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The Range
Law & Order
AR open carry at Hafer park in Edmond
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<blockquote data-quote="Ethan N" data-source="post: 3224386" data-attributes="member: 29267"><p>I completely support the goal of normalizing the sight of firearms being carried in everyday situations, including taking a walk in the park. There’s no good reason the sight of someone carrying a firearm should be alarming absent any indication they intend to use it for an unlawful purpose. But we’re not there yet. What this guy did was too inflammatory for the current climate. Heck, it appears it was too inflammatory for most of OSA. It was a strategic mistake. People need time and gradual steps to acclimate to the fact that their fears of firearms are irrational and that countless ordinary people carry guns around them every day without anything bad happening as a result.</p><p></p><p>This guy’s purpose of educating the public and the police would have been better served by doing something more organized, like carrying AR style pistols in a group, including women and children, and notifying police ahead of time. That would have been perceived as less threatening to the current societal norms, since it would have framed it more as a political demonstration and removed the element of an urgent police response, but still would have moved the needle and forced Edmond PD to educate themselves of the relevant laws. Do that once or twice, get it on the news, and then a guy going for a walk alone in the park with a gun on a sling doesn’t seem like such an emergency. Still going to make people nervous? Yep. And that’s okay. The more experiences people have where they encounter guns being used/carried lawfully and their worst fears aren’t realized, the more they will internalize the fact that lawful gun ownership, even of scary-looking guns, is not the threat they imagine it to be.</p><p></p><p>Now, I would prefer not to have people carrying long guns around all the time. I don’t think there’s ordinarily a compelling reason to and I’m not crazy about the idea of people walking around without triggers covered by a holster. If I’m at the park with my kids and a guy walks by with an AR-15, I might be uncomfortable. And I’ll keep an eye on him. But he has just as much right to use the park as I do, and to carry whatever firearm he believes is most suitable for him and his lawful purposes. If I get uncomfortable enough, I’m free to leave the park. I’m willing to put up with that inconvenience to know that whatever situation arises, I and everyone else in Oklahoma will have the freedom to choose whatever weapon is appropriate for the circumstances. For example, if there’s massive civil unrest and I have to go out in public (something I would avoid if at all possible), I’m not going to take only a pistol. If that situation came up and police hadn’t already been exposed to lawful rifle carry, it’s likely they would try to prevent it. Auditors like Tim, despite how frustrating they can be and the mistakes they make, <em>are</em> helping keep those rights alive for the rest of us. So just as much as they deserve to be criticized for their errors, they deserve to be thanked for doing a thankless job and for the things they get right. In this case, we can all probably at least agree that he was respectful and obedient to the police’s lawful orders (although technically the SDA doesn’t allow disarming a licensee like they did).</p><p></p><p>Someone mentioned that we can’t tell a long gun toting hick out on a grocery trip from a mass shooter. Seriously? That’s the same tired argument used against open carrying holstered pistols. You want to know how to tell the difference? The mass shooter is the guy pointing a gun and shooting at people, not the guy putting eggs and milk in his shopping cart. If you’re imagining the presence of a gun being your main clue that someone is up to no good, you are in dire need of reevaluating your survival preparedness. Far more important and relevant than being able to say “derp, that guy has a gun,” is having good situational awareness and the ability to recognize and respond to pre-attack indicators. Not every violent criminal is going to come at you with an AR-15 in hand. Be more wary of people who aren’t acting right than people who happen to be openly carrying a firearm, long or otherwise.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ethan N, post: 3224386, member: 29267"] I completely support the goal of normalizing the sight of firearms being carried in everyday situations, including taking a walk in the park. There’s no good reason the sight of someone carrying a firearm should be alarming absent any indication they intend to use it for an unlawful purpose. But we’re not there yet. What this guy did was too inflammatory for the current climate. Heck, it appears it was too inflammatory for most of OSA. It was a strategic mistake. People need time and gradual steps to acclimate to the fact that their fears of firearms are irrational and that countless ordinary people carry guns around them every day without anything bad happening as a result. This guy’s purpose of educating the public and the police would have been better served by doing something more organized, like carrying AR style pistols in a group, including women and children, and notifying police ahead of time. That would have been perceived as less threatening to the current societal norms, since it would have framed it more as a political demonstration and removed the element of an urgent police response, but still would have moved the needle and forced Edmond PD to educate themselves of the relevant laws. Do that once or twice, get it on the news, and then a guy going for a walk alone in the park with a gun on a sling doesn’t seem like such an emergency. Still going to make people nervous? Yep. And that’s okay. The more experiences people have where they encounter guns being used/carried lawfully and their worst fears aren’t realized, the more they will internalize the fact that lawful gun ownership, even of scary-looking guns, is not the threat they imagine it to be. Now, I would prefer not to have people carrying long guns around all the time. I don’t think there’s ordinarily a compelling reason to and I’m not crazy about the idea of people walking around without triggers covered by a holster. If I’m at the park with my kids and a guy walks by with an AR-15, I might be uncomfortable. And I’ll keep an eye on him. But he has just as much right to use the park as I do, and to carry whatever firearm he believes is most suitable for him and his lawful purposes. If I get uncomfortable enough, I’m free to leave the park. I’m willing to put up with that inconvenience to know that whatever situation arises, I and everyone else in Oklahoma will have the freedom to choose whatever weapon is appropriate for the circumstances. For example, if there’s massive civil unrest and I have to go out in public (something I would avoid if at all possible), I’m not going to take only a pistol. If that situation came up and police hadn’t already been exposed to lawful rifle carry, it’s likely they would try to prevent it. Auditors like Tim, despite how frustrating they can be and the mistakes they make, [I]are[/I] helping keep those rights alive for the rest of us. So just as much as they deserve to be criticized for their errors, they deserve to be thanked for doing a thankless job and for the things they get right. In this case, we can all probably at least agree that he was respectful and obedient to the police’s lawful orders (although technically the SDA doesn’t allow disarming a licensee like they did). Someone mentioned that we can’t tell a long gun toting hick out on a grocery trip from a mass shooter. Seriously? That’s the same tired argument used against open carrying holstered pistols. You want to know how to tell the difference? The mass shooter is the guy pointing a gun and shooting at people, not the guy putting eggs and milk in his shopping cart. If you’re imagining the presence of a gun being your main clue that someone is up to no good, you are in dire need of reevaluating your survival preparedness. Far more important and relevant than being able to say “derp, that guy has a gun,” is having good situational awareness and the ability to recognize and respond to pre-attack indicators. Not every violent criminal is going to come at you with an AR-15 in hand. Be more wary of people who aren’t acting right than people who happen to be openly carrying a firearm, long or otherwise. [/QUOTE]
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