Gun Enthusiasts Continue to 'Open Carry'

Connection Newspapers (VA) ^ | 3-3-05 | Brian McNeill

[MacDorcha]

(Disclaimer: I am not in fact advocating prejudice toward blacks.)

PC police got a hold of you?

[Eagles6]

Totally disagree with all points made.

[Fabozz]

"Northern Virginia seems to be the part of the state where it would be most required. Gangs are abundant."

I hear there's an especially vicious gang near the Maryland border called "the DNC."

[Nick The Freeper]

VCDL Ping. I have been busy lately, but hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping an eye on the VA gun related articles.

[pageonetoo]

All of us must be protected from the might haves, maybes, and coulds of life, don't you see?

Click it or ticket!

[pageonetoo]

...if I and my family are sitting down to a nice meal and a bunch of civilians strut in wearing pistols, I get us up, walk out and tell the manager "those guys make me nervous".

Your attitude makes me nervous... why tell the manager you were skeered, other than to escape paying for your meal. Open carry makes a lot more sense. It lets the bad guys know they must behave, or be tested! Methinks they would probably find another place to do their thing!

I live in WV, and am licensed to carry here. I rarely do, except when in the woods. I think I will find out their dining schedule, since VA is reciprical with WV, and join the comraderie and fun...

[mvpel]

Migraine,

The key thing to understand about the situation in Virginia is that gun owners are NOT PERMITTED to carry concealed in restaurants that serve alcohol.

If you see it as "in your face," or "chip on shoulder," remember that the problem is not with the gun owners, but with the law itself.

I'm sure that most folks in Virginia would prefer to be discreet with their defensive firearms, but the law doesn't allow it of them while they're out to eat.

If some gun-phobic legislator has a problem with it, they need to introduce a bill to repeal the silly prohibition on concealed carry in restaurants and get it passed.

[gieriscm]

The key thing to understand about the situation in Virginia is that gun owners are NOT PERMITTED to carry concealed in restaurants that serve alcohol.

Bingo! When the "Shall-Issue" law passed in 1995, the anti's inserted the language to prohibit concealed carry in restaurants that serve alcohol. Open carry remains legal.

So, if you have a CHL and want to go out to eat, you have two options:
- open carry, or - leave the pistol at home, or in your vehicle.

Personally, I prefer the first choice.

[mvpel]

I'm serious, though: if I and my family are sitting down to a nice meal and a bunch of civilians strut in wearing pistols, I get us up, walk out and tell the manager "those guys make me nervous".

Perhaps you'd find this essay to be an enlightening insight into your own psyche:

Raging Against Self-Defense: A Psychiatrist Examines The Anti-Gun Mentality

About a year ago I received an e-mail from a member of a local Jewish organization. The author, who chose to remain anonymous, insisted that people have no right to carry firearms because he didn't want to be murdered if one of his neighbors had a "bad day". (I don't know that this person is a "he", but I'm assuming so for the sake of simplicity.) I responded by asking him why he thought his neighbors wanted to murder him, and, of course, got no response. The truth is that he's statistically more likely to be murdered by a neighbor who doesn't legally carry a firearm¹ and more likely to be shot accidentally by a law enforcement officer.²

How does my correspondent "know" that his neighbors would murder him if they had guns? He doesn't. What he was really saying was that if he had a gun, he might murder his neighbors if he had a bad day, or if they took his parking space, or played their stereos too loud. This is an example of what mental health professionals call projection – unconsciously projecting one's own unacceptable feelings onto other people, so that one doesn't have to own them.³ In some cases, the intolerable feelings are projected not onto a person, but onto an inanimate object, such as a gun,⁴ so that the projector believes the gun itself will murder him.

I submit that your condescending use of the term "strut," and your irrational nervousness, says more about you, than anyone who is forced by law to carry openly in a restaurant.

[teenyelliott]

Click it or ticket!

Okay, I'm an idiot. I don't get it. Is that a seatbelt reference?

[pageonetoo]

All of us must be protected from the might haves, maybes, and coulds of life, don't you see?

Click it or ticket! -page

Okay, I'm an idiot. I don't get it. Is that a seatbelt reference? -teeny

It is a reference to government intrusion on personal decisions. It also qualifies as a reference, for the term "nanny state", to which you posted...

[dirtboy]

"I've got to be careful with these guys because they've got guns," he said, sitting at a nearby table with his girlfriend. "It's like the old West."

What a fool.

[teenyelliott]

Personally, I think the federal gubmint should be involved in national defense and securing our borders. That is about it. I want a pure return to state's rights.

[RKBA Democrat]

No worries mate.