Rifle [Open Carry] is fucking stupid. It’s not done to keep peace, it’s done to get attention and create confrontations. And those of us with actual training and experience, especially those of us who carry concealed pistols to defend ourselves, our families and innocent people around us, have to react when we see someone carrying a rifle ready to engage in public. For those of us with a sworn duty to protect the public, OC creates even more problems. This isn’t about police overreaction; after aaallll the mass shootings we’ve had in America, and after the horrors of the Paris attack, any police officer who ignores Random Guy Walking Down The Street With A Rifle is guilty of criminal negligence.
[…]
Now that we’ve seen, over and over, what kind of damage a murderer with a rifle can cause, we sane 2A advocates have a responsibility. If we want to maintain 2nd Amendment freedoms for ourselves, children and grandchildren, we need to oppose the mindless stupidity personified by OC activism. Scaring the public with rifles isn’t exactly the best way to show why we citizens should own ARs and AKs. The Founding Fathers recognized the right to bear arms for a reason: they didn’t want American citizens to fight tyranny with pitchforks against cannon, as so often happened in Europe. It’s safe to say they didn’t want a bunch of untrained dipshits swaggering around town showing the world they could massacre everyone around if they feel like it.
Once again, Chris Hernandez, telling it like it is. (h/t Greg Ellifritz).
Yes, click through and read his entire article, so you can better understand his context. It’s short, but informative – I promise.
Stuff From Hsoi 
This is a good read, John. I also enjoyed reading through the article’s comments, especially this (partial quote) from “Devil_Doc”:
“We’re fighting a propaganda war for the votes of undecided, uniformed people who are going to form opinions (and vote) based on very limited information. One bit of information they get is that pro-2nd people are dead eyed trench coat wearing lunatics with ARs at the low ready, storming the state capital. The other is…what? They’re not going to remember that the same protest was filled 10-1 with with their neighbors who didn’t want anything other than to be left alone. When the time comes to vote, what are they going to remember?”
Thank you.
And that’s a perfect point… especially when a biased media is only going to present a particular picture.
The massive proliferation of 30.07 (and 30.06) signs going up all over Texas right now? It’s precisely because of jackasses like Open Carry Tarrant County and these others that Hernandez refers to — their shenanigans painted a horrible picture in the minds of the undecided and uninformed, and set us back decades.
good for chris! he’s not saying anything i haven’t said, and say, weekly. i mean, if you want to look like one of those wanna-be pretend soldier boys like the assclown seditionists who took over an oregon bird refuge and hopefully will draw jail time this time, then help yourself.
but if i see you openly carrying a rifle down the street or in a public building and you don’t appear to be headed for the countryside or the gun range, i’m dialing 911. as chris said–it’s one of the things we promised to do when they gave us a chl license. /guy
Seriously.
I mean, right there in Chris’ article you see a picture of some dude walking out a door with his rifle in ready position, finger indexed. Dude, that’s pretty much telling me you are ready and able to start shooting. That’s a “trigger” right there. Any sane, logical person that sees something like that is going to think “DANGER” or “THREAT”.
I totally get the political stuff, and I support the general notion. But specific tactics like this? They suck (and in fact, have demonstrably backfired).