It’s official: the phrase “open carry” has entered the American lexicon. That’s because gun extremists from Virginia to Washington to Texas and all across the country have started showing up in restaurants, state capitols, and other public places openly carrying loaded semiautomatic rifles. Occasionally donning kilts or gas masks and other attention-getting attire, these extremists look as though they are headed to battle instead of visiting their legislators or picking up milk at their local Kroger grocery store. Why are we seeing these open carry displays more and more often? Because the radical rhetoric of the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) leadership tells us that “the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” And that myth propels the idea that a loaded AK-47 is necessary when dining at Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers, just in case you encounter a bad guy.
It’s as stupid and dangerous as it inflammatory and unreasonable. You take your family out for a nice dinner at your local Applebee’s…and there in the next booth are three aggressive looking men with AK-47s nursing Bud Lights. If you have any sense at all, you’ll gather your family, walk out, and hit the drive-through at Jack in the Box. How can you feel safe when you have people playing out their Rambo fantasies in a family restaurant…or a coffee shop, a mall, or anything public place? All it takes is one accidental discharge…which happens more often than you might think…and an innocent bystander or three is killed or injured.
“Open carry” is now legal in 40 states. In several of those states, one may openly carry a loaded rifle in a public space with no licensing or training required. Think about that for a moment. Someone with no training and no vetting can walk into a coffee shop with a loaded AK-47 or any other long gun slung over their shoulders. In what world could that possibly be seen as a good idea?
Ours, evidently.
And it gets worse. Lax federal gun laws make it possible for virtually anyone- from the sane and rational to the delusional and criminally insane- to obtain and carry a firearm. Combine that with the reality that millions of weapons change hands every year without so much as a cursory background check, and what you have is a recipe for a tragedy looking for a place to happen.
Law enforcement leaders have come out in opposition to open carry because it forces them to ask questions that jeopardize their ability to ensure public safety, like “Does this person have a permit? Is he a felon?” And it’s a drain on law enforcement resources as well. As this video posted by open carry extremists highlights, there is nothing normal about seeing men marching around carrying rifles; it causes genuine concern. Subsequently, when people call 9-1-1, a police officer must be dispatched and forced to deal with difficult open carry extremists.
In Texas, an open carry activist with an arrest record for interfering with police duties recently posted a video threatening Texas state legislators with death if they oppose legislation to legalize unlicensed open carry of handguns. These same gun extremists were responsible for forcing the Texas state legislature to install panic buttons in their chambers last month.
There’s no good reason why anyone needs to be carrying a loaded long gun in a public area. Outside of not being able to tell how aggressive and/or unbalanced an armed individual is, there’s also the risk of someone not trained in or familiar with using a weapon failing to properly secure it. An accidental discharge in a crowded public area can have tragic consequences, but here’s the thing: Open carry zealots don’t care. They don’t care about public safety, they don’t care about looking out for others, and they sure as Hell don’t care that they may be frightening people. Frankly, they’re some of the most selfish, self-absorbed moral midgets imaginable. They truly don’t care about ANYTHING outside of their inalienable and God-given gun rights. They believe that the 2nd Amendment allows them to carry whatever firepower they choose wherever and whenever they deem appropriate. That they’re wrong- WAY wrong- is something that concerns them not at all. As far as open carry zealots are concerned, NOTHING is more important than their rights to carry their weapons wherever, whenever, and however they may choose…and ONLY their self-interested (and incorrect) interpretation of the 2nd Amendment matters to them.
The truly ironic aspect of this absurdity is that open carry zealots claim to be “responsible gun owners.” There’s nothing even remotely responsible about carrying a loaded rifle in a public space. In fact, I can think of little more thoroughly irresponsible than openly and knowingly putting the public at risk in order that you might compensate for your shortcomings.
That’s not exercising your rights; that’s being an asshole…but if you’re willing to carry a loaded rifle into a grocery store, all you’re after is attention, anyway.
