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If you're packing, flaunt it, group says
OPEN-CARRY DAYS: Fairbanks police chief says practice is legal.
The Associated Press
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FAIRBANKS -- A Second Amendment rights group in Fairbanks is encouraging members to bring their guns out into the open.
Schaeffer Cox with the group Second Amendment Task Force is urging everyone to wear their guns during open-carry days this weekend and next. He expects about 500 people to participate.
"There's a social stigma that only cops and robbers have guns," Cox told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. "The truth is everybody is packing but nobody knows it because we keep it concealed."
Fairbanks Police Chief Dan Hoffman doesn't oppose the show of arms.
"There's no law that prohibits a citizen in the state of Alaska from carrying an open, legal firearm," Hoffman said. "It's perfectly legal."
Hoffman believes this is in reaction to the election of President Barack Obama, a Democrat.
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Pull my trigger.
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21 comments:
I sold my law and accounting practice last year to do what I have always wanted; open a school teaching NRA sanctioned firearms safety classes, concealed carry and youth rifle marksmanship. It's certainly more rewarding than serving as bankruptcy counsel for people who had financially over-extended themselves and representing people who'd gotten in dutch with the IRS.
If you go on any Internet based gun dealers' sites, you'll see that all AR and AK style rifles are back-ordered. Not only are the rifles back ordered, the prices have gone up anywhere from 20%-50% of pre-election prices. Ammunition prices have also gone through the roof, due to in my opinion unfounded hysteria over President Obama's intent regarding gun bans and the 2nd Amendment. It's not that I believe that the president has abandoned his opposition to private ownership of firearms; he simply has too much on his plate to worry about peckerwoods like me who live in the hills with too many guns. First, he's got to deal with the worst economy since 1930 and second, two wars going on at the same time. The Roberts Court seems to be narrowly (5-4) in favor of interpreting the Second as it was written and intended to be read, that handguns are arms and that the right conferred to "keep and bear arms" is an individual right rather than a collective one as the Joyce Foundation and the Brady Campaign have argued. Interesting that then Senator Obama did not sign an amicus brief that was signed by a majority of the members of Congress urging the overturn of the D. C. ordinance.
nerd, (when) he attacks the SCOTUS decision, it'll most likely be done by his AG, and they probably won't attempt it until he can make some changes to the court.
BTW, do you qualify people for HR-218?
New Mexico is an open carry state but not many people do. I was in a lumber yard last time we were there and a man was open carrying. The guy who was helping me said he'd never seen it before. 500 people carrying in a town the size of Fairbanks would put a dent, if not an end, to crime.
Hey, Spider,
Not yet. I just recieved my certification from the state to start teaching concealed carry classes for the public in January. I also decided to invest in fingerprint and photo equipment so's to make it a one-stop shop. Are you a retired police officer?
Oh, and I can't wait to see what idiotic insults nuestro amigo liberal throws out regarding this discussion.
nerd,
as I reported two weeks ago, I just passed my CCH course here in NC. The guy who taught the class is "THE guy" who wrote the NC text book every class in the state is required to use for the class. He's a 30 year LEO who was very good about NC and federal gun laws. He's testified locally and around the country helping get the CCH / CCW laws passed. He knows his shit.
He suggested that everyone who had a pistol carry it in the open, in every state allowed, to show the new administration, and the bad guys, just how many Americans owned guns and were serious about keeping them for self protection.
I remember when the CCH was passed here, it seemed like every business here had signs saying they were a no carry site. Just before I took the class I started looking around, those signs for the most part are gone. About the only places you can't carry, open or concealed, are the places specified by law, banks, schools, universities, state operated hospitals etc. I'm planning on carrying where it's allowed. That's why I took the class.
He said there is a group looking to have an Open Carry Day MONTHLY, all over the country. But on a rotating basis, not every third Tuesday, or on the 2nd of the month. I like both ideas. The 2nd is perfect because it could be a 2nd Amendment tie in every month.
However, I think we need a group nationally, that has a computer set way to say, "Today, is the day to carry". We could sign up for an open e-mail that is sent to anyone who subscribes, for a few dollars per year to over expenses. The centralized e-mail could go out at 12:01 AM to notify the subscribers to carry openly that day as allowed. Most people have some type PDA, cell phone, CrackBerry, etc, device to receive an e-mail 24/7 anyway. You could get., get a cup of coffee, look for your "gun" e-mail and add your open carry holster to your days outfit.
The ladies of course need to color coordinate their clothes, jewelry, shoes and holster.
"OMG Donna are you wearing a BLACK gun belt with
BROWN shoes?"
(that's some sexist stuff huh? It's a JOKE ladies, sorry, I'm old and male)
Yes i am. Your one-stop-shopping is a good idea, as it saves people time and money in having to do additional background checks.
P.S.
Steve, i understand what you're saying and agree with it, to a point. Though there are a few states that allow the unconcealed carrying of handguns, i personally don't think it's a good idea for several reasons, one of them being it sends the wrong kind of message to the unarmed public, or worse, to those who are totally anti-gun and want the 2nd Amendment "re-visited".
Can you just see the PR campaign waged by the Left? Something like, "look, all they want is to show-off and be cowboys". Of course, being from NYC, my point is probably more relevant in urban areas (like NYC, Chicago, DC, etc.) and less relevant in rural communities. But more often than not, it's the political power from those large urban areas that set the policy.
Besides, just what is the advantage of carrying openly? Will it stop some young criminal from picking an older person as a victim, or perhaps, encourage that punk because he feels he can take it away from you? I've investigated dozens of crimes perpetrated against people who were armed. In most of those cases, their weapons were used against them! You know as well as i do, that not every person who carries is capable of using it, no matter what the circumstances. And believe me, the bad guys know that too.
That's great Steve! I never even thought about having to coordinate holster and shoe color. I prefer an inside the waistband Kydex holster. We're still working on open carry here in Texas.
Spider, personally, I much prefer concealed over open carry because of the reasons you cite. If someone is going to assume the responsibility of carrying a loaded firearm, he'd best be trained in its use and be prepared to use it without hurting bystanders should the need arise.
Oh, and congratulations, Steve on passing your CCH. It's great to have a guy with real-world experience teaching a course like that. I have contracted with several local sheriff's deputies and police officers to teach my concealed carry classes.
But Spider,
why should the 2nd Amendment be looked at from the Worst Case First Basis? Why say right off the bat, "...and before we do anything, what's the down side of this?"
If my opinion of things liberal doesn't count, why should I listen too, "look, all they want is to show-off and be cowboys"?
I see this from exactly the opposite angle, even in the big cities. There are hundreds of thousands of us, who will never shoot our guns in anger. Hundreds of thousands who could openly carry, to show that guns exist daily and don't take lives or maim the innocent. Hundreds of thousands who could prove the left wrong about their fear of "cowboys". Screw their fears and their opinions.
The guy who would shoot into a crowd to hit a purse snatcher is no more or no less liable to do that, if his gun is carried open legally or carried concealed legally. That was exactly, and almost word for word, the tactic used here to fight the CCH law. Cowboys, gun fights and innocent children maimed by gun toting fools.
Those kinds of gun owners must be in a very minute minority. I've never read one story about anyone with a CCH / CCW who shot any bystanders.
We used to have a local radio show host here in Raleighwood who was a Canadian, but U.S. citizen now. Like most of those folks he was very much in favor of living here as the Constitution allowed and dictated. Especially, in his case, the 2nd Amendment.
On his show he interviewed a local newspaper columnist who was rabid anti-gun. He asked her why she always reported gun crimes, but never reported or wrote opinion pieces about someone using a pistol or rifle to protect themselves legally. She said, without missing a heart beat, "Because it just NEVER happens!"
(emphasis hers)
Starting the very next Friday and every Friday until he moved to a bigger station, he opened his show with those stories. He had to look hard for them to start with, but soon after people started sending them from all over the country. As it turns out, people are actually protecting themselves with guns EVERY day, not "NEVER".
We need open carry, by clean, sober,intelligent Americans to fight her liberal, "Because it just NEVER happens!", attitude. Right now her side has all the power. We need to be able to prove her and her liberal, media controlling, anti-gun people wrong.
We could prove them wrong, one day, every month with a plan like this.
Here's a site dedicated to Open Carry, for those interested.
opencarry.org
HE LOOK. Here's a WORKING link
opencarry.org
I apologize to those that know...
Rather than saying "pull my trigger", I should have said "squeeze my trigger".
My mistake is duly noted.
:-)
Again, i agree with you Steve. What i was referring to was the perception the left would create about gun owners if we all walked around with them exposed. Look what they've managed to do to us without people carrying openly. To them, we're all beer drinking, tobacco chewing, NASCAR lovin, rednecks, who love our guns more than our families. You know the image as well as i do. And don't underestimate their ability to coerce the public. We see them do it every day, and we see the dumb people buy it.
For me, that SCOTUS decision was much to close for comfort, and if anyone thinks it won't be revisisted in the next four years, they haven't been paying attention. When that happens, we'll have all to do to hang onto what we have now. IMO, we should save the "very small" amount of political support we gun owners have for that fight, not for an open carry law, something that has no real advantage for us that i can see.
RE: Guns and crime prevention:
Myth: Private ownership of guns is not effective in preventing crime.
Fact: Every year, people in the United States use a gun to defend themselves against criminals an estimated 2,500,000 times – more than 6,500 people a day, or once every 13 seconds. (Fall 1995, Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology)
Fact: In 83.5% (2,087,500) of these successful gun defenses, the attacker either threatened or
used force first, proving that guns are very well suited for self-defense. (FBI, “Critical Incidents in Policing”, 1991)
Fact: Of the 2,500,000 times citizens use guns to defend themselves, 92% merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers. (FBI, “Critical Incidents in Policing”, 1991)
Fact: Less than 8% of the time does a citizen wound his or her attacker, and in less than one in a thousand instances is the attacker killed. (FBI, “Critical Incidents in Policing”, 1991)
Fact: When using guns in self-defense: (FBI National Crime Victimization Survey, 1979-1985)
• 83% of robbery victims were not injured.
• 88% of assault victims were not hurt.
• 76% of all self-defense use of guns never involve firing a single shot.
Fact: After the implementation of Canada's 1977 gun controls prohibiting handgun possession for protection, the “breaking and entering” crime rate rose 25%, surpassing the American rate. (Pat Mayhew, Residential Burglary: A Comparison of the United States, Canada and England and Wales (Nat'l
Inst. of Just., Wash., D.C., 1987)
RE: Violence in society:
Myth: The United States has the highest violence rate because of lax gun control laws
Fact: The top 10 countries
for homicide do not include
the U.S. (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Centre for International Crime Prevention, Seventh United Nations
Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice Systems, covering the period 1998–2000.)
Country Homicides per 100,000 population:
Colombia 62
Jamaica 32
Russia 20
Mexico 13
Estonia 10
Latvia 10
Lithuania 10
Belarus 9
Papua New Guinea 8
Kyrgyzstan 8
Spider said,
"...beer drinking, tobacco chewing, NASCAR lovin, rednecks, who love our guns..."
Dude, you left out FAT, and RACIST. And missed that whole, "...clinging to their Bibles..." thing too. I get your point though.
I just think they'd lose their stranglehold on this issue, if one day a month a half-million people openly carried without 250,000 gunfights breaking out. The MSM might be able to ignore the guns or the story. But the average Americans would see it. They'd see that the guns don't, by themselves and autonomously, jump up and kill anyone. They'd also find out that their friends, neighbors, co-workers and bosses are legal, law abiding gun owners.
Seeing is believing.
Peaceful merrie olde England
Myth: Britain has strict gun control and a low crime rate.
Fact: Since gun
banning has escalated in the UK,the rate of crime, especially violent crime, has risen.
Fact: Ironically, firearm use in crimes has doubled in the decade since handguns were
banned. (“Weapons sell for just £50 as suspects and victims grow ever younger”, The Times, August 24, 2007.)
The ban-the-guns fools never learn.
Yoo Hoo, HLF!!! Come out and play. Take me on with some facts and your superior knowledge of the 2nd Amendment and constitutional law!
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