Expressing, even a little bit, that there's nothing inherently wrong with open carry is yanking hard on a trip wire.
The people who don't like open carry, and think that nobody should, come out of the woodwork to condemn the very idea.
They insult anyone who does it.
They linkspam without checking to see if their links actually support their position.
They link to people who linkspammed.
A lot of them claim to support the right, but not the act. Then proceed to condemn the act.
If you condemn the act you are condemning the right. It's one thing to say that someone has a right to do something, but that you will not be doing it yourself. It's quite another to say that someone has a right to do something; and they are morons for doing it.
One way supports the right. The other doesn't through condemning the act.
I've tread this path before over helmet laws.
When I rode, I always wore a helmet. I think it's an important, and essential piece of safety equipment and tried my darnedest to get others to wear one too.
But I never wanted to see the wearing of one mandated by law.
We'd go to "Let those who ride decide" rallies and be mobbed by the local press who were expecting us to condemn going bare pate and demand helmet laws.
We would always say that it's a decision that a person has a right to make and they need to make for themselves.
Right or wrong, it's up to them.
That's the thing about liberty and freedom. You're free to fuck up,
even if it kills you. Yes, that's scary. But don't put your fears onto
others at, literal, gunpoint. Another thing about liberty is when
someone has the right to fuck up, you have to let them.
If there are consequences, then they will bear them.
But notice the difference in the advocacy?
We wore helmets to the rally. We vocally, and publicly, stated that it was their right to go without helmets and they they had to make their own decision.
We did not show up and say, "while these morons can decide for themselves what they're going to do; WE'RE wearing helmets; like all intelligent people should!"
One way supports the right while not exercising it; the other condemns the act and the right.
If you're going to be an advocate FOR freedom and liberty you're going to have to learn this lesson; and live it.
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I've been saying for years that everyone wants their Freedom, but Liberty scares the hell out of them.
ReplyDeleteA slave can be free, to the extent their master allows...but they do not have Liberty.
I didn't wear a helmet when I rode. Never cared one way or the other if others wore a lid or not. When my wife and I got hit by an illegal alien, the paramedic told me she would have had her neck snapped if she'd been wearing a helmet because of how she landed on her chin on the pavement after flying through the air. So, for her, a helmet would have been the difference between a titanium jaw or a broken neck.
Same thing with open carry. Do it or don't do it. None of my business. I used to carry open, but now I carry concealed. Mainly because I want it to be a surprise to the bad guy. If open carry was such a bad idea, cops would not do it. Also, I've noticed that most who scream the loudest against open carry don't even carry concealed, even if they have a CCW permit. They often act like they are ashamed they even own a firearm.
The lost on the opponents to open carry zealots is why I started this:
DeleteOn average one person a month is arrested and charged with open carry for accidental and brief exposure. Accidental and brief exposure is supposed to be legal.
When the cops cannot learn the laws they enforce, I always try to make it simpler for them.
Can't tell the difference between intentional and accidental? OK. Make open carry of everything legal!