Neenah, Wisconsin cops stop men open carry stop

[CrazyPhuD]

Originally Posted by Cephalic Trauma

Okay, fair. But there are much more effective ways of doing so. Most political statements don't have the potential for dangerous consequences. Openly carrying guns does.

This shows a complete lack of acknowledgement for the feelings of those around him. The reality is most people aren't conditioned to look at guns as innocuous. They've caused too many problems, especially when in the wrong hands, for the collective populace to view them as simply a political instrument.

Wear a ****ing "I love guns and the second amendment" shirt or something of that nature. But I do not see the benefit outweighing the potential cost in openly carrying an instrument for political reasons which can have such dangerous consequences based on the discretion of an individual who may have decision-making and/or mental health issues.

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.

[demonhero]

We need to all start wearing hijabs and whatever its called some of the Indians wear, because we are going to use the society has changed bs. I'm going to start calling the cops on you because you aren't wearing a head scarf.

[B2chiefsfan]

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.

Several people here carry a sidearm in the general public including malls... it's the unknown person standing on the street corner with a long rifle that makes people unconfortable...

[Cephalic Trauma]

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.

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.

[CrazyPhuD]

Originally Posted by Cephalic Trauma

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.

Life would be very boring if everyone agreed on everything. One of the greatest problems we have as a society is tolerating people who aren't like us. This crosses all political and social boundaries. I don't want everyone to be the same, I just want us to try to tolerate the differences. There are many times we must make laws against things but we should always do it because we have to, not because we want to.

I would be curious about the psychology of the study. I suspect people would feel least safe when there is one armed person. But I also suspect there is a bit of a bell curve in feeling safe. I mean if everyone is armed BUT you, then you'll feel very vulnerable. It would also be interesting to see if people felt safer or less safe if they were armed in those difference studies.

The biggest problem with doing that study is probably finding someone who wants to actually understand the issue rather than try to prove a point in one direction or the other. To many 'studies' are done to try to support a position than understand a problem.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by CrazyPhuD

I mean if everyone is armed BUT you, then you'll feel very vulnerable.

I think this is why the safest world is one where there is a good mix of people who open carry and people who carry concealed.

Open carry reminds criminals that there are law-abiding citizens everywhere who will defend themselves or others against crime. Concealed carry prevents criminals from being able to anticipate exactly whom or how many people in a given location might be armed.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Cephalic Trauma

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.

I think the most potential for adverse consequences comes from people other than the open carrier (who are frightened by the sight of someone caring a gun or who mistake what that person is doing) and the person most likely to suffer those adverse consequences is the open carrier.

[Eleazar]

Originally Posted by patteeu

I think the most potential for adverse consequences comes from people other than the open carrier (who are frightened by the sight of someone caring a gun or who mistake what that person is doing) and the person most likely to suffer those adverse consequences is the open carrier.

It happens. There are some people who get scared and call the police when they see someone lawfully carrying, but that happens with people who carry concealed as well.

One good reason to have a CCW permit is that if you make a mistake coming back from the shooting range and there's a round in a magazine or something like that, you'd still be protected. Or sometimes people run into police officers who doesn't know the letter of these laws. Sure, you might get off eventually if you are arrested for a felony CCW charge in a misunderstanding, but not until after lawyers have bled you dry.

It's probably a good idea for anyone who even owns a firearm whether or not they ever carry it, just to protect yourself in unforeseen circumstances

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Cochise

It happens. There are some people who get scared and call the police when they see someone lawfully carrying, but that happens with people who carry concealed as well.

One good reason to have a CCW permit is that if you make a mistake coming back from the shooting range and there's a round in a magazine or something like that, you'd still be protected. Or sometimes people run into police officers who doesn't know the letter of these laws. Sure, you might get off eventually if you are arrested for a felony CCW charge in a misunderstanding, but not until after lawyers have bled you dry.

It's probably a good idea for anyone who even owns a firearm whether or not they ever carry it, just to protect yourself in unforeseen circumstances

Totally agree. I was just saying that it's not likely that the open carriers will cause accidental harm with their guns, which seems to be cephalic trauma's concern.