Joe Williams

thanks for the rep! stay vigilant!

Thank you Joe.

Thank you for the rep, I try. LOL

Thanks for the rep! I bet she will really like those fancy grips!

Thanks for the rep!

Thanks Joe. It is amazing how people unwittingly allow their rights to be compromised!

Thx for the rep! Long lasting memory indeed.

Thanks for the rep about the drug store , seems like you have morals to .

Joe, I'm not anti-gun by any stretch of the imagination...on the contrary, I'm more pro-gun than most of the people I know. (I just got home from picking up a sweet Series 80 1911) In the other hand, I'm pro-private-property, and fully recognize the right of a private entity (such as a bank) to dictate what does and does not occur on their property. There are places I'm not allowed to carry either, despite the fact that I'm a LEO...I just don't raise a lot of hell about it. Sometimes we need to accept the fact that some people don't have the temperament to carry a weapon and use it when necessary, and I'm sure you've met them...you know, the ones who might only carry "to scare someone, but I could never SHOOT anybody." Sure, everyone should have a right to carry, but it's not a good for everyone. Everyone also has the right to own a chainsaw, but not everyone feels a need to go get one. Do I chafe at the idea of carrying concealed, and having to wear stuff to cover my weapon, just because the sight of it would freak someone out? Hell yes I do, but I understand that society isn't what I'd like it to be, and I cover it up when I'm out and about in my 'people clothes.' The right to keep and bear arms is absolute, just like the right of free speech; just because I have the absolute right to speak freely though, is it okay for me to say just any ol' damned thing I please any time I want? How about yelling "FIRE" in a crowded movie theater? The same thing goes for carrying into a bank, where the employees are scared to death of getting held up anyway (I know a lady here in town who has been robbed seven times). The lawyers would have a field day if a bank employee with a weapon opened fire on a robber and a bystander got hurt, even if it was a round from the robber's gun. Some things are just more complicated than "I can do this if I feel like it because I have the right to do it."

Fair enough, Robert. But I really think anything that encourages people to carry is a good thing. First we have to get folks to get guns, then get them to go to the range, then get them to get 'em out of the closet and actually carry them. Like you, I only occasionally open carry, and it's always been a matter of convenience and comfort. Unfortunately, every time I do I have to worry about whether or not some person is going to wet their pants and ruin a perfectly good time for my family and me. I may start doing so more often, but if I do it will be to help normalize people with guns to some extent, simply so I don't have to worry about having a good time ruined by a bonehead. The way to acheive this goal is, quite simply, to get more people to OC, and if pumping themselves up with some threads on this board helps accomplish that, more power to them!! Cold hard facts are that it is scary to uncover your gun, and we need to change that, and encouraging each other helps.