OK Rifle Association Opposes Open Carry Law

[a la izquierda]

OKLAHOMA CITY -- An Oklahoma gun rights group is urging lawmakers to oppose a Senate bill that would allow individuals 18 or older to openly carry firearms in the state.
The Oklahoma Rifle Association sent a letter to House members this week saying they opposed the bill by Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City.

http://www.koco.com/politics/27287868/detail.html




Wow, I'm sort of speechless

[DrDan]

1. it is no longer enough to own guns, now they must be brandished about in public

[joshcryer]

5. You do know that very many states allow this, don't you?

[DrDan]

7. yes

[Statistical]

8. Brandishing would still be illegal as it is in all 50 states. n/t

[DrDan]

10. oh really . . . . . ."To display ostentatiously"

[Recursion]

11. You posted two pictures of a firearm NOT being brandished

I'm not sure what your point is.

[DrDan]

15. I would not agree - those were pics at an Obama event

I would say that is an "ostentatious display". They were displayed to gain attention. Certainly being "brandished".

[Recursion]

18. "Brandished" has a meaning

That isn't it.

[DrDan]

24. yes it does - "To display ostentatiously" - synnonyms - flaunt, display

certainly what those guys were up to at the Obama events.

[yellowcanine]

31. While "display" is a synonym, "brandish" usually implies more than that.

Legally I doubt that someone openly displaying a firearm either in a holster or on a back strap would be either charged or convicted of "brandishing" unless they were also engaging in some threatening behavior, such as announcing a robbery - in which case the open display of the gun would make it an armed robbery. Even then I believe there would have to be a hand on it to make a brandishing charge stick.


bran·dish
   /ˈbrændɪʃ/ Show Spelled Show IPA
–verb (used with object)
1.
to shake or wave, as a weapon; flourish: Brandishing his sword, he rode into battle.
–noun
2.
a flourish or waving, as of a weapon.

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English bra ( u ) ndisshen < Anglo-French, Middle French brandiss- (long stem of brandir, derivative of brand sword < Gmc). See brand, -ish2

—Related forms
bran·dish·er, noun

—Synonyms
1. swing, flaunt, wield, display.

[DrDan]

34. I used the term as a synonym for "flaunt" - which is the right

being sought by the NRA.

I was not referring to the legal context.

[aikoaiko]

26. Open carry and brandishing a weapon are not the same thing.

To say that they are is an extremist position. Most states allow it and it isn't much of a problem.

[groundloop]

2. Not ALL gun owners are as radical as the NRA

I know a police officer, these "open carry" laws scare the crap out of him.

[aikoaiko]

30. Why would open carry "scare the crap out of him"?

Surely, he doesn't act as if there are no guns when he can't see them (both legal and illegal concealed carry).

Does the sight of armed nonleo really scare him?

[joshcryer]

3. Living in an open carry state this is hardly a problem.

85-90% of stores have a no-guns sign on their doors anyway (open carry participants like to skirt around that but a private business has every right to get you for trespassing if you ignore that sign).

[Dash87]

4. Open carry is dumb and dangerous,

It's also an extremist position.

Why the heck would anybody want people walking around with a rifle in their hands into restaurants or stores? I would think the guy doing that was a nutjob intent on shooting up the place.

[joshcryer]

6. It's usually people with a holstered gun. I see 'em occassionally.

People just assume they're off duty cops or security guards, but, erm, in most states citizens can carry openly.

Ironically TX is one state that doesn't allow it.

[Dash87]

19. Walking around, holding a gun in your hand? (Unless if I'm mistaken)

Not even a security guard does that. That's a really crazy thing to do. :)

[Recursion]

21. No, carrying it in a holster

That's "open carry". Taking it out of the holster (or, for a rifle, out of a weak-side muzzle down sling carry) is brandishing.

[Dash87]

25. Okay, I know nothing about guns.

I have lesss of a problem with it then. I think it's still a bit dangerous, though.

I thought open carry meant people could carry rifles around in their hands. That would be awful. :)

You can still get arrested for "brandishing" a weapon, right?

[Recursion]

12. Why? Criminals tend to hide their weapons.

And rifles are basically a non-issue as far as crime goes (more people are killed by bare hands every year).

[Dash87]

20. On someone's back wouldn't bother me. In their hands and loaded -

that's a bit crazy.

[Recursion]

22. Who's talking about carrying it loaded in their hands?

If that were the issue it would bother me, too.

[pintobean]

9. The right of the people to keep and BEAR arms, shall not be infringed

[DrDan]

16. does that include the right to "bare" arms?

[pintobean]

36. You can bear arms in bare arms

[DrDan]

38. perhaps baring arms is not such a bad thing . . . . .

[Evolve_Already]

13. Wow, I'm sort of speechless"

Likewise. But why do I have an uneasy feeling about this?

[Patiod]

14. You're in trouble now

If you don't 100% support the right of anyone, anywhere, to carry anything at any time, then you've just brought down the wrath of the DU Gungeon on your head.

Don't you realize we're not allowed to even DISCUSS any regulation of any type of firearm at all here on DU?

That whole "well-regulated militia" thing being bullshit, because "well-regulated = no regulation".

[Bragi]

17. OK Gun assoc is to the left of the DU Gungeon /nt

[aikoaiko]

28. Its the other way around -- open carry is civil liberty making the DU Guns forum more liberal.

Unless you're one of those authoritarian leftists who believes that freedom = no choices.

[Bragi]

29. I support freedom from guns /nt

[aikoaiko]

32. No one is forcing you to keep or bear guns, but you live in a society with civil liberties.

Oliver Wendell Holmes addressed you many years ago.

"The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins."

[Bragi]

33. I'm not scared of other people

I'm not afraid of other people, at least not in any way that would necessitate something as extreme as carrying a lethal weapon with me at all times.

[aikoaiko]

39. Yes, and that is your choice -- a choice not one to be denied others.

[Bragi]

40. Scared people should just relax

I think the world would be a better place if the minority who think they need guns learned to live unafraid and gun-free, just like most other people do.

[Recursion]

41. If you're "unafraid" why do you react the way you do to guns in public? (nt)

[Bragi]

42. People who feel they need guns seem unbalanced to me

I think anyone who is so afraid of others that they think they need access to lethal force at any time is what I'd call "not well grounded in reality."

I think its natural to be nervous when you encounter someone who is both "not well grounded" and "armed with a lethal weapon."

[Recursion]

44. You almost certainly encounter people armed with concealed legal weapons often

You really feel worse when you can actually see that they are armed, rather than when you can't? Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.

[Bragi]

46. All scared people with guns make me nervous

Whether their weapons are on display or not, people who are so scared of other people they think they constantly need to have lethal weapons on their person make me nervous.

In fact, scared people who think they always need to be prepared to kill others seem to be suffering from a combination of paranoia and sociopathy.

[Patiod]

43. You realize they won't be happy until everyone is walking around

Pointing guns at one another all the time, right?

That ANYTHING other than unlimited, unregulated ability for anyone at all to carry anything from pistols to AT-4 shoulder-mounted rocket launchers ANYWHERE (bars, courtrooms, churches, pre-schools, ANYWHERE) is impinging on their civil rights?

That those of us who live in big cities should be absofuckinglutely DELIGHTED to see people around us packing?

As I said before, for the gun crowd, right or left, "well-regulated militia" means absolutely no regulation of any sort. And that the more people who carry, the "safer" we all are? You realize this is the thought pattern, right?

[Recursion]

45. More people are killed with bare hands every year than with rifles

Shouldn't you be more nervous about people's hands? People with hands are everywhere...

[slackmaster]

47. That's a steaming load of bullcrap

Nobody is in favor of having everyone armed.

[aikoaiko]

49. That's quite the imagination you have. I see the pattern in your thinking.

:hurts:

[aikoaiko]

48. Same could be said for you and people like you. Relax and don't worry about open carry.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

37. Which doesn't say much. -nt

[Upton]

23. Discuss away

but when you advocate restricting the constitutionally guaranteed rights of law abiding citizens, don't expect all of us to agree with you..

[Taitertots]

27. Do you have anything that isn't intellectually dishonest straw men?

The gun owners support the vast majority of gun legislation. When you want to discuss this without inserting known falsehoods I'll be here.

[L0oniX]

35. Wake me up when you have something to say that makes any sense. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ