Heated Discussion on NCTimes.com

[Meplat]

that was not vetoed by then gov Reagan, it may never go away...

Fixed it for ya.

[Meplat]

Why would it make a difference which governor signed the original bill?

Because you don't get many chances to bash Reagan any more, the guy is dead.

[radioman]

Because you don't get many chances to bash Reagan any more, the guy is dead.

I was not bashing, I was pointing out a fact

[radioman]

Fire works really well on trees.

Redwoods still grow after a fire!

[radioman]

Fixed it for ya.

I did not use the word voted.

[grammaton76]

To be honest, Reaster is probably the most "media-friendly" spokesman for open carry, of the current open carry community.

You've got the San Diego Minutemen, the SDOC group (which includes Nathan, Sam, and myself), and the Escondido guys. Alone among all of them, Gerald is older, and it's hard to make the argument that HE should "run away" (how fast can he run?) or "punch out" assailants rather than resorting to a gun. Notice how his entire group shown is on the older side? This is good; the only thing to make it better would be if he had substantial numbers of minorities. He already seems to have a fair number of women, at least judging by the news coverage.

[Pelican]

Inspired by Pullnshoot!

http://escondido-open-carry.org/about_us.html

[S. Todd]

[dantodd]

Some of us are a little nutty

[CoinStar]

You've got the San Diego Minutemen, the SDOC group (which includes Nathan, Sam, and myself), and the Escondido guys.

Love him or hate him (and I'm not putting this out for debate), Schwilk's name is absolutely radioactive in the local press.

Being aligned in any manner with the SDMM, even just passing mention in an article, means that the press is able to conflate OCers to other things that aren't ideal for good PR. This is the sort of unintended fallout that sets back state gun owners at large.

[grammaton76]

Love him or hate him (and I'm not putting this out for debate), Schwilk's name is absolutely radioactive in the local press.

Being aligned in any manner with the SDMM, even just passing mention in an article, means that the press is able to conflate OCers to other things that aren't ideal for good PR. This is the sort of unintended fallout that sets back state gun owners at large.

Yep, I'm absolutely aware of that. The rest of us in SD kind of twitched a bit when he started holding large scale events, given the radioactivity of their org.

As I said, Reaster is probably the best spokesman we can have, although I have to wonder what would've happened to him if he'd unholstered his weapon to show people WITHOUT news cameras rolling!

[CoinStar]

As I said, Reaster is probably the best spokesman we can have...

Maybe.

But that's beside the greater point which is that the general public's reaction has been less than cuddly. If the whole concept behind these events is to "raise awareness" or whatnot, then judging by the reactions they're garnering, they aren't filling that role very well. Those who are on the fence regarding guns, the very people whom this is supposed to reach, aren't seeing the connection between advancing our rights and randomly showing up at Starbucks with a handgun in a holster. And there's a good reason for that disconnect too; there is no relevance in the act of doing it.

Besides all that, I've read the two articles about Reaster in the UT and his compelling reason for being out there ("exercising his 2A rights") is pretty vague. His impetus is purely philosophical and while that may work for us gun nuts, the general population is going to interpret that as wacky.

It shouldn't be any wonder why the press is having a field day with this.

ETA: Also, it's useful to note that both the SDUT and the NC Times are relatively conservative papers in their editorial aspects.