Open carry not needed

[SecularMotion]

It is good news that the Florida Senate has altered legislation that would allow firearms to be carried in public, though you can be sure the push to make guns ever-present in the state will continue.

The language remains in the House.

In a state in which six police officers were gunned down in the last four months, it staggers the imagination that Florida would give open carry serious consideration.

We support gun rights, but this "open-carry" proposal is reckless, as well as costly and unnecessary. Florida, after all, is no pioneer state. It has the nation's fourth-largest population — nearly 19 million residents. It has bustling cities and attracts millions of tourists. Allowing people to strap on guns as if this were the Wild West is not going to make Florida more appealing to visitors or the companies that might want to relocate here.

http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2011/apr/29/MEOPINO1-open-carry-not-needed-ar-203315/

[jpak]

1. Open Carry = Teh Stupid

yup

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. If it is the only choice you have, then it is what you do

California, NYC, and other repressive environments do not give civilians much choice.

[Logical]

6. That is why we need a national CCW law. n-t

[jpak]

7. Open carry creates a repressive environment

yup

[ProgressiveProfessor]

8. How so? What is repressive is the anti gun rights legislation in places like CA, NYC, and Chicago

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1ACAW_ENUS366&=&q=repressive&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=#hl=en&rlz=1G1ACAW_ENUS366&q=repressive&tbs=dfn:1&tbo=u&sa=X&ei=Eti6TbXWLYu-sAO204zGBQ&ved=0CCcQkQ4&biw=1188&bih=775&fp=6e51f3b7bd5a4d48

[jpak]

9. People - including police - are rightly afraid of individuals carrying guns in public places

Guns kill and everyone knows this

Open Carry = Lethal Intimidation

= Repressive Environment

yup

[ProgressiveProfessor]

11. Your phobias do not repression make...I suggest you look at the link provided

[jpak]

14. People openly carry for one reason and one reason only - to intimidate others with a lethal weapon

yup

[GreenStormCloud]

21. Intimidate that thug that is thinking of robbing me into going away. N/T

[jpak]

30. That's exactly why teabaggers open carry and California open carry advocates do it

to intimidate their political opponents

brown shirt wannabes

yup

[PavePusher]

23. You sure are certain of your opinions, aintchya?

[jpak]

41. Yup!

:evilgrin:

[rl6214]

49. Everyone knows about opinions

they are all like jpak

[rl6214]

48. Because they cannot conceal carry

[RSillsbee]

57. Are you a mind reader now?

I OC frequently I don't go out of my way to intimidate people and most of the time I'm fairly certain my gun isn't even noticed (I'm not a mind reader either)

[PavePusher]

59. Apparently being anti-gun bestows upon one the powers of....

clairvoyance, omnipotence, telepathy, projection, prognostication and infallibility.

Too bad for the rest of us, I guess.

[RSillsbee]

62. I think it's projection

I think they're telling us exactly what they'd do in that situation

[Oneka]

63. as someone

who openly carries a pistol from time to time, i can tell you that political intimidation has never
been the reason i do so.

[YllwFvr]

15. I dont fear open carriers

And none of the dozens of LEOs I know do. A few might not like it but none I know are against that.

[jpak]

20. Suburban Security Moms (voters) do not share your views on open carry

yup

[GreenStormCloud]

22. Please list one state in which open carry has been voted out. N/T

[jpak]

27. Watch California

yup

[gejohnston]

56. thanks to Ronnie ray gun and Mulford

who freaked about people of color with guns, California curtailed open carry.

[PavePusher]

60. And some people here want to keep going down that racist, classist road.

For some reason, they think it's "progressive".

[PavePusher]

24. What other Civil Rights should be restricted on the basis of a few biased, twisted pants? n/t

[jpak]

26. There is no Civil Right to intimidate others with guns

nope

[Bold Lib]

28. There is a civil right to keep and bear arms. You do not have a civil right to

be free of phobia. Get over it.

[jpak]

29. There are limits to the Holy 2A - so sez the SCOTUS - just say noto open carry

yup

[rl6214]

51. I try not to say "noto"

most people don't understand what "noto" means.

[Bold Lib]

54. Like I said.

Get over it. You do not have a civil right to be free of phobia. I do have a civil right to keep and bear arms.

yuppers, I sure does.

[PavePusher]

32. I'm not intending to intimidate anyone but criminals.

If you feel intimidated, I have to ask what crime you were planning to commit?

[rrneck]

34. Serial assault in the English lamguage. nt

[PavePusher]

35. Torture of metaphors and abuse of Straw-Men? n/t

[rrneck]

38. Eight year old's vocabulary Dude. nt

[jpak]

36. Open Carriers intimidate everyone innocent or guilty - yup

but since you think I'm a criminal - do you have the right to exercise your "right to self defense"?

just because you don't like my politics?

well do you?

:rofl:

[PavePusher]

39. Only if you attack me physically.

But I am pretty sure you won't.

[jpak]

40. An armed criminal would probably ambush and shoot an open carrier to commit the crime

Open carriers would be tempting targets for armed criminals as they carry both $$$$ and guns

yup

[X_Digger]

42. Surely you can provide an example, amirite?

I mean, with a majority of states having open carry of some form or another, surely you can put a fact where your mouth is, right?

[RSillsbee]

58. Give the devil his due It actually HAS happened

But is anything but a frequent occurrence

[GreenStormCloud]

65. In reality, it rarely happens.

The criminal also knows that if he screws up the OC guy will return fire. That is pretty high risk for a criminal to take. If he makes a career of it then it will be a short criminal career. First screw-up and the criminal goes down.

[Bold Lib]

55. Your phobia is your problem. Not mine. Yuppers.

[beevul]

61. If you or your brethren are intimidated by lawful behavior...

Tough shit.

[rl6214]

50. You can provide a cite for that

right?

[David West]

53. I have several LEO friends who feel otherwise.

One of them even lives in California. And I've had several candid run-ins with various Oregon Police who ALSO felt otherwise.

[gejohnston]

45. how so?

Go to Vermont or Wyoming, it is legal, has always been legal, but nobody does other than maybe out in the sticks (where I think open carry belongs.) Growing up I never felt repressed, and I don't when I go home either.

[rl6214]

47. No, that's your post.

[Logical]

2. I am 100% pro CCW but not a Open Carry fan. That of course gets me labeled....

anti-gun on this forum but that is OK.

Open Carry causes more problems than it solves if CC is available.

Most Open Carry people I know are just doing it to prove they can. Makes no sense to me.

[Katya Mullethov]

4. It is not your stance on Open Carry

It's the people you know .

[Logical]

5. People I know? What else should I base my opinion on?

I base my GOP feelings on many of my GOP friends. Is that wrong?

[Katya Mullethov]

25. An apparent propensity to attract pecker heads

Is clouding your judgment .

[Logical]

44. You never seem to make any sense to me. n-t

[PavePusher]

33. Easy does it....

K.M. specializes in satire and sarcasm, and can be a bit esoteric at times. I think s/he's implying that some of your fellow travelers (those leaning more to the anti- side) may not have the purest of motives.

[YllwFvr]

16. I wouldnt say anti

Closer to a fudd I guess

[gejohnston]

46. I agree with open carry

in the woods and around the ranch, not around town and esp. not in a city.

[rrneck]

10. A gun in public is a gun in public.

It doesn't make two cents difference how it's carried. They need to stop trying to legislate how people look.

[Hangingon]

12. I do not see the connection between open carry and ...

dead police officers. If we examined the details of those deaths, I suspect we would see several other more direct causes for the deaths.

[AtheistCrusader]

13. You should get together with some of the 'no CCW, open carry only' sneaky/dishonest carry

folks and hash this out.

(I think both should be legal, but I personally prefer concealed carry.)

[PavePusher]

17. Why does the article seem to try to conflate open carry with criminals?

And ignore all the places, just as "bustling" and filled with tourists as Florida, where open carry is relatively common and unremarkable?

Article is teh phale.

[spin]

18. The bill as passed by the Florida Senate is an improvement ...

I carry concealed in Florida and have no desire to open carry. Most of those that I know who have concealed weapons permits feel the same.

However in the Florida heat it is often difficult to insure that you never accidentally expose your concealed firearm. To the best of my knowledge no one has ever realized that I was carrying concealed in the fifteen years plus that I have carried. The wind did catch the light jacket that I was wearing one day in a parking lot and if some of the other people near me had been alert rather than talking into their cell phones, they might have noticed the revolver I was carrying in an inside the waistband holster. If one would had panicked and used his cell phone to call 911, the police might have harassed me for what was an simple accidental flashing of a firearm rather than brandishing one.

Tourism is an important source of revenue here in Florida and many of those tourists come from Europe where firearms are far less common than in the United States. We also have an interest in attracting companies to Florida and many of these companies are from areas where the carry of firearms is not as common as in Florida.

Florida has had "shall issue" concealed carry since 1987 and although the Brady Campaign used to post signs at the Florida border warning visitors, the tourists have continued to flock to Florida and while most of them have probably seen alligators, spotting a concealed weapon on a Florida native is probably extremely rare.

[beevul]

64. Isn't the batty campaign just precious? N/T

[ileus]

19. proposal is reckless, as well as costly and unnecessary...how so?

[X_Digger]

31. What does 'open carry' have to do with 'police officers gunned down'?

Perhaps you can do some research and find us some cases of people open carrying proceeding to gun down police officers?

[lawodevolution]

37. next year and next year and next year and next year

get used to it, pro gun side is using your tactics. It will be introduced every year until it passes.

[NRA4EVR]

52. I can't believe Georgia is ahead of Florida

When it comes to protecting and enhancing the civil rights of its citizens to openly keep and bear arms. Fortunately this legislation is like the "Terminator"; it will not stop until all gun controls are dead.

[TPaine7]

43. Internet posting not necessary n/t