My impression of today's open carry "Self-Defense" walk.
First a thank-you to Vernon Ferrier and his friends for organizing this
event. Thank you! It was well thought out and organized, making participating very easy. Having the printed forms available to read and sign, listing the rules for the walk, left no doubt as to the conduct expected of the participants. Any future self-defence walks that are organized, would do well touse your experience as a starting place.
I noticed that a press release stated the number of participants as 50. That
sounds about right. I didn't make a head count and I'm really bad at crowd
estimating so that number sounds pretty good.
The mix of people was about as you would expect. Some old guys like myself, some younger women and men, and everything in between. From my past experience meeting pro self-protection people, this was the norm. People from across the spectrum as far as age and occupation. Being pro-CCW wasn't the only thing we had in common, the folks I met were also polite and friendly. I had a nice time chatting with a few of them, both before and during the walk. It may surprise the anti-CCW people but very little of the conversations were about concealed carry and none of the conversations I was involved in mentioned "guns" as a topic. We talked about everything from the weather to the neat old homes in the neighborhood.
The press seemed to be well represented. I don't know who all of them were, but there was a rep. from the Enquirer and from Channel 9. They shot video and photos from about every angle conceivable, all along the route. Very interesting to watch and very professionally done in my opinion. (I have no past experience to base this on) I wasn't interviewed, but that's probably a good thing. I'm normally pretty gabby, but I'm not sure how I would react to speaking "on the record". A lot of "Uhhh's" and "Duhhs", I suspect.
There were counter protesters there. About 8 of them I believe. A smaller
group than I would have guessed but they we doing their best. They followed along on the route with us, and were as well behaved as we were. A couple of younger guys with "super soakers" were a bit vocal, but I heard no shouts, they made their point (whatever it was) without being rude or vulgar in the least. No, I don't agree with the anti-CCW viewpoint, but I can't anything bad about the way the opposition behaved.
The local police were there. Probably more of them than I realized, but the
way they handled the event was great. They were there, but they weren't
intrusive. If you made a point of looking for them (in between conversations about early 1900s architecture) they were there, it made you feel like you were being watched over not put under a microscope. Thanks go to them all for making the walk a positive experience for us and I'm sure, making the people living in the area feel ok about having so many strangers walking around the neighborhood.
As interesting as the walk was, next comes the real interesting part and the
reason for having the event. How will this be protrayed in the press?
Certainly I have my own perspective of the rally. It was quiet, it was respectful of the people in the area, and it was uneventful. There were lots of handguns in plain view. There were plenty of photographers to snap close-ups of them. Now to see if the connection is made in the press between the walk, the openly carried firearms, and the group's preference to have a good concealed carry law in place for Ohio citizens instead of open carry. I'll carry openly if that's the only way we're allowed to provide for self-protection with a firearm, but my goal is still to have the same rights as all of the people in our surrounding states. The upcoming week will be interesting, folks.
Will I attend another freedom-walk? You bet I will. And I encourage all of
you to participate as well. No walk in your area? Organize one! I'd like to come and meet you.
Tom
