The 2nd Amendment is a right OF THE PEOPLE, not just of some self identified gun elitists.
One possible definition of an 'elitist' is a person who thinks they are right and others are always wrong. A problem arises when one attempt to characterize others as “elitists” whilst simultaneously saying “and those that disagree with me are wrong!” That's boomerang hypocrisy at its best. But there is a place for simple disagreement, and both points can be debated.
I do believe sincerely in the 2nd Amendment, and have belonged to the NRA for a donkey's life. But that doesn't mean I have to knee-jerk agree with every single opinion that exists about the 2nd A. I'm a pretty rational guy, and can think for myself. So I really don't need anyone to categorize me as an elitist simply because I disagree with them on an issue, especially when I can support my point very effectively. I’m not ‘wrong’ because I’m some “elitist”, in fact I’m not wrong at all.
I am a huge proponent of CCW and think the boom in concealed carry since the early 90's is a great and wonderful thing. I also think openly carrying a rifle or pistol is foolish, selfish, unwarranted, unsafe, aggressive and unnecessarily provocative. I won't go into all the reasons why, I've done that elsewhere on this forum. But I stand by that opinion and belief it is eminently defensible.
I understand there are those who think that somehow their 2nd A rights have been mercilessly trampled unless they are permitted to carry every single type of weapon known to man openly, anywhere, anytime, anyplace and in any way. That's nonsense and a specious argument; it isn’t defensible and simply cannot be rationally made.
No one needs a fully automatic M-60 with ten 100 round belts around their waist. No one needs an M-203 grenade launcher or a 90mm M3. But the way OC proponents scream about what they *think* the 2nd A says, one would believe we should all have these things up to and including a small back pack nuclear device. There are rational limits and for good reason.
The fact is, every right we have given by God and guaranteed by our Constitution has a natural limit. Speech, religion, assembly - they have limits that stop usually where a line exists that says if others or society are grossly offended, harmed or a significant disturbance of the peace is caused, then you can’t do that.
I’ve used these examples before; you can’t walk into a church service on Sunday morning and scream XXXXXXXXXX GOD and all you myth believers!!” at the top of your voice. You will get arrested. You can’t set a tire fire in your back yard and claim “They’re my tires, I can do as I please” because once the smell and smoke affect your neighbors, the police, fire dept. and possibly a city health official will show up and likely fine the snot out of you if not put you in cuffs. You and 30 others can’t ‘flash mob’ stark naked in the middle of the food court in your city’s biggest mall or drop your pants and commit ‘self love’ in a crowded restaurant on Friday night. Why? Because others would be shocked, scared, offended or repulsed. And they would have a right to be. That’s why there are ‘disorderly conduct’ laws.
And frankly, the owning and carrying of firearm have natural limits as well. Would the OC proponent say you should be able to carry a M249 SAW into a polling place on voting day, or into a kindergarten? Does one need their Barrett 50 caliber 82A1 or Glock 18 at the public swimming pool or the secure area of an airport? No? Well, then I guess you agree that firearms carry should have limits. Careful, some on this board might turn on you, call you “Witch!” and try to dunk you.
Sadly, I think a real issue, partially anyway, with OC is that some see it as a permit to laughingly scare the poop out of those who don't understand guns or might not feel comfortable with them. I really don't understand how a person can say they believe in the 2nd A, support it, fight for it, donate to organizations that defend it...then turn around and scream and demand to be able to act in a way that shreds the image of a gun owner and turns away people who might otherwise be inclined to join us by inciting fear or anxiety.
Saying open carry forwards the argument of the 2nd A is textbook sophistry. It’s like some cult saying they can get more members if they scream louder on the street corner or bang harder on someone’s front door til they open; counterproductive at best.
So why do some gun owners think walking into Starbucks or Chipotles wearing a desert tan cerakoted M4 and a 15 round Glock 10mm in hip holster is cool? Are they really saying they just support the 2nd A? No. That’s not the truth.
The truth is the idiots of Open Carry Texas actively enjoy taking the 2nd A and using it as an pretense and excuse to terrorize those they hate (you know, those ‘filthy commie liberals’ that voted for Obama!) and make them wet their Birkenstocks. That’s not a healthy or effective argument for the Right to Bear Arms... again, it’s just the opposite. It will do more harm in the future for the argument than help.
And practically, there is not one single tactical, sensible reason for OC versus CCW. None, not one. No, it isn’t a faster draw. And no, having a coat or jacket flip open in the wind exposing your weapon was NEVER truly an offense of ‘openly carrying’. And no, it is no more constitutional to OC than to CCW. It’s just that some want to . Period. “Because I want to.” That’s it. That’s the real argument here. Fine. Carry openly.
I disagree with it on principal because I love my wife and family too much to set them right next to a target downrange and wait for some fool to shoot at that target (me wearing openly). And I value peace in my community and the ability to talk to folks about guns without shocking or scaring them first. But it is your choice (at least in Texas now). But be aware of what you’re choosing.
Open Carriers make themselves, their wives and their loved ones unwarranted, unnecessary targets in public, putting them downrange in a firefight. They also make themselves little mini-celebrities of the moment, “Oh, look at that guy! He has a gun, Mildred!”, which may tickle the OC’s fancy…until the person seeing them is a Blood, Crip, Mexican Mafia, MS-13, Bandito, Texas Syndicate, Los Zatas, Barrio Azteca, Aryan Circle or Aryan Brotherhood who then says “Oh, look..that dude has a gun, bro..” , meaning something he and the kind he travels with in a pack can take and sell in 30 minutes on the other side of town.
Truth: No one, and I mean NO ONE is afraid of an OC because they’re wearing a gun. No one, period. That is a fallacy and a joke. Today’s street criminals (or super predators if you will) are not even remotely frightened by an OC trotting around with a nickel .45 on his hip.
Other factors OC proponents don't tell you about: you have to maintain the same 540 degree level of perceptual vigilance that a city police officer has to maintain at all times, just like he does, except you’re not wearing a bullet proof vest, you don’t have a radio with a distress button, you don’t have 50 other officers in the city ready to go 150 mph to help you if you’re in trouble, you don’t have the color of law or symbol of authority to potentially shield or protect you (when it does)… you’re just a guy wearing a gun. In the real world of street thugs, gang bangers and urban predators, you’ll simply look like food.
But that’s just an opinon base on experience. I could be wrong, been wrong before. But with my life, my skin and my family, it’d be foolish to take that chance. And just as I’m not into farting in crowded elevators to try to make friends, I’m not into thrusting hard weaponry right under the noses of firearms ‘non-believers’ to win converts or get my jollies off by scaring them. I’m not in 3rd grade, that doesn’t appeal to me.
So no, Vito, I’m not an elitist, just another plain old guy that has some real world experience with carrying guns for about 20 years. And I actually do trust you with all the guns in the world.
What I
don’t trust is the moron dressed as Batman who is fixated on a movie theater, the lunatic that thinks about breaking into elementary schools with a stolen M4, the college student who poses for selfies with twin Glocks aimed at the camera, the Hollywood producer’s kid that makes creepy videos… I don’t trust those feral humans (as Massad Ayoob calls them) and if they burst in on me and mine in public, well frankly I don’t want to be next to you if you’re OC. Then I don’t’ trust you, not at all.
If you’re next to me then I’m downrange and I’m sitting by the target that feral human just started staring at. I trust you to have a gun, but not openly because I don’t want that attention. In a gunfight, I want to be the ambusher, not the ambushed.
Heck, I’m a plainclothes LEO and I won’t even set next to uniformed officers at lunch. Why? Because they’re also massive, obvious targets if a fertilizer storm hits without warning. By carrying concealed, I can perhaps do something about it and not be seen.
It isn’t elitism. Its rational facts stacked against what one potentially gains vs. what one potentially loses. Saying “The 2nd A is my permit to carry OC” is simply a choice to ignore one’s responsibility to protect oneself and family, to hamper the gun rights argument and to decide to draw a line in the dirt and say “screw you” to those we ought to be reaching out to.
Long rant, I know. I apologize for the chewed up bandwidth. But please refrain from throwing the term “elitist” at those who disagree on very reasonable grounds just because you don’t like their point of view. I respect your right to choose to OC; I wouldn’t do it and strongly disagree with it as a concept, but that’s all it is. Disagreement.
Have a nice day.
