Tasered for openly carrying rifle in Texas

[J.Galt]

It is not like a civil rights issue. It is a civil rights issue.

Unavoidably true, no matter how sharp the edges are.

[IVC]

People carrying guns in public attract attention.

So do gay people in religious communities. So do colored people in racist communities.

The question of attracting attention and people wishing the undesirables would just go away is the same whether one carries a gun, or is otherwise morally offensive to the community.

It's the community that must change and the lawsuits will make sure it happens whether people want it or not. Welcome to the reality of how, e.g., gay rights were won.

[Jimmybacon43]

I just don't understand how open carry does anything that concealed carry doesn't.

For me guns are about self defense. I have guns because I enjoy shooting and I want to be able to protect myself.
Open carry is just....it's a political statement. It makes all gun owners look bad when someone with a cell phone camera records a video like this.

What exactly do you guys want society to look like? What is the big deal about open carry for you folks? And don't say "exercising your 2nd amendment rights" because that just....doesn't mean anything. My right to protect myself is not in danger until an anti-gun law comes up, and then I email the legislators, donate to NRA-ILA, and go about my business. Nothing positive is being achieved by open carrying.

I'm not saying open carry should be illegal. I'm saying it doesn't make any sense. Like the cop was telling the kid, you have to be smart about firearms, and walking down the street with a rifle strapped across your back just isn't smart.

[Artema]

I just don't understand how open carry does anything that concealed carry doesn't.

For me guns are about self defense. I have guns because I enjoy shooting and I want to be able to protect myself.
Open carry is just....it's a political statement. It makes all gun owners look bad when someone with a cell phone camera records a video like this.

What exactly do you guys want society to look like? What is the big deal about open carry for you folks? And don't say "exercising your 2nd amendment rights" because that just....doesn't mean anything. My right to protect myself is not in danger until an anti-gun law comes up, and then I email the legislators, donate to NRA-ILA, and go about my business. Nothing positive is being achieved by open carrying.

I'm not saying open carry should be illegal. I'm saying it doesn't make any sense. Like the cop was telling the kid, you have to be smart about firearms, and walking down the street with a rifle strapped across your back just isn't smart.

What method of concealed carry can you personally show us utilizing a mosin such as in this story?

[Jimmybacon43]

So do gay people in religious communities. So do colored people in racist communities.

The question of attracting attention and people wishing the undesirables would just go away is the same whether one carries a gun, or is otherwise morally offensive to the community.

It's the community that must change and the lawsuits will make sure it happens whether people want it or not. Welcome to the reality of how, e.g., gay rights were won.

Gays and "colored people" are totally different from gun owners. You bought a gun. Nobody bought their sexual orientation or race.
Comparing gun rights to other civil rights issues just doesn't make any sense. People, most of the time incorrectly, are afraid of gun owners. People see things on the news about shootings and then they see someone in their community walking around with a gun and they get scared....It's an entirely different thing.

[Artema]

Gays and "colored people" are totally different from gun owners. You bought a gun. Nobody bought their sexual orientation or race.
Comparing gun rights to other civil rights issues just doesn't make any sense. People, most of the time incorrectly, are afraid of gun owners. People see things on the news about shootings and then they see someone in their community walking around with a gun and they get scared....It's an entirely different thing.

It is clear that is your opinion, and it differs from most of the people on this site.

[Jimmybacon43]

What method of concealed carry can you personally show us utilizing a mosin such as in this story?

haha! So you're saying he should be able to carry the rifle he owns?

Carry a handgun concealed. If you can't carry or buy a handgun carry pepperspray, a taser or a knife.

Even if he was carrying the rifle in lieu of having a CCW what does he think he's going to do with it? Unshoulder it and fire a single shot at the bad guy, then run the bolt? A felon who can't own a gun, who wants one, could just walk up behind him and cut the rifle strap and run. Open carrying a rifle in public is a ridiculous proposition for self defense.....

[Jimmybacon43]

It is clear that is your opinion, and it differs from most of the people on this site.

Well, I guess it does.

[Artema]

haha! So you're saying he should be able to carry the rifle he owns?

Carry a handgun concealed. If you can't carry or buy a handgun carry pepperspray, a taser or a knife.

Even if he was carrying the rifle in lieu of having a CCW what does he think he's going to do with it? Unshoulder it and fire a single shot at the bad guy, then run the bolt? A felon who can't own a gun, who wants one, could just walk up behind him and cut the rifle strap and run. Open carrying a rifle in public is a ridiculous proposition for self defense.....

What do you think you're doing saying anything about what he could do with it? Why aren't you questioning his choice of pants? Oh god, those shoes don't match his shirt. All of these are equal arguments.

[IVC]

Gays and "colored people" are totally different from gun owners. You bought a gun. Nobody bought their sexual orientation or race.

I didn't buy my need for protection in the modern society. The gun just happens to be the means.

Besides, some believe that sexual orientation is a choice. There is no proof either way. In any case, sexual intercourse is a choice. See where this can be going?

Comparing gun rights to other civil rights issues just doesn't make any sense.

Again, I'm not comparing anything. It is a civil right.

Look up what constitutes civil rights and you'll see it's the first 10 amendments, the so-called Bill Of Rights, and a few more that were required to ensure government actually treated people equally.

Why is it so difficult for you to accept that something is a civil right just because it doesn't jive with the urban society?

[IVC]

Carry a handgun concealed. If you can't carry or buy a handgun carry pepperspray, a taser or a knife.

You can also advise women: keep your legs together, or get married. Nobody needs an abortion.

Do you see how you sound?

[Jimmybacon43]

I'm just not making any progress here.

I guess you guys are really passionate about open carrying. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want any type of criminal background checks for gun purchases either....and if you thought civilians owning Grenades and other high explosives was a good idea.
Maybe we should all just carry our rifles outside. I mean it's a civil right isn't it? Who cares if it's illegal in California.

[Jimmybacon43]

You can also advise women: keep your legs together, or get married. Nobody needs an abortion.

Do you see how you sound?

I don't see the connection whatsoever. I must be incredibly stupid.

[Artema]

I'm just not making any progress here.

I guess you guys are really passionate about open carrying. I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want any type of criminal background checks for gun purchases either....and if you thought civilians owning Grenades and other high explosives was a good idea.
Maybe we should all just carry our rifles outside. I mean it's a civil right isn't it? Who cares if it's illegal in California.

I am not passionate about open carrying at all, and that is the problem with the perspectives here. I don't want to open carry. I want the government to NOT harass and taze people who open carry. THAT is what I'm passionate about.

[Jimmybacon43]

I am not passionate about open carrying at all, and that is the problem with the perspectives here. I don't want to open carry. I want the government to NOT harass and taze people who open carry. THAT is what I'm passionate about.

The cops don't see this guy as somebody exercising his rights to open carry.

They see him as a guy with a gun, not different from many other people with guns they've had to deal with over the years. When he doesn't even tell them his name, they're not thinking about civil rights. They're thinking about their own safety. Their objective is not to harass, their reaction would have been the same if the guy had been carrying a fire axe down the street.

They just wanted to find out who this guy was and wth he was doing.