Pro/con: Is open display of guns at rallies going too far? Yes

[femurphy77]

"Armed Mobs"???? Cool!! I've never been a part of an "Armed Mob" before!!! Can we have a pitchfork AND a torch????

Of course an editorial isn't about providing fair details, it's about trying to sway an opinion. My editorial; "Morons".

 

[christman]

Can we have a pitchfork AND a torch????

It wouldn't be a high quality mob without a solid torch in one hand. At least all the other ones I have been to have had them. Except that one where we were lost in the woods for hours just doing circles. Man, we could have used a good torch then...

 

[Bendrx]

sorry guys but to the average citizen driving buy, they just saw a bunch of guys with guns and didnt learn crap. i think your better off working the media, or paying for billboard and newspaper advertisement to raise awareness. slap it in their face "profesionaly" where they cant run away. this all coming from a guy who OC's everyday!

I'd have to disagree generally speaking. Aside from the guy in the Charger who held his pistol out the sunroof and honked excitedly (That was really bad) , a good impression was made. Obviously not everybody was thrilled to see it, but that's tough. I see alot of things I don't really want to see out in public. I deal with it. Nobody ran away in fear, most folks were just curious. Several folks stopped to talk for a bit even. To each their own, but I say at worst it was net 0, and more likely it was a +. Not going to win over the hearts of those who hate, but the neutral ones now know that a group of heavily armed citizens (I called in a "Mobile Crime Free Zone") can get along and not cause trouble despite what the media says.

 

[Suprtek]

As responsible gun owners, it is up to us to change public opinion. Giving in to the other side will never accomplish this. If we continue to exercise our rights in a responsible manner, eventually the general public will change it's misinformed perception that carrying = brandishing.

 

[Dsgnr_81]

let's crunch the numbers...

Number of people killed by guns in the United States in 2004: 29,569

Percentage breakdown by US gun deaths in 2004, by type: [most recent data I could come across via yahoo answers, so who knows how accurate?]

* 16,750 suicides (56% of all U.S. gun deaths)
* 11,624 homicides (40%)
* 649 unintentional shootings, 311 from legal intervention and 235 from undetermined intent (4%).


So if you take these numbers into account, and use the VPC's numbers from 2009. here is what you end up with.

number of criminal deaths [does not include suicides or unintentional shootings/legal intervention or undertermined intent] = 11,624


Same number of criminal deaths from LTCH or equivalent individuals [no data on whether this number includes individual suicides] = 166


SO, the percentage of killings performed by licensed shooters = 1.428%

Which means that 98.572 percent of killings were caused by unlicensed individuals.

 

[Dsgnr_81]

BTW, using the same statistics from yahoo, approximately 3.5 million people in the USofA have LTCH's. Which means that the percentage of those people who have murdered someone is somewhere in the neighborhood of .005%

 

[Prometheus]

Ohio probably would not have a license/permit to carry (at least not as quickly) had the activists not held large-scale demonstrations where everyone carried openly (which was legal before they passed their carry law).

Oh, and Josh Sugarmann is an idiot and has been demonstrating that for years now.

this ^^^

 

[SSGSAD]

I must agree, with 38special, and bendrx, as I was part of the 2A march,
and did not 'feel' like an armed mob... Quite the contrary, we had a peaceful 'march', and no real bad outcome.... some people were very
open with their comments... I can't wait for the next one....

 

[leftsock]

Exploiting loopholes in state laws that don't explicitly ban the open carrying of handguns and other firearms is an omission of default rather than design...

I always thought it was an omission by design.

Apparently this author didn't consider that state governments took a stance on our existing rights by doing nothing. Another law can't make it "more legal" than it already is. This is the sort of fellow who didn't color outside the lines.

 

[leftsock]

Carrying guns might make them feel safer from the demons that populate their world, but what about the rest of us?

Okay, what about the rest of "us?"

Heck, I like this website!
VPC - Concealed Carry Killers
The statistics make killings by licensed carriers a non-issue.
Since May 2007, 332 people. That's it!

From 2007 through 2009, 106 people were struck by lightning.
In that same time period, 221 people died from extreme heat.
NWS Weather Fatality, Injury and Damage Statistics

 

[jbombelli]

Personally, I think we need MORE armed people at rallies.

I'm still dreaming of the Million Armed Men March, where a million people with guns all drive to DC at around mid-afternoon, stop their cars in the middle of the roads (completely gridlocking every road around the capitol building), get out their guns and grills and have a big tailgate party. With signs and banners. Maybe camp there for a couple days. I'd take vacation for that.

How awesome would that be?

 

[rhino]

It wouldn't be a high quality mob without a solid torch in one hand. At least all the other ones I have been to have had them. Except that one where we were lost in the woods for hours just doing circles. Man, we could have used a good torch then...

That would violate Proper Mob Protocol, sir.

Torches go with pitchforks. If you've got guns, you need to carry lanterns.

 

[Seancass]

Personally, I think we need MORE armed people at rallies.

I'm still dreaming of the Million Armed Men March, where a million people with guns all drive to DC at around mid-afternoon, stop their cars in the middle of the roads (completely gridlocking every road around the capitol building), get out their guns and grills and have a big tailgate party. With signs and banners. Maybe camp there for a couple days. I'd take vacation for that.

How awesome would that be?

You'd stop one mail truck somewhere on the highway. That'd be a federal offence. They'd call in the guard/army and arrest one million people.

But I'd bring burgers, potatos, and some mauser.

 

[jbombelli]

You'd stop one mail truck somewhere on the highway. That'd be a federal offence. They'd call in the guard/army and arrest one million people.

But I'd bring burgers, potatos, and some mauser.

I'd like to see them try to arrest ONE MILLION people. That would be quite the sight. Especially if those million people decided they weren't in the mood to be arrested that day.