View Full Version : An "Open Carry" Picnic
Not sure if this belongs in the Politics forum or the Lounge.
On Saturday, there will be a "open carry" picnic in a park here. There's also a Little League baseball game going on. That's right: jackasses will be standing around drinking Bud, packing heat in a park filled with children and families.
I'm not against their guns but how is it a good idea to take them to a peaceful, safe park on a Saturday June afternoon?
Does your local law allow the guns to be loaded? Around here they can't be loaded and the police are free to stop you whenever you want and check.
I don't really have a problem with such things in theory as I don't really fear those people. I just don't understand living in such a state of paranoia and fear of society that one would feel the need or desire to do so.
Does your local law allow the guns to be loaded?
The short answer is yes. The state leaves it up to the local municipalities.
The longer answer is the picnic was originally to be in a park policed by the county. The sheriff said that anyone carrying a firearm that was not unloaded and in a carrying case could be cited for violating county ordinance. This is why the organizers moved the picnic to a park in a town which allows loaded guns. The guns must be holstered.
Strangler Lewis
06-17-2010, 10:41 AM
Sadly, for some, nothing says family outing like the presence of guns or pitbulls.
JWBear
06-17-2010, 01:57 PM
I just don't understand living in such a state of paranoia and fear of society that one would feel the need or desire to do so.
They're afraid that all the darker skinned people will be coming for them now that one of them is President.
After Obama won the election a certain relative of mine and her husband stated that they were stocking up on ammunition for just that eventuality.
And they are strong tea party supporters....
Capt Jack
06-17-2010, 04:54 PM
you know, not all of us who support the 2nd amendment are racists. some may indeed be a bit more radical than others and have some very strange ideas of how to show it...and still others may indeed not agree with some of the current presidents policies. however that surely shouldnt pidgeon hole us all into the "backward, redneck, racist, white hood wearing cross burners" that many seem to see us as.
just sayin
Ghoulish Delight
06-17-2010, 05:01 PM
you know, not all of us who support the 2nd amendment are racists. some may indeed be a bit more radical than others and have some very strange ideas of how to show it...and still others may indeed not agree with some of the current presidents policies. however that surely shouldnt pidgeon hole us all into the "backward, redneck, racist, white hood wearing cross burners" that many seem to see us as.
just sayin
Would you show up to a public park within sight of a little league baseball game with a gun holstered at your side, just to prove a point?
I'm guessing not. And I think it's a fair bet that, among those who would, there exists a higher than average (either the average among the general population, or even the average among gun owners) density of folks whose attitude towards race I would have serious issue with.
JWBear
06-17-2010, 05:03 PM
you know, not all of us who support the 2nd amendment are racists. some may indeed be a bit more radical than others and have some very strange ideas of how to show it...and still others may indeed not agree with some of the current presidents policies. however that surely shouldnt pidgeon hole us all into the "backward, redneck, racist, white hood wearing cross burners" that many seem to see us as.
just sayin
I wasn't referring to all people who use guns, just the paranoid tea bagger kind.
I'm not sure what about it is made worse by there being a Little League game nearby.
JWBear
06-17-2010, 05:05 PM
I'm not sure what about it is made worse by there being a Little League game nearby.
Perhaps that, if one of these loonies goes off and starts shooting, there's a higher likelyhood that a child will be injured or killed.
Ghoulish Delight
06-17-2010, 05:08 PM
I don't consider the fact that there's a little league game any more of a public safety risk. I just think it's classless to intrude on those kids' day with their stupid political b.s.
BarTopDancer
06-17-2010, 05:10 PM
Better never travel to a state that allows concealed weapons.
The gun owners who show up at an event like this are probably going to be the gun owners who are responsible gun owners, not the irresponsible ones who hide their weapons from the police.
I'll get behind what Jack said (and Alex too).
innerSpaceman
06-17-2010, 05:28 PM
With exceptions made for individuals, I'm pretty confident supporters of the purported 2nd Amendment right to bear arms have a screw loose somewhere.
Oh, people who just want guns for violence or protection or compensation for other shortcomings may support the 2nd Amendment for their own reasons that have nothing to do with the second amendment. But those who think they can form some militia to either aid or thwart the government in the 21st Century, much less the prior two, are patently delusional.
Perhaps that, if one of these loonies goes off and starts shooting, there's a higher likelyhood that a child will be injured or killed.
Sure, but that supposes two things:
1. That there is any real increased likelihood of gunfire. In fact, considering the political point they're trying to make it might be true that this is the safest group of people to be around if you want to avoid being shot.
2. That a child being shot is worse than anybody else who might be shot.
I guess it also presumes that they're all loonies but I know you like to paint with as broad a brush as possible. So I just chalk that up to your own endearing looniness.
To GD's last point I'd say that if children aren't to be exposed to political BS then they should hold their activities elsewhere than in public places.
Gemini Cricket
06-17-2010, 05:52 PM
Now it makes me wonder if Cowboy Capt Jack was packing heat during our camp out!
:D
Not Afraid
06-17-2010, 07:00 PM
Now it makes me wonder if Cowboy Capt Jack was packing heat during our camp out!
:D
If CJ was packing heat while camping - and it was ok to shoot at things in National Parks, I wouldn't have a problem with it. I'm not a big fan of guns, I will never shoot one voluntarily, nor will I ever own one. I really don't want to see your average Joe walking around with a gun holstered to his side. I'm not sure WHY someone would want to do that unless their delusional and think they are in a John Wayne film. I mostly think that the whole idea of this protest is a waste of time and energy, but to each his own.
Strangler Lewis
06-17-2010, 11:56 PM
I'm a supporter of the First Amendment, and I'm a supporter of the Second Amendment. In each case, you can bet that anyone doing anything that requires loud invocation of either Amendment is probably going to be acting like an asshole.
There are good reasons to carry a loaded gun. None of them apply to the picnic.
The picnic's organizers say the purpose is to educate "the PC crowd" that gun owners are careful and safe. This is rural Wisconsin. Almost every household has at least a hunting gun, knife, and/or bow.
Guns kill. That's what they're for. If you want to attract that kind of thing into your life, that is your right. You ought not to have the right to invite death into a peaceful park. Unless you are law enforcement, it's paranoid and sick to carry a loaded gun into a peaceful park.
This picnic will go on and the town will send cops to stand around and watch this crowd. All the organizers will have accomplished is to have hoisted their rabid loony flag high.
Strangler Lewis
06-18-2010, 08:04 AM
I suppose there are elements of such people on each side of the ideological line, but my view of the right wing freedom porn folk is that their overarching credo is their God-given right to take a dump in the middle of the street and then laugh at anyone who's offended.
Morrigoon
06-18-2010, 11:21 PM
The point of the 2nd amendment is to make it possible for the populous to protect themselves from their government, should it ever come to that. Which, by virtue of Americans protecting their 2nd amendment rights, it hopefully never will.
I find guns both intriguing and icky. I think mostly icky.
For me, gun ownership is kinda like abortion - not sure I'd ever want one, but I damn well want the right to it.
alphabassettgrrl
06-18-2010, 11:49 PM
I've never felt the need to display such things. Sure, we've got them, and all, and target shooting is awesome, but to have it in public just because you can? Meh. Whatever. Never felt the need to have a gun rack in the back window of the car, either, when we lived where that was a "thing".
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