Sunday, March 08, 2015 4:07:05 AM
Military Sharpshooter Has A Few Choice Words For ‘Open Carry’ Wannabes
Author: S. Longfellow March 6, 2015 3:05 pm
The United States is loaded with wannabe vigilante “patriots” and those who feel they need to carry their gun everywhere they go. Many of these wannabe vigilantes are advocating for open carry laws in their respective states.
In fact, according to this map, several states allow individuals to open carry with no need of a permit or a license.
Open carry activists claim that carrying a gun with you at all times will deter or prevent crime. In fact, most often they feel they will be the hero if ever in a situation that seemingly needs a bullet to stop it.
Here’s the thing, the Second Amendment requires all who keep and bear arms be well-regulated, and part of that is being well-trained.
Recently, United States Air Force Sharpshooter Michael Wimberly wrote a piece that sums up perfectly why open carry isn’t the smartest idea.
Wimberly explained that as a child in Texas he was raised around hunting and guns. He was taught that safety comes first and that guns are made for only one reason — to kill. He later joined the U.S. Air Force, took his knowledge of guns with him and became a certified sharpshooter.
He writes:
“The mentality of many gun owners today is a far cry from what I knew growing up. What is heard from open-carry fans seems to be a fascination with guns — a swagger-inspired fascination that possessing a pistol in a public forum will make everyone safe. The chutzpah of open-carry advocates: We will be the protectors against the bad guy!
But I wonder: When the bullets fly, will police know who is the good guy? Maybe one will be a hero and then again maybe not when others pull their guns and begin to fire. Hero-seekers are a danger to themselves and others.”
Exactly. These open carry advocates don’t quite realize what they’re imposing on society, and themselves. If bullets are flying everywhere, they run the risk of looking like the “bad guy with a gun” themselves.
What Wimberly wrote next is what’s really at the heart of not only gun ownership, but also of the Second Amendment — are these people toting around all these loaded weapons well-trained? And we don’t know, because there’s no regulation implemented to require them to be. Not everyone is capable of properly maintaining and operating a gun, and even if you think you are… have you been trained? The police and military are trained — they are the “well-regulated militia” necessary to protect citizens.
Wimberly explains:
“The open-carry advocate will say he is strapping on heat to protect himself. Doing so in your home or on your property, yes, I would agree we have that right. But when openly carrying a firearm in a public setting, the dynamics include folks like me. And my internal commentary will go something like this: ‘I don’t know you from Adam, so I question your ability. A police officer has the certification that assures some level of confidence that she can safely and appropriately manage her weapon, but I won’t know if you do.'”
“So if you’re that person openly carrying a gun who sits near me, don’t be offended when I ask you a few questions. But something tells me you fail to appreciate the wisdom of the 1890 Texas Legislature, which passed the no-carry law that served us well for 125 years. Lawmakers of the day had the keen understanding about what they were doing and why.”
Wimberly, alongside most logically thinking individuals, understand that more bullets in a scenario is not the right thing to have. It’s most certainly not the safe thing to have present in a situation that is already dangerous enough.
We don’t need a room full of vigilantes all firing their guns at the same time at a supposed “bad guy,” because at that moment, they all look like “bad guys.” Just imagine a hold-up at a convenient store where five guys, who aren’t properly trained, decide they’re going to play hero — it’s not going to end well.
We have laws in this nation for a reason, the Second Amendment being one of those laws, and it’s important not just to focus on the second half of the law that seemingly allows any Tom, Dick or Sally to strap on a weapon and pretend they are leading a charge against all evildoers. The entirety of the amendment reads:
“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
The law states, yes, you can bear your arms, but yes, you need to be trained, and carrying those arms is to be regulated by yes, the government.
Author: S. Longfellow March 6, 2015 3:05 pm
The United States is loaded with wannabe vigilante “patriots” and those who feel they need to carry their gun everywhere they go. Many of these wannabe vigilantes are advocating for open carry laws in their respective states.
In fact, according to this map, several states allow individuals to open carry with no need of a permit or a license.
Open carry activists claim that carrying a gun with you at all times will deter or prevent crime. In fact, most often they feel they will be the hero if ever in a situation that seemingly needs a bullet to stop it.
Here’s the thing, the Second Amendment requires all who keep and bear arms be well-regulated, and part of that is being well-trained.
Recently, United States Air Force Sharpshooter Michael Wimberly wrote a piece that sums up perfectly why open carry isn’t the smartest idea.
Wimberly explained that as a child in Texas he was raised around hunting and guns. He was taught that safety comes first and that guns are made for only one reason — to kill. He later joined the U.S. Air Force, took his knowledge of guns with him and became a certified sharpshooter.
He writes:
“The mentality of many gun owners today is a far cry from what I knew growing up. What is heard from open-carry fans seems to be a fascination with guns — a swagger-inspired fascination that possessing a pistol in a public forum will make everyone safe. The chutzpah of open-carry advocates: We will be the protectors against the bad guy!
But I wonder: When the bullets fly, will police know who is the good guy? Maybe one will be a hero and then again maybe not when others pull their guns and begin to fire. Hero-seekers are a danger to themselves and others.”
Exactly. These open carry advocates don’t quite realize what they’re imposing on society, and themselves. If bullets are flying everywhere, they run the risk of looking like the “bad guy with a gun” themselves.
What Wimberly wrote next is what’s really at the heart of not only gun ownership, but also of the Second Amendment — are these people toting around all these loaded weapons well-trained? And we don’t know, because there’s no regulation implemented to require them to be. Not everyone is capable of properly maintaining and operating a gun, and even if you think you are… have you been trained? The police and military are trained — they are the “well-regulated militia” necessary to protect citizens.
Wimberly explains:
“The open-carry advocate will say he is strapping on heat to protect himself. Doing so in your home or on your property, yes, I would agree we have that right. But when openly carrying a firearm in a public setting, the dynamics include folks like me. And my internal commentary will go something like this: ‘I don’t know you from Adam, so I question your ability. A police officer has the certification that assures some level of confidence that she can safely and appropriately manage her weapon, but I won’t know if you do.'”
“So if you’re that person openly carrying a gun who sits near me, don’t be offended when I ask you a few questions. But something tells me you fail to appreciate the wisdom of the 1890 Texas Legislature, which passed the no-carry law that served us well for 125 years. Lawmakers of the day had the keen understanding about what they were doing and why.”
Wimberly, alongside most logically thinking individuals, understand that more bullets in a scenario is not the right thing to have. It’s most certainly not the safe thing to have present in a situation that is already dangerous enough.
We don’t need a room full of vigilantes all firing their guns at the same time at a supposed “bad guy,” because at that moment, they all look like “bad guys.” Just imagine a hold-up at a convenient store where five guys, who aren’t properly trained, decide they’re going to play hero — it’s not going to end well.
We have laws in this nation for a reason, the Second Amendment being one of those laws, and it’s important not just to focus on the second half of the law that seemingly allows any Tom, Dick or Sally to strap on a weapon and pretend they are leading a charge against all evildoers. The entirety of the amendment reads:
“A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
The law states, yes, you can bear your arms, but yes, you need to be trained, and carrying those arms is to be regulated by yes, the government.
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
