HoosierQ
Member
The open carry debate is heating up.
It has long been my contention that there are a legion of people out there in the "middle of the road" or "straddling the fence" that don't care much one way or another about guns. I have also contended that the majority of those same people, when confronted with a choice at the ballot box to restrict freedom or to support or expand freedom, will opt to support or expand freedom. While they may not care about guns, they may have some fundamental belief in the right to self defense, and may well have interests that require some freedom to pursue (HAM radio, civil aviation).
These horrific mass murders, while shocking and gut wrenching, remain rather distant events...CNN news feeds. Most people will never encounter such a thing. These things do affect opinion but I think not so greatly.
I am very concerned that these open carry demonstrations, legal though they may be, could change the position of these middle roaders...voters we need. Now I am not talking about a gentleman here or there who shows up at the farm store or the Walmart with a holstered gun. A head or two turns, perhaps. I am talking about this business where a bunch of people plan an event and all turn up at the sandwich shop during the lunch rush with a bunch of slung AK-47s, AR-15s, and presumably some Winchesters too.
This kind of thing, in my opinion, does not serve our interest well. This sort of thing is something that takes it off CNN and puts it right there in front of these fence sitters whose votes we need so badly. No, it isn't illegal. No, nobody is getting hurt. But I think it has the tendency to paint an unflattering picture of the gun community. I find it especially pointless in the context of the expansion now of CC to all 50 states.
It has long been my contention that there are a legion of people out there in the "middle of the road" or "straddling the fence" that don't care much one way or another about guns. I have also contended that the majority of those same people, when confronted with a choice at the ballot box to restrict freedom or to support or expand freedom, will opt to support or expand freedom. While they may not care about guns, they may have some fundamental belief in the right to self defense, and may well have interests that require some freedom to pursue (HAM radio, civil aviation).
These horrific mass murders, while shocking and gut wrenching, remain rather distant events...CNN news feeds. Most people will never encounter such a thing. These things do affect opinion but I think not so greatly.
I am very concerned that these open carry demonstrations, legal though they may be, could change the position of these middle roaders...voters we need. Now I am not talking about a gentleman here or there who shows up at the farm store or the Walmart with a holstered gun. A head or two turns, perhaps. I am talking about this business where a bunch of people plan an event and all turn up at the sandwich shop during the lunch rush with a bunch of slung AK-47s, AR-15s, and presumably some Winchesters too.
This kind of thing, in my opinion, does not serve our interest well. This sort of thing is something that takes it off CNN and puts it right there in front of these fence sitters whose votes we need so badly. No, it isn't illegal. No, nobody is getting hurt. But I think it has the tendency to paint an unflattering picture of the gun community. I find it especially pointless in the context of the expansion now of CC to all 50 states.
