would you freak out if you were shopping and saw a man with an AR15?

[Phoenix86]

I don't get bothered by people carrying a sidearm or concealed weapon because they are small enough to be worn comfortably without causing any issues. A long gun is inconvenient to carry around, enough so that I would worry about why someone would trouble themselves to bring it with them in a place it wasn't required. And you'll note that every one of these situations in the past few weeks, where people were carrying AR-15s or other rifles around, they either did it to make a political statement or to actually commit a shooting. There wasn't a single person who responded "I carry this everywhere with me," because they don't, because it's inconvenient to do so.

Carrying a pistol is like carrying a knife; it's relatively small and inconspicuous and you can get so used to carrying it on your person that you almost forget it's there. Carrying a rifle isn't like that. Someone carrying a rifle has a purpose, and I don't know whether their purpose is to potentially cause me harm or not, so I err on the side of caution.

That's almost a good reason under normal circumstances. I think it's pretty obvious the reason he's doing it is to make a statement, it's a political protest using legal means. As such, I really don't have an issue with it.

However, as noted, handguns kill FAR more people. The concealed carriers (mostly illegal) are the ones that people should actually fear. So why the disparity?

 

[SparkyJJO]

For the original question, it totally depends on what the person is doing with it. If it is just strapped on his back and he's carrying on like any other normal person, I may be curious and cautious but other than that probably just leave him alone. Obviously, if he's threatening people with it that's another story

The same thing can be said about anyone carrying ANY gun, "scary" AR-15, old hunting rifle, handgun, or otherwise.

 

[Phoenix86]

Exactly. 99.9% correct... The 0.1% missing is that #1 is probably itching for a reason to use his AR-15 and has fantasies like Ralphie and his Red Rider BB gun (because they crave attention).

I'd rather just go to another store than risk getting shot or give this fuckhead any delusion of the deserved attention he was looking to get.

I see this posted over and over and over and over again.

Legal gun owners itching to kill someone. I'm sure there are cases of this, I know there are. However, it's no where near .1% Probably closer to .001%, yet this actually gains traction with the anti-gun crowd. Even if you could quantify the %, and it was a full 1% WANT to do it, what's the % of that who actually do?

The lack of logic is astounding. I mean, simply breath taking.

Someone think of the children!

 

[Absolution75]

needs the "be cautious around him" option

its definitely not the "norm" but I would react the same way as when I see any other open carry

 

[Smoblikat]

I would do nothing except tell him that he has a nice gun................and his firearm is pretty cool too

 

[Rifter]

Well i had a conversation with a friend today about this subject(he is a RCMP officer BTW) and he said something worth repeating so here it is.

Assuming that open carry is legal in the location that this is happening and the person is making zero threatening actions and acting totally normal then calling the police about it makes no sense.

Think about this, more people by a large order of magnatide are killed each year by motor vehicles than guns, that is a fact.

So if in your location driving a vehicle is legal and open carry is legal then calling the police because someone is open carrying a firearm would be the same thing as calling them because you saw a vehicle drive by, both could be used to kill someone and the motor vehicle is used more for that purpose each year than the firearm.

In other words its nothing but a giant waste of police resources and he even went as far as to say the people calling this in should be charged a fine for the wasted resources for calling in something that is not a crime especially since he said alot of the time the person calling 911 in these situations will greatly exaggerate the situation and say that the person with the firewarm is threatening or pointing it at someone and when they respond 90% of the time that is clearly not the case.

 

[momeNt]

I find it funny that the article ends with:


However, earlier the police told the guys openly carrying that they were tying up police resources:


So the police encourage people to call when they see someone open carrying, but then complain that it's taking up resources. They can't have it both ways.

No the police are trying to make an argument that open carrying is against the state's interest because of how they end up tying up resources. It's all part of the message.

 

[DCal430]

A guy carrying a weapon of mass murder, shit yes I would run and call 911. He could be planning to now down a whole crowd of people.

 

[jpeyton]

A guy carrying a weapon of mass murder

We know where they are. They're in the area around Tikrit and Baghdad and east, west, south and north somewhat.

 

[momeNt]

A guy carrying a weapon of mass murder, shit yes I would run and call 911. He could be planning to now down a whole crowd of people.

I don't even go into grocery stores that sell liquor for that very reason. All it takes is a rag and a lighter and you will incinerate every one in the building.

So I don't really know how I'd react to seeing an AR-15 in a grocery store. I'd probably be like why the fuck am I in a grocery store!

 

[jumpncrash]

I'm in Canada, so I would shit bricks for sure, I've never seen anything bigger than a shotgun.

 

[darrontrask]

My thoughts are that more people should be carrying open. Wouldn't that make the "bad guys" think twice. I know that if I was having nefarious thoughts and was going to make a "statement" I would surely think twice if I knew "Joe" was armed and ready to take me out at the first sign of trouble. We create these no gun zones which open the door for assholes. If everyone were armed and capable don't you think these types of attacks would be reduced? Removing the equalizers are just going to give a leg up on the element that is going to follow through with their evil plans. As we all know the criminal element doesn't give two shits if what they are carrying is illegal, but you can bet your ass that if the playing field were leveled they have second thoughts. Quit trying to remove our guns, let's educate everyone on proper technique and let the criminal element know we are prepared. Make it easier to legally carry so that more people are prepared and I would guess gun violence would decrease over the long haul.

 

[sandorski]

At first, nervous as hell. Nervousness would fade as I see the dude wasn't going to do anything. Later I'd just facepalm at how stupid the dude is.

 

[OCGuy]

A guy carrying a weapon of mass murder, shit yes I would run and call 911. He could be planning to now down a whole crowd of people.

Do you still wet the bed?

 

[Staples]

If it was an open carry state, I'd just figure he was a gun nut with a small penis.

On another noite, I want to see gun nuts duel. Isn't this what every gun nut dreams about, having to shoot some guy with a gun and saving the day.

Remember these guys who brought AR15s to Obama rallys a few years ago? Same thing, small penises.

 

[momeNt]

If it was an open carry state, I'd just figure he was a gun nut with a small penis.

On another noite, I want to see gun nuts duel. Isn't this what every gun nut dreams about, having to shoot some guy with a gun and saving the day.

Remember these guys who brought AR15s to Obama rallys a few years ago? Same thing, small penises.

Research Homicidal Ideation. Approximately 90% of people have dreams about murdering people, not just gun nuts. Stop projecting.

 

[OCGuy]

Remember these guys who brought AR15s to Obama rallys a few years ago? Same thing, small penises.

You mean the one guy? That the MSM hid the fact that he was black, just to continue the narrative that anyone who values their 2nd amendment rights is a knuckle-dragging red-neck?

Nice example, nancy.

 

[jpeyton]

Research Homicidal Ideation. Approximately 90% of people have dreams about murdering people, not just gun nuts. Stop projecting.

Well to be fair to Staples, he was dead on about the small penis part. My penis is extremely small.

 

[Phoenix86]

No the police are trying to make an argument that open carrying is against the state's interest because of how they end up tying up resources. It's all part of the message.

They don't have to send units when called. The 911 operator could simply explain it's legal and there's no reason to respond.

 

[eits]

I see this posted over and over and over and over again.

Legal gun owners itching to kill someone. I'm sure there are cases of this, I know there are. However, it's no where near .1% Probably closer to .001%, yet this actually gains traction with the anti-gun crowd. Even if you could quantify the %, and it was a full 1% WANT to do it, what's the % of that who actually do?

The lack of logic is astounding. I mean, simply breath taking.

Someone think of the children!

I wasn't saying that's the number of people itching to shoot someone. I'm talking about how much I agreed with the post except for that small percentage. That 0.1% represented a missing bit to everything he said that I agreed with.

 

[Cerb]

I'm in Canada, so I would shit bricks for sure, I've never seen anything bigger than a shotgun.

I'd wager most people haven't. A shotgun outfitted mainly as a hunting gun can be quite big and heavy. If you look at one with an AR15-type next to it, you'd see that the AR-15's squat design, typically with a big grip, make it look a lot bigger than it is; whereas grandpa's duck hunting gun's smooth lines make it seem smaller and lighter than it is.

My thoughts are that more people should be carrying open. Wouldn't that make the "bad guys" think twice.

That Some counter arguments:
1. By open carrying, someone going to commit a heinous crime will kil you before you can try to draw your weapon.
2. Your weapon could become a target, or even the target. IE, if someone would be willing to kill you for your wallet or car, they'll have no problems killing you for your gun, and would make a point to make it hard for you to draw.
3. If they are planning a robbery or some such, they'll wait for you to leave. You have only added a delay. Whether that would be particularly good or bad is anyone's guess.

By concealed carrying, you have a tactical advantage, in that one or more bad guys do not know you are carrying, which will give you a chance to actually draw your weapon, and make use of it as a threat, or actually use it, better.

Personally, I'm not sure banning open carry would do more good than harm (there's at least one lady in Texas who has a strong opinion on that), but the arguments for choosing concealed carry, if you can, do make a lot of sense.

Same thing, small penises.

What about the ones who don't even have penises? What do you consider to be their problem?

 

[IceBergSLiM]

around 10pm I was leaving a restuarant and saw 4-5 militaryesque looking guys donned in dark colored (for night) camo. They exited an unassuming appartment above a pho restuarant. They were each carrying either rifles in bags or unbagged and they all piled into a black suburban and left.

I did nothing.

 

[thestrangebrew1]

I chose run like hell w/o really thinking about it. Hindsight, I guess it would depend. Like someone else posted, if it's strapped on his back, I'd be cautious and just carry on, probably in a more hurried state. If he's got it pointing around like an idiot I'd GTFO. I'm just not very comfortable around firearms, I love shooting them, just not enough experience around them.

 

[OCGuy]

If only people knew just how many people around them are concealed carrying, they would not be so scared of open-carry.

 

[olds]

I'm in Canada, so I would shit bricks for sure, I've never seen anything bigger than a shotgun.