Folks, I have been trying to put together a blog post on this but, I'm suffering writers' block. Here's the deal. The Open Carry issue has been thrust into the eye of the national media lately and the result is not all positive. If I've never made it clear, I firmly believe in the 2nd Amendment. I am no shill for Obama and have nothing in common with the Brady Campaign. However, as I see it, we as a community may in fact be our own worst enemy. This isn't about blaming Open Carry folks, it's about a community's tendency to throw its own people under the bus.
Thirty years ago, the NRA and much of gun community in general threw "machine gun" owners and manufacturers under the bus to support the firearm Owners' Protection Act. It happened again with the import ban of 1989 in which the NRA, led by hunters and Elmer Fud collectors, again tossed anything that didn't have a "sporting purpose" under the bus. This of course was a partial blueprint for the next big exercise in bus driving, the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, aka the Assault Weapon Ban. Folks, we are again seeing an exercise in bus driving with open carry.
The big difference this time around is both sides of the open carry issue are running each other over. Open Carry folks claim they are educating people and that rights not exercised are rights lost. Concealed carry folks say they are just scaring people and that it will result in the loss of rights we already have. I would suggest that both are right but, each is starting to see the other as a threat to 2nd Amendment and this conflict is undermining the collective power of our community. I do not pretend to have the answer but, folks, we need to find a way to get past this infighting before it destroys us from within.
Thirty years ago, the NRA and much of gun community in general threw "machine gun" owners and manufacturers under the bus to support the firearm Owners' Protection Act. It happened again with the import ban of 1989 in which the NRA, led by hunters and Elmer Fud collectors, again tossed anything that didn't have a "sporting purpose" under the bus. This of course was a partial blueprint for the next big exercise in bus driving, the 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, aka the Assault Weapon Ban. Folks, we are again seeing an exercise in bus driving with open carry.
The big difference this time around is both sides of the open carry issue are running each other over. Open Carry folks claim they are educating people and that rights not exercised are rights lost. Concealed carry folks say they are just scaring people and that it will result in the loss of rights we already have. I would suggest that both are right but, each is starting to see the other as a threat to 2nd Amendment and this conflict is undermining the collective power of our community. I do not pretend to have the answer but, folks, we need to find a way to get past this infighting before it destroys us from within.