Quote:
Originally Posted by CrazyPhuD
Understand I don't personally approve of how the open carry movement is running. Yes you can run an effective protest about attitudes towards guns, BUT it has to be handled VERY carefully and the people who tend to do these things don't do that.
So as a result I tend to think many of these incidents are counter productive and can portray gun owners in a negative light.
Hell if they wanted to do it right they have to understand that
A. Someone is probably going to call the cops...part of that is the point.
B. Don't be a dick to the cops even if they are being dicks. Most of them are just trying to do their jobs. Your issue isn't with the cop on the street it's with the politician in office.
If the cops wants to be a dick about it, the more respectful and reasonable you sound the better image you present to the public especially in contrast to an unreasonable behavior.
C. Personally I wouldn't carry loaded, if you feel the need to have protection then carry a loaded magazine on you but not in the gun. It actually give credibility to the political statement to carry unloaded and realistically if you have a loaded magazine on you, you're not giving up much protection.
Most of the open carry movement is being done by people that come off as extremists not your average gunowner which actually hurts the image in the eyes of the public. That's what they don't realize, this is about image and marketing and you want to sound mainstream not extreme.
Frankly I don't think anyone should feel scared because someone is carrying a gun. It's the behavior that people are doing that should frighten people. In the world of terrorism that we live in that people can hid explosive vest etc, you worry about the person, not what they're carrying.
I'd be curious to see the results of a study. If you were in a mall and you saw one person with a gun would you be scared? Now if you were in a mall and 1/2 the people you saw had a gun, would you be more or less likely to be scared? I'm actually not sure the results of that one, but it would be interesting to know.
It's the herd protection mentality.
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I actually agree with the majority of this post, despite the bolded. But I don't think it's imperative to agree on everything, so I'll leave it at that.
Interesting study idea, though. I'm assuming those carrying would have unloaded guns to minimize any potential for adverse consequences. But I would be interested to see the results as well.