This comes in response to the recent "neutrality statements" of two more coffee selling corporations. I'll probably irritate a people few people with what I'm going to say here. I open carry, have open carried, and will continue to open carry. Not all of the time any more, but still whenever I feel like it. I carried openly for some time before I ever threw a shirt over it. I support open carry when used as a means to legally defend oneself or innocents. I also support the message of "Free men don't ask permission to bear arms," as many states that allow open carry don't require a permit for it. A lot of people pay the coat tax, wait the period, buy the gun, the holster and then decide it's not for them.
I could argue the perceived advantages and disadvantages of each, but its been done to death. "Open carry is allegedly because it 'deters crime,' because nobody messes with the guy with a gun," "gives a faster draw because there is nothing in the way." "raises situational awareness because you have to be aware to stop gun-grabs," whatever, we've heard them all. Concealed carry "makes you the gray man, nobody knows you're armed", "gives you the tactical advantage of surprise,"lets you drop your guard more," We've heard them all too. There is truth and fallacy in both sets of statements. This dead horse does not need beaten, but if you do feel the need, there is a glue factory that wants to hire you. Go there.
Regardless, there needs to be a line drawn, and it needs to be drawn now. If you open carry daily, for personal protection, improvement or whatever legitimate issue, I'm in complete approval. There is another group that needs to be put in check. The "open carry activists" need to seriously check themselves and their priorities. If you open carry primarily because its fashionable, funny, to send a message or freak people out, you're an idiot.
I get who you are. You bought a pile of guns because "the evil Muslim president was gonna take 'em all away," bought all the ammo "because you'll need it for the revolution," and now you think your some sort of representative of our community. You scraped together whatever you could to buy the best piece of garbage gun you could afford for the same reason as the guy above and have never fired it once because the guy above bought all the 12,500 round barrels of 5.56 and all the spam cans of Tula. Neither of you idiots have fired your gun, but you're ready for the revolution. Foe-Shoh.
We know why this is now a topic, these idiots are trying to use a series of corporate coffee joints as a political battleground. You bought that stupid dropleg holster you don't even know how to set up properly, put your HK Mark23 or Hi-Point in it, grabbed your Larue NINJ-AR, or beat down surplus SKS and went there to show your support. Because there is nothing that makes the average barista cooking your burnt latte feel more appreciated that 50 guano-based crazy people walking in to the shop with guns they've never fired. It was a fashionable way to freak some people out in a funny way to send a message and there was caffeine involved, so you were totally in.
You didn't even get the memo that they were only passively following the law. If the law allowed you to conceal a snubby .22 revolver and nothing else, that was ok. If your state allowed you to carry a belt fed crew served machine gun, that was legit too. On the same note, if the law required you to put a hollowpoint through your genitals before entering a coffee shop while carrying, they'll be there to mop up your blood and body parts to keep a clean and sanitary shop running. That's all the message was about, passively obeying the local law to keep a clean and sanitary shop running.
Now look what you have done. You made a Switzerland into a battleground, and miserably lost. The CEO had issued a weak statement of his actual views and holy crap, the CEO bigwig of a large corporation actually disagrees with you, either to begin with, or because you are in idiot. Either is equally bad, because you idiots only paid him millions of your money in two dollar bills buying nasty coffee for all of your friends and family. He was neutral with the people who weren't idiots that open carried legally when pushed on the issue by the idiots on the other side who pack a Pruis instead of 1911. He accommodated us, but you idiots were the one to make a show of it. You think he wants idiots coast to coast openly carrying coffee in his stores? NO! He wants to sell coffee in peace, he's not a politician.
The CEO's neutrality is better than other businesses, such as a certain corporate chicken wing joint kicking out uniformed police officers for being armed, but it is not support. Did he ever say he would stand against proposed legislation, donate to groups that will, claim to be a firearms enthusiast or offer a "bring your gun to pick up coffee day?" Nope. Not once. You conflated his passive neutrality with support the same way the other side conflated all gun owners with you idiots and your idiotic actions. The same way that normal gun owners are conflated with conservative Christian nutjobs, and vice versa.
If you're one of these idiots, check yourself now. You were doing this garbage before the panic and before coffee, but you need to stop now. If you open carried your SKS with a towel on your head in your suburban neighborhood just for the reaction, or strapped on that AK or AR or Bolt action and walked through downtown just because it was legal, or are lugging the biggest freaking gun you can find because your concealed carry permit application was denied, kick rocks. We could do without you in our community. You are an idiot, no asset to anybody and unfortunately a representative of our whole community that makes us all look like idiots just like you. Too bad most of us aren't. Thanks bro. Your strong work is really breaking new ground for our fight for recognition of status and freedom.
This is in important and often neglected or misapplied aspect of open carry. Like it or not, you are a representative of our whole community when you display a gun. The manner you conduct yourself in, the way you talk to people, the way you carry yourself even the purpose you left the house for all under public scrutiny. You can make us look good and present yourself as a person who should have a gun and be friendly, polite and properly educated on your local laws and Constitutionally protected rights when confronted either positively or negatively confronted on your carry habits by all parties.
So what should you idiots do now, besides maybe pistol-whip yourself for all of us you just disgraced? Sell those guns and all your ammo, or use them to get some training or at least some mindset and practice. If you can't appreciate that openly carrying a gun in public means you might have to kill somebody in a gunfight or die trying, leave it at home. If you can't do that, I promise you can't be a representative of our community and maintain any respect within our outside it. You are not an asset, merely a liability. If its not a practical weapon to carry with you every day, leave it at home or get one that is. If you can lug that Mallninja AR comfortably and legally and legitimately think it is the defensive weapon you require to survive, and do so every day, cool. You probably live in the sticks, a continuous riot zone, the cartel warzone or the Middle East and I'd probably make the same choice considering the facts.
Considering a couple more nasty-coffee selling corporations just made the same Switzerland statement, I hope you don't repeat your actions here. No "appreciation days" no support, none of it. Tolerance for idiots is wearing thin quickly by a lot of people. Don't push all of our luck as gun owners with your idiotic actions. I apologize if any of these words are a bit abrasive, but we as a community must police ourselves. Too many people are crossing way over the line of responsible gun ownership. None of this should really apply to Defensive Carry members, but if you feel it does, you need to hear it, loudly and clearly, plain as day, that your actions must stop immediately. We can't afford any more of this idiocy.
I could argue the perceived advantages and disadvantages of each, but its been done to death. "Open carry is allegedly because it 'deters crime,' because nobody messes with the guy with a gun," "gives a faster draw because there is nothing in the way." "raises situational awareness because you have to be aware to stop gun-grabs," whatever, we've heard them all. Concealed carry "makes you the gray man, nobody knows you're armed", "gives you the tactical advantage of surprise,"lets you drop your guard more," We've heard them all too. There is truth and fallacy in both sets of statements. This dead horse does not need beaten, but if you do feel the need, there is a glue factory that wants to hire you. Go there.
Regardless, there needs to be a line drawn, and it needs to be drawn now. If you open carry daily, for personal protection, improvement or whatever legitimate issue, I'm in complete approval. There is another group that needs to be put in check. The "open carry activists" need to seriously check themselves and their priorities. If you open carry primarily because its fashionable, funny, to send a message or freak people out, you're an idiot.
I get who you are. You bought a pile of guns because "the evil Muslim president was gonna take 'em all away," bought all the ammo "because you'll need it for the revolution," and now you think your some sort of representative of our community. You scraped together whatever you could to buy the best piece of garbage gun you could afford for the same reason as the guy above and have never fired it once because the guy above bought all the 12,500 round barrels of 5.56 and all the spam cans of Tula. Neither of you idiots have fired your gun, but you're ready for the revolution. Foe-Shoh.
We know why this is now a topic, these idiots are trying to use a series of corporate coffee joints as a political battleground. You bought that stupid dropleg holster you don't even know how to set up properly, put your HK Mark23 or Hi-Point in it, grabbed your Larue NINJ-AR, or beat down surplus SKS and went there to show your support. Because there is nothing that makes the average barista cooking your burnt latte feel more appreciated that 50 guano-based crazy people walking in to the shop with guns they've never fired. It was a fashionable way to freak some people out in a funny way to send a message and there was caffeine involved, so you were totally in.
You didn't even get the memo that they were only passively following the law. If the law allowed you to conceal a snubby .22 revolver and nothing else, that was ok. If your state allowed you to carry a belt fed crew served machine gun, that was legit too. On the same note, if the law required you to put a hollowpoint through your genitals before entering a coffee shop while carrying, they'll be there to mop up your blood and body parts to keep a clean and sanitary shop running. That's all the message was about, passively obeying the local law to keep a clean and sanitary shop running.
Now look what you have done. You made a Switzerland into a battleground, and miserably lost. The CEO had issued a weak statement of his actual views and holy crap, the CEO bigwig of a large corporation actually disagrees with you, either to begin with, or because you are in idiot. Either is equally bad, because you idiots only paid him millions of your money in two dollar bills buying nasty coffee for all of your friends and family. He was neutral with the people who weren't idiots that open carried legally when pushed on the issue by the idiots on the other side who pack a Pruis instead of 1911. He accommodated us, but you idiots were the one to make a show of it. You think he wants idiots coast to coast openly carrying coffee in his stores? NO! He wants to sell coffee in peace, he's not a politician.
The CEO's neutrality is better than other businesses, such as a certain corporate chicken wing joint kicking out uniformed police officers for being armed, but it is not support. Did he ever say he would stand against proposed legislation, donate to groups that will, claim to be a firearms enthusiast or offer a "bring your gun to pick up coffee day?" Nope. Not once. You conflated his passive neutrality with support the same way the other side conflated all gun owners with you idiots and your idiotic actions. The same way that normal gun owners are conflated with conservative Christian nutjobs, and vice versa.
If you're one of these idiots, check yourself now. You were doing this garbage before the panic and before coffee, but you need to stop now. If you open carried your SKS with a towel on your head in your suburban neighborhood just for the reaction, or strapped on that AK or AR or Bolt action and walked through downtown just because it was legal, or are lugging the biggest freaking gun you can find because your concealed carry permit application was denied, kick rocks. We could do without you in our community. You are an idiot, no asset to anybody and unfortunately a representative of our whole community that makes us all look like idiots just like you. Too bad most of us aren't. Thanks bro. Your strong work is really breaking new ground for our fight for recognition of status and freedom.
This is in important and often neglected or misapplied aspect of open carry. Like it or not, you are a representative of our whole community when you display a gun. The manner you conduct yourself in, the way you talk to people, the way you carry yourself even the purpose you left the house for all under public scrutiny. You can make us look good and present yourself as a person who should have a gun and be friendly, polite and properly educated on your local laws and Constitutionally protected rights when confronted either positively or negatively confronted on your carry habits by all parties.
So what should you idiots do now, besides maybe pistol-whip yourself for all of us you just disgraced? Sell those guns and all your ammo, or use them to get some training or at least some mindset and practice. If you can't appreciate that openly carrying a gun in public means you might have to kill somebody in a gunfight or die trying, leave it at home. If you can't do that, I promise you can't be a representative of our community and maintain any respect within our outside it. You are not an asset, merely a liability. If its not a practical weapon to carry with you every day, leave it at home or get one that is. If you can lug that Mallninja AR comfortably and legally and legitimately think it is the defensive weapon you require to survive, and do so every day, cool. You probably live in the sticks, a continuous riot zone, the cartel warzone or the Middle East and I'd probably make the same choice considering the facts.
Considering a couple more nasty-coffee selling corporations just made the same Switzerland statement, I hope you don't repeat your actions here. No "appreciation days" no support, none of it. Tolerance for idiots is wearing thin quickly by a lot of people. Don't push all of our luck as gun owners with your idiotic actions. I apologize if any of these words are a bit abrasive, but we as a community must police ourselves. Too many people are crossing way over the line of responsible gun ownership. None of this should really apply to Defensive Carry members, but if you feel it does, you need to hear it, loudly and clearly, plain as day, that your actions must stop immediately. We can't afford any more of this idiocy.
opcorn::hello::hand26:
