Saw Some Guy OC'ing Today. Scary!

[kbm6893]

Walking in Home Depot this morning in PA. Open Carry is legal here but I can recall Maybe 3 times I have seen it in the last 8 years. Guy with a 1911 of some sort with two extra magazines in a mag pouch on his weak side. I am not exaggerating, I think this guy was mentally challenged. I was behind him on line and heard him speak and he even sounded mentally challenged. He was with an older woman, I'm gonna assume his mother, and she was clearly his caretaker. Asking questions for him.

I know it is technically legal, but this guy was out if it.

 

[MichiganScott]

Suppose he was a Marine with a closed head injury from an IED. Still scary? Would you suggest he not exercise his right to self defense?

 

[ma deuce]

Suppose he was a Marine with a closed head injury from an IED. Still scary? Would you suggest he not exercise his right to self defense?

Yes and yes. Mentally impaired people should not be handling firearms, period, no matter what they may have been capable of prior to the onset of the impairment, no matter who they are or how they incurred the injury. If it were a Marine who'd been blinded by the IED, would you still suggest he ought to be carrying? Or driving, for that matter.

 

[thadheth]

I, too, have seen open carry on occasion in Pennsylvania. It is a bit unusual in the area in which I live. We had a sad case a couple of years ago in which a woman carried to her child's soccer game. (It was not a school soccer event, so no rules prevailed.) Her contention was that her husband was a police officer and because of the unseemly people he dealt with, she needed to have the gun with her at all times. Needless to say, there were plenty of pro and con blogs about her carrying at a young child's (as I recall 8-10 year olds) soccer game. Tragically, as it turned out, she apparently did need the gun for protection - her husband, the LEO, shot and killed her a few months later.

 

[Grog]

If it were a Marine who'd been blinded by the IED, would you still suggest he ought to be carrying? Or driving, for that matter.

I'd bet a blind Marine would drive better than most of what I have on the roads around here (plus he's likely have insurance).

 

[loknload]

That's the great thing about PA. it's a shall issue and open carry state. While I am not a big fan of OC here it's your right. This person as long as he made it through the licensing process has that right to do so!

 

[kbm6893]

Suppose he was a Marine with a closed head injury from an IED. Still scary? Would you suggest he not exercise his right to self defense?

If he is mentally challenged, whether due to birth or injury, then he is no longer capable of making life or death decisions so yes he should be denied. This uh couldn't even ask he woman at the service desk some simple questions. His mother had to be his mouthpiece

Adam Lanza's mother had her son guns, too. We all know how well that worked out.

 

[kbm6893]

That's the great thing about PA. it's a shall issue and open carry state. While I am not a big fan of OC here it's your right. This person as long as he made it through the licensing process has that right to do so!

There is no license for open carry, just concealed. So all you have to be is at least 21, no felony convictions, and not have been ruled mentally incompetent by a judge. Jared Loughner, James Holmes, Adam Lanza, and the Virginia Tech shooter all passed background checks to purchase. Getting a judge to declare somebody mentally incompetent against their will takes an act of God.

 

[Muss Muggins]

What'd he think about how you acted?

 

[kbm6893]

I, too, have seen open carry on occasion in Pennsylvania. It is a bit unusual in the area in which I live. We had a sad case a couple of years ago in which a woman carried to her child's soccer game. (It was not a school soccer event, so no rules prevailed.) Her contention was that her husband was a police officer and because of the unseemly people he dealt with, she needed to have the gun with her at all times. Needless to say, there were plenty of pro and con blogs about her carrying at a young child's (as I recall 8-10 year olds) soccer game. Tragically, as it turned out, she apparently did need the gun for protection - her husband, the LEO, shot and killed her a few months later.

I remember that case. The woman clearly showed her gun on purpose to make a point. She was interviewed on a few channels and she just kept repeating "this is my right". She removed a light windbreaker at a soccer field filled with children to make a political statement. No different then the guys at the Obama rally with AR's slung over their shoulders.

We all know there are people who open carry just to make a show of it.

 

[kbm6893]

What'd he think about how you acted?

I didn't act in any way. Stood behind him and waited my turn. And I doubt he would have noticed if I ran screaming from the store.

 

[italiansport]

I live in Arizona and we have I believe a somewhat different view of open carry here. Open carry has been legal since Arizona became a State in 1912. Most people that have been here for any length of time are used to seeing people carrying firearms and it hardly draws a second glance. What you don't see a lot of anymore at least in urban areas is the proverbial pickup truck with a gun rack containing a Winchester lever action.
A lot of time I would go grocery shopping after a stint at the gun club. I never bothered to remove my firearm and don't remember anyone being bothered by this. A couple of times people asked me what I was specifically carrying and that's about it.
When I'm out on the desert I ALWAYS open carry. It's a deterrent and you wouldn't believe some of the strange characters you run into out there. And I'm NOT talking about illegal's here! If that's "making a show of it" you're damn right and that's exactly what I am doing.
We now have concealed carry of course but it's somewhat difficult to accomplish when it's 115 degrees outside!
Jim

 

[paladin42]

Maybe he only had a speech problem and the decision parts of his brain are fine.

 

[kbm6893]

I live in Arizona and we have I believe a somewhat different view of open carry here. Open carry has been legal since Arizona became a State in 1912. Most people that have been here for any length of time are used to seeing people carrying firearms and it hardly draws a second glance. What you don't see a lot of anymore at least in urban areas is the proverbial pickup truck with a gun rack containing a Winchester lever action.
A lot of time I would go grocery shopping after a stint at the gun club. I never bothered to remove my firearm and don't remember anyone being bothered by this. A couple of times people asked me what I was specifically carrying and that's about it.
When I'm out on the desert I ALWAYS open carry. It's a deterrent and you wouldn't believe some of the strange characters you run into out there. And I'm NOT talking about illegal's here! If that's "making a show of it" you're damn right and that's exactly what I am doing.
We now have concealed carry of course but it's somewhat difficult to accomplish when it's 115 degrees outside!
Jim

Open carry has it's place. Walking in the desert or woods where here are few people around it makes sense to open carry. And if you live somewhere where it is common then more power to you. In hot weather like Arizona I would never wear a jacket to conceal either. But I live in an open carry state and I never see it. Maybe 5 times in & years. And nobody ran screaming v either, but I suspect they were thinking the same thing I was. "Why is he walking around like that?"

Breast feeding in public is legal too. I suspect most of us would prefer a woman be discreet about it. I know my wife was. But some women just want to call attention to themselves

 

[Muss Muggins]

I didn't act in any way. Stood behind him and waited my turn. And I doubt he would have noticed if I ran screaming from the store.

I suspect he didn't think he acted odd in any way either . . . (see where I'm going with this?)

 

[kbm6893]

Maybe he only had a speech problem and the decision parts of his brain are fine.

And maybe not. It wasn't just his speech. It was all of his mannerisms.

 

[GregoryJ]

Walking in Home Depot this morning in PA. Open Carry is legal here but I can recall Maybe 3 times I have seen it in the last 8 years. Guy with a 1911 of some sort with two extra magazines in a mag pouch on his weak side. I am not exaggerating, I think this guy was mentally challenged. I was behind him on line and heard him speak and he even sounded mentally challenged. He was with an older woman, I'm gonna assume his mother, and she was clearly his caretaker. Asking questions for him.

I know it is technically legal, but this guy was out if it.

The bolded part above is your OPINION, based on nothing more than a few minutes observation WITHOUT any KNOWLEDGE of the individual's capabilities or circumstances for his speech difficulties. To me, this says more about you than him.

 

[kbm6893]

I suspect he didn't think he acted odd in any way either . . . (see where I'm going with this?)

I got it the first time. Me standing in line and waiting my turn was "odd" but some guy with a mental disability and carrying a cocked and locked 1911 with three mags is a good idea. See where I'm going with this?

 

[Muss Muggins]

I got it the first time. Me standing in line and waiting my turn was "odd" but some guy with a mental disability and carrying a cocked and locked 1911 with three mags is a good idea. See where I'm going with this?

Well, Doctor . . . (stay with me)

 

[kbm6893]

[/b]

The bolded part above is your OPINION, based on nothing more than a few minutes observation WITHOUT any KNOWLEDGE of the individual's capabilities or circumstances for his speech difficulties. To me, this says more about you than him.

Oh please! You're gonna tell me you can't spot somebody who is mentally disabled? I'm not talking just slightly. The guy was 30 years old and his mother had to speak for him and direct him in the store.

Not looking to start an argument. I have my opinion and everybody else has theirs. And it is my opinion that mentally challenged people should not have access to weapons