Most folks are so unused to seeing normal people carrying guns around, out in the open, that when they it, they freak out.
Among those who are at least, well, unsettled by the spectacle? The police.
Funny, the gun freaker-outers don’t usually freak when they see police with guns. But that may be changing as more and more video footage comes out regarding police shootings of suspects under suspicious circumstances.
It is not exactly by accident that there are protests in numerous cities.
So, police being human, we cannot be surprised when, after the Dallas and Baton Rouge killings of police, “[t]he head of the Cleveland police union called on the governor of Ohio to declare a state of emergency and to suspend open-carry gun rights during the Republican national convention. . . .”
The governor’s office responded that Gov. John Kasich had no authority to do such a thing. Open carry was a law in the state. Only inside buildings could carry rights be suspended (as they have been, selectively).
Steve Loomis, the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association head, said that he did not “care what the legal precedent” may be, and “couldn’t care less if it’s legal or not.”
If Loomis, a leader in “law enforcement,” boasts this attitude, no wonder police have had so many trigger finger incidents, sparking so much anguish, protest, and debate.
It’s time for police to rethink their approach to people who have rights to carry weapons.
Perhaps more importantly, we should all try not to freak out so easily.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
2 replies on “The Freak-out Factor”
As a concealed carry permit holder in the state of Louisiana, and a firm believer in my rights under the 2nd Amendment, I am nonetheless NOT a fan of open carry. I think it can instill fear in others, and I also think it could endanger my life. If I am open carrying in a convenience store, and an armed robber appears on the scene, if he sees my weapon, I believe he will probably take me out first. I am a member of the NRA and the National Association for Gun Rights, and I know there are varying positions on open carry. It does not bother me to see a police officer with a weapon, but how do I know that the guy standing next to me with a 9mm strapped to his hip even has a permit to carry an is an honest, law abiding citizen? The answer is….I don’t know. My weapon will stay concealed until needed to defend my life or the lives of others. This isn’t the wild west where everyone wore their six-shooters on their hips. At least Miss Kitty (Gunsmoke) kept hers in the folds of her fancy dresses! Out of sight, out of mind, but most of all just use some common sense about all of this. I would have suspended the law anywhere in close proximity of the convention. I don’t want any gun violence going on in the streets of Cleveland.
I would make the claim that when a normal citizen sees someone with a gun, he/she should freak out if and only if the person with the gun is a cop. Cops have proven innumerable times that they can’t be trusted to use a firearm responsibly, while normal people with guns are statistically extremely law-abiding.