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If People are Going to Open Carry Firearms - At Least Have a Sense of Humor

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posted on May, 18 2014 @ 12:16 PM
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a reply to: stirling

You think your being a smartass but there is a lot of truth to that. Because if you look at someone dead square in the eye and tell them exactly what you think about them, they are not sure what to do with that, which starts them to wondering what you have that they cannot see, to be so bold. And it may be, that you have more confidence than they will ever have.



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 12:41 PM
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originally posted by: stirling
Guns are deadly serious things....openly carrying is even more serious...
YOU shouldn't have tried the joke routine in the first place.....he was polite and asked of he was offending anyone when he entered....nuff said....
Some things we just don't joke about....
having the means to take life hanging on your ass isn't funny at all......


EVERYONE has "the means to take life hanging on their ass", or at the end of their arm, or somewhere within reach. Most just don't know how to use what they've got, and just having a gun hanging on their ass doesn't mean that they have a clue what to do with it, or know the strategies involved in a successful deployment.

I don't walk into stores and say "I can bend anyone in this joint into a pretzel shape in 12 seconds or less - are you OK with that?" nor do I walk in and say "I have a pen in my pocket - anyone need an emergency tracheotomy?" Some things just don't need to be announced UNLESS you have a particular reason for calling attention to them. Having an obvious gun on your hip when there is no sign on the door saying "we mind" is probably one of those things that don't need to be announced - whose going to miss seeing it already, really?

So coming into a store with a gun holstered on your hip is no more "deadly serious" than walking in with a hammer on a tool belt. Walking in with the gun in hand, however, is a horse of a different color... but in neither case does it need announcing - folks are amazingly quick on the uptake at such moments.





edit on 2014/5/18 by nenothtu because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 12:48 PM
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I have no problem with open carriers and think that the person mentioned in the OP did the right thing and asked if if was okay.

Paid my way through college working nights in a huge liquor store. Was held up twice once with the weapon two inches from my head. I wasn't about to die for $7.75/hr...just told my coworkers to be cool as well as the perp and told everyone not to look at him and he would get the cash and be gone in 30 seconds. Wasnt the first time I'd had a gun pulled on me.
Anyhow I digress...

We had a customer that was an OTR trucker and would stop in occasionally. One day, he was strapped and we didnt realize it until he checked out. We had a conversation about how it wasnt wise to go into a liquor store packing heat. He apologized and we took a look at his piece...been twenty years forget what it was. But he agreed to not bring it in anymore.

That is the kind of gun owner who is responsible and respectful. I wish more people would be that way. I'm still cautious about concealed carry and can see iits place, but think open carry would help more and prevent more violence and "accidents" like the old guy at the movie theater in Florida. Had he been open carrying, it might not have escalated to shooting through a wife's hand and into a husband's chest.



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 01:08 PM
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a reply to: Wrabbit2000

I get what you mean, and by no means deny that there are that type around. I worked with some real doozies at some points, guys who seemed to think the gun made them into something they were not beforehand, simply by virtue of it's presence. I generally called them "cowboys", but a more appropriate description would probably be something like "Keystone rent-a-cops" - not just Keystone cops, not just rent-a-cops, but a toxic brew of the two.

I recall one guy who crowed and crowed about having 600 rounds of ammo in his trunk. After a while, it got old, so I asked him a) what good were they gonna do him in his trunk, b) how did he plan on getting to them if everyone knew that's what he was going after, and c) just how many people did he plan on shooting on any given day? Hell, it might have been a rough neighborhood, but it wasn't a war zone, for God's sakes!

He acted like his feelings were hurt or something.

Those guys are the ones that give all a bad name, and in my estimation are the reason the phrase "rent-a-cop" ever got coined. They put on a uniform and strap on a piece, and suddenly think they are Ironman or something. It's not meant to be taken literally when that badge is called a "shield".



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 02:38 PM
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a reply to: OpinionatedB
Not funny, if the man had joked about well, "maybe I might" or something and someone had overheard him...
See something meets say something and the jack boots cometh.
Some jokes are just not funny
Just another reason why concealed is superior to open, it removes the idiot target from your back.



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 02:41 PM
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The guy had an option of a Conceal Carry permit, but chose to carry his side arm in full public view, drawing attention to that fact- then gets offended at a joke? That disturbs me more than the fact that he was armed!

I had my arm in a cast, and everywhere we went people cracked 'abuse' jokes at my husband. Being a bit of a wag, he had comebacks such as " I already told her once" and " My face is a lot harder than she thought it was". He could easily have taken offense at the inferences of domestic abuse, but it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun!

I feel sorry for people who have very little sense of humor; it makes life a lot harder to enjoy.



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 03:35 PM
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You weirdos coming out and whining about how you are being emotionally victimized for being gun owners are just that: a bunch of weirdos. I mean, like characters out of South Park weird.

You know what the guy with the open-carry is like.

The folks that all want to come on ATS and start threads about their drug use so that they can mentally masturbate themselves and roll in their own #.

He got up that morning and strapped on his spine thinking that he was going to go out and educate people.

And like most folks like him, he just turned them off even harder.

Fail.


edit on 18-5-2014 by Bybyots because: . : .



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 04:06 PM
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a reply to: Bybyots

Really, it takes spine to walk out in the public with a gun strapped on? I think it takes more of a spine to walk alone.



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 05:59 PM
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a reply to: MOMof3

a reply to: MOMof3

I think Bybyots was inferring that the open carry gun is this guys spine. ;-j

Whether gun owners like it or not, guns cause fear. Open carrying causes many people even more fear, as it suggests the carrier is primed and ready to use it. Without intimately knowing the carriers mental state, it puts everyone on their guard, especially in today’s climate of regular shootings and gun deaths.

Humour is a natural deflector for fear, so gun carriers should be congenial with society, be ready for banter, well humoured and aim to educate, not intimidate.

By being hostile while carrying a gun, it enforces the stereotype of gun carriers being trigger happy nutjobs.

It's frightening to think that we haven't progressed past wild west days, and for a lot of people guns are still a viable conflict resolution tool, it’s sad there are still people who actively display a willingness to potentially kill rather than look for less deadly forms of detterant.

Concealed carry if you really feel you need it for protection... basically, keep it in your pants... showing it just invites conflict.



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 06:39 PM
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originally posted by: MOMof3
a reply to: Bybyots

Really, it takes spine to walk out in the public with a gun strapped on? I think it takes more of a spine to walk alone.


I do believe the implication of that post was that the gun is what provided his spine... you know, without it the guy goes back to being a timid soul, stuff like that.



posted on May, 18 2014 @ 09:27 PM
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a reply to: OpinionatedB

Well...frankly here, you were wrong to make a joke out of it. You might have meant no harm, but its nothing to most of the OC crowd to make any kind of joke about. Its serious stuff...and seriously important to them.

You made it funny. Think about it. There is a time for humor and that wasn't it.

MS
Licensed CP/CCW Holder



posted on May, 19 2014 @ 04:50 AM
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a reply to: mysterioustranger

I have been a gun owner most of my life. I sold my guns a few years back and still haven't been able to replace them but to me, owning and or carrying a gun is not so "seriously important" that I loose all sense of humor.

What is seriously important is its use and our legal right to own it - not its simple presence. I am not awed out of my sense of humor by a gun - never will be. I do NOT understand people who are. A gun to me is a simple fact of life, not an omg he's got a gun I'm gonna shut up now, moment. Hell in this neighborhood I'd never talk if I was that awed by a gun.
edit on 19-5-2014 by OpinionatedB because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 19 2014 @ 07:21 AM
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It's true that guns cause fear. But like another poster stated
it's a naive fear, because any able-bodied man can be deadly
at any given moment, with or without a weapon.

And even carrying a weapon is not a guarantee of safety--you
could be attacked from behind, knocked unconscious, and beaten
to death with your gun still holstered.

Real life is much uglier and much less entertaining than the movies.



posted on May, 19 2014 @ 12:37 PM
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a reply to: OpinionatedB




Because I'll be honest, I would trust a happy witty laughing person with a gun faster than I would trust someone completely devoid of humor.

I can agree with what you're saying there. My old boss (before I started working from home) carried all the time. He was witty, friendly, cool...never any inkling of "what's the deal?" with him.

Here in MO, (St. Louis), the crime is a little out of control sometimes. C&C makes sense here, but sometimes you are never really sure if some of the people you meet have that licence. Especially when a bit of an aggressive and too serious person is openly packing.

Side note; A couple weeks ago, I was kind of zoning out watching the river looking out the window while smoking, and a guy got out of his car with a rifle (assault looking from where I was a few floors up.) Not in a case slung over his shoulder, but carrying it openly in both hands...then he went into the business next to me.

I have to admit I have never seen that happen before, it undoubtedly was not concealed, and it did make me wonder what the hell he was thinking. ( and what could happen)
Nothing happened apparently, but if he wanted to show it to a friend in there, maybe he could have waited the extra 2 hours and done it after business hours.

BTW: I'm more of a knife person myself, after several years of "chef'ing" it up, and outdoors experience, I am pretty proficient in handling several types of a knives...that's enough for me since it makes me confident I could defend myself well. But gun owners or carriers don't bug me either--to each their own.
edit on 5/19/2014 by Chamberf=6 because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 19 2014 @ 12:53 PM
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a reply to: nenothtu



I recall one guy who crowed and crowed about having 600 rounds of ammo in his trunk. After a while, it got old, so I asked him a) what good were they gonna do him in his trunk, b) how did he plan on getting to them if everyone knew that's what he was going after, and c) just how many people did he plan on shooting on any given day? Hell, it might have been a rough neighborhood, but it wasn't a war zone, for God's sakes!

He acted like his feelings were hurt or something.

Those guys are the ones that give all a bad name,


I have to say I liked your questions to him and they made me chuckle a bit.

"Crowers" about many things in life give negative impressions to others that sadly can color people's perceptions of an entire group.

The boss I mentioned above--his son is maybe 10 years younger than me, and he really loves to "puff up" his presence and remind others way too much of the family's Sicilian line, carries and let's you know it. It's like he wants to be a Soprano.

Him, I am glad I am on the good side of his dad and him (he has at times tried to intimidate people he thought "insulted or disrespected" me when I just sort of shrugged things off)...that sort of attitude makes me a bit uneasy--gun or not.
edit on 5/19/2014 by Chamberf=6 because: spelling



posted on May, 19 2014 @ 03:14 PM
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a reply to: OpinionatedB

Youve said a lot here Im in agreement with. But to the person you spoke to...they did not take it in the manner you thought you were presenting, and they took offense.

I take my licensed carry responsibly and seriously as well.



posted on May, 19 2014 @ 06:17 PM
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a reply to: mysterioustranger

That shouldn't negate a sense of humor or spirit of lightness, should it?

As I've mentioned I've learned ways to use a knife (like breaking a knee and slitting a throat in one move), but in a kitchen where everyone basically has an instrument of death, I've never seen where a sense of humor is wrong. In fact that's what keeps one sane (-ish).



posted on May, 20 2014 @ 07:05 PM
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a reply to: Chamberf=6

No, not at all. I guess I should say that what with the issue being sensitive, one should...while not knowing the other person...take care a bit when joking about something which unknown to us...is sensitive to them.

PS. That person with the Open Carry? I'd kinda wonder just a bit about his level of sensitivity. He seemed a bit overly defensive and sensitive. Perhaps he's one who should not be open carrying?



posted on May, 20 2014 @ 07:47 PM
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First..sorry, on tablet now and it msy look like monkey learing to type--

A sense of humor is someting II oh geez, may set us aprt. Did you mean guy I mentioned?
Like I said he wiskes he was a Soprano... The guy going into the busnuss...Can't quite figure that one out.

Again sport for the tablet typing...will prob have to clarify all this room on a real keyboard.
a reply to: mysterioustranger

Just read what that intelligent correct thought I was saying...lo
edit on 5/20/2014 by Chamberf=6 because: (no reason given)



posted on May, 20 2014 @ 10:04 PM
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Yeesh.

Back on the computer now, but looking back that was somewhat entertaining (to me--my post).

You most likely got what I meant
edit on 5/20/2014 by Chamberf=6 because: (no reason given)




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