is the single main reason they are purchased? ---
**Author:** ![EscAlaMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/escalamike/32/4177_2.png) [@EscAlaMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EscAlaMike)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/339 "2018-11-01T15:37:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Talking strictly about AR-15s(no lumping in undefined “similar type rifles”) what is the single main reason they are purchased? I don’t own one personally, but I know many people who do. I would say many people purchase them because, of all the guns that are readily available _legally_, they are probably the best one to have if you find yourself in a combat situation. It’s the gun they want to have in case society collapses. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583/340 "2018-11-01T15:40:32Z")
> [@EscAlaMike](#): > > I don’t own one personally, but I know many people who do. > > I would say many people purchase them because, of all the guns that are readily available _legally_, they are probably the best one to have if you find yourself in a combat situation. It’s the gun they want to have in case society collapses. So **Omar Little** is wrong? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/person-openly-carrying-an-ar-15-reasonable-articulable-suspicion-of-crime/823583.md?page=18)