Posted on 07/31/2012 8:51:46 AM PDT by marktwain
Less than three weeks after a jury found 18-year-old Troy residnet Sean Combs not guilty of disturbing the peace and brandishing a firearm, Combs picked up his M1 Garand rifle – which had been used as evidence during his trial – from Birmingham Police on Monday.
Then, he and a few other open carry advocates took to the streets of Birmingham once again Monday evening, openly carrying rifles and handguns at Shain Park.
The group, organized through opencarry.org, all share one interest: raising awareness of the right to openly carry firearms – and not get in trouble for it.
"I'm not here to make anyone feel uncomfortable or scare someone or make them feel like they're not safe because I have a gun," Combs said. "I actually want the opposite; I don't want anyone to feel like they're in any kind of danger, because they're not."
This is only the second time Combs has ever carried a gun in public, and said he did so in order to make a statement.
Combs ignited an open carry debate in Metro Detroit in April when he was stopped in downtown Birmingham for carrying a loaded rifle. Combs, who officers initially suspected of being underage, refused to present his identification and was arrested by Birmingham Police. On July 12, Combs was found not guilty of brandishing a firearm and disturbing the peace; a third charge of obstructing an officer was thrown out on the first day of the two-day trial.
"We start real small, speak softly and carry a big stick," said Jason Harrison, a North Branch resident who was also in attendance on Monday. "First, just send an e-mail or a letter to the City Council or the Mayor and explain what MCL 123.1102 actually says."
After holding a meeting on the south end of Shain Park on Monday, the group planned to walk over to the fountain area of the park with weapons in tow. Many of the men, who said they carry their guns for safety purposes, expected weird looks from those who saw them.
Adrienne Ruby-Fink, a bystander who carries a gun herself, explained that she is in support of the right to bear arms except in certain circumstances.
"I am pro-concealed weapon permit, but I think carrying rifles openly in a downtown area with kids around is just ridiculous," Ruby-Fink said. "But, I do feel it's our right as American citizens to be able to protect ourselves."
Happened all the time in the 50's. Not many massacres then.
A simplistic view, I know, as it doesn't account for the quality people who moved in and tamed the west. But it did drive out the criminal element and make it attractive for good people to move in.
That’s plain retarded....period! Things like that have a way of backfiring (please excuse the pun). Sure it’s our right, but it’s only our right that the courts have stated can be infringed (which I don’t agree with; but it’s reality). And, if people are openly carring rifles for no apparent reason but to raise “awareness” might just bring the wrong kind of “awareness” and spark a gun control debate within the Michigan legislature that will end up curtailing said right. For instance, in Florida, a much more conservative state than Michigan: it’s strictly forbidden to open carry, yet it’s easy to get a CCW. But, not even CCW holders are alowed to openly carry. Idiots like those mentioned in the story are only bringing undue scrutiny on those who enjoy their rights, especially after the media attention following the Aurora shooting spree.
In the late 50's I was on the high school rifle team and carried my rifle on the city bus to school 3 days a week. Nope no killings and no one even thought a thing about it.
I tend to think on balance you are right. But the days the Right/Conservative wing of America feeling they are inferior in a moral sense are drawing to a close, and frankly the gun rights crowd is leading the way.
LOL! Graduated in the mid 70's myself. We all had pickup trucks... which all had gun racks. Most of them had guns on 'em.
On occasion, somebody had to go get their rifle during school because someone had spotted a cottonmouth or some-such other varmint on the school grounds.
And no one thought a THING about it!
(sigh)
How far we have fallen.
20 years ago people in my hometown routinely carried shotguns and rifles openly and no one batted an eye because the panicky bedwetters hadn’t “educated” the people to the dangers of openly carried arms. We used to walk into the grocery store and even the bank with them and no one took note. The kid is doing more to educate the public than every last teacher in the state combined.
He’s hardly the only person in the state walking around openly armed. I guarantee that there are thousands of openly carried weapons in Michigan at this very moment.
/johnny
Liberals heads exploding!
Good for you, young man!
Hell, we were able to take guns to school with us into the early 80s for hunting after school.
The rules were simple. If you drove, the gun had to stay locked in your car. Guns weren’t to be taken on the bus so a parent had to bring you and the gun had to be left in the principal’s office till the end of the school day.
If I were to go into town right now I know of 3 businesses where at least some of the employees are openly carrying. The hardware used to have a sign in the front window that announced the fact that the owner and employees were armed. Its been some 30 years since there was a murder in this town.
I can still hear my great grandmother’s voice.
“would you boys like some pie before you head into the woods?”
“Put those guns in the closet, they don’t belong in the kitchen.”
Its hard to carry an M1 Garand concealed.
I don’t have a lot of experience with handguns. My comfort zone is long guns and that’s where I prefer to stay.
That’s plain retarded....period! Things like that have a way of backfiring (please excuse the pun).
**********
You’ve absorbed a lot of fear from the dominant media culture. Fear like that is keeping gun owners on the defensive. Gun owners need to go eyeball-to-eyeball with their opponents — it’s working for the gays.
You are quite correct. However, there is an important distinction:
The gays have the MSM.
The constitutionalists, patriots, and freedom fighters have the new media.
If one person in your town killed another, the total population would decrease by 10% after one person heads to prison, the other to a morgue.
;^)
The most excitement we’ve had since was the Hutaree raid and that was a complete and utter federal fail.
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