One would assume gun owners so enthusiastic about their hobby of firearms and firearms carry that they post on a gun forum catering to handgun self defense would also be for educating the general public about the laws regarding gun ownership and carry. Not always so, it seems.
I came across this thread on the Tennessee Gun Owner's forum where a rookie handgun permit holder was wrongly informed by a liquor store owner that he wasn't allowed to carry a gun in a place that serves alcohol. It is in fact legal to do so if you have a handgun carry permit. The business owner does have the right to ban the carry of guns but the business must be properly posted. What is the advice this permit holder gets from other gun owners in the same post? Pretty much don't rock the boat by informing him of the law or he might post a sign banning handgun carry altogether and we won't be able to go there and buy our booze anymore. Basically these fellow gun owners would rather have personal gain over educating someone on the law.
One way of educating the general public about firearms carry is by openly carrying a firearm. Open carry (OC) is legal in TN with a handgun carry permit. By openly carrying a firearm while being polite and going about your normal day to day business you are showing people that good guys can in fact carry guns and desensitizing the general public to the whole "guns are bad" thing. Those that OC regularly tell of these type stories happening all the time.
Unfortunately there are handgun carry permit holders that hate the idea of open carry. They hate it so much that their bias causes them to make up stuff. Down right lie about those that open carry.
From the same TGO forum comes this thread on a recent incident where a man is stopped by the police for open carrying near a school. The man had a permit and was totally obeying all laws. There was a limited amount of info given in the news article but by the time the post is finished the anti-OC crowd has him wearing camouflage and walking through active school zones and on school property. One of the embellishers is actually a former law enforcement officer. Probably a good thing he is "former"?
And from the same TGO forum Here's another example of glowing bias. Someone is kicked out of a mall for legally carrying a gun and even though he said it was concealed in the first post the anti-OC crowd immediately jump on him for open carrying. In the same post you can another "don't rock the boat" suggestion showing personal gain and convenience over principal and gun rights. These "fellow" gun owners would rather give their money to businesses that do not want them to carry while concealing their gun and not letting the owners know. The guy in the thread that is confronted on this and blows up and starts the name calling is actually the same former law enforcement officer that helped make up stories in the other thread.
Yeah, nice people to have on your side.
No comments:
Post a Comment