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Lifer
Jan 7, 2002
12,755
3
0
I was in a McDonalds once when someone was carrying in the open - I wasn't comfortable - and I'm a gun rights person. I think it makes you a target.

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http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs...80725/NEWS06/807250352


HASTINGS -- Most of us probably don't know it, but Michigan is among the 44 states where it's legal to carry a gun in public without a permit.
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To make that point, about 40 gun advocates walked out of Richie's Koffee Shop Inc. late Thursday afternoon with handguns holstered at their sides, part of a small but growing national movement to stand up for the constitutional right to bear arms. They strolled down this tidy west Michigan town's main street, barely causing a stir among passing motorists and pedestrians.

When they finished, the group -- mostly white men -- gathered around a fountain at the Barry County Courthouse and heard a red-meat, pro-Second Amendment speech by organizer Skip Coryell, 50, who wore his .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun openly for the first time and extolled the virtues of carrying a weapon.

"Look at all the people around you carrying guns and not a criminal in sight," said Coryell, a gun instructor and self-styled publisher who lives near Holland. "Quite frankly, I don't feel criminals would feel comfortable among us right now." He said educating people about their right to carry guns openly is the "next wave of the Second Amendment."

The event, tinged with local gun politics, was the latest statement from gun advocates around the country to promote and defend the open toting of handguns.

Earlier this summer, a small group caused a minor stir when they showed up to picnic at a park near Flint wearing holsters on their hips. On Sunday, 10 people made headlines in Boise, Idaho, when they carried handguns into the local zoo.

Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign, the largest U.S. gun control organization, said he doesn't dispute the legal right to carry weapons openly but thinks those who demonstrate for such rights are pushy and aggressive.

"Their No. 1 mission seems to be making other people nervous," he said. "That's a little childish. Of all the issues that need volunteerism in this country, in Michigan, in Detroit, you'd think people would find a more useful way to use their volunteer hours than walking around showing they have a gun."

Organizers said they were defying Hastings Police Chief Jerry Sarver, whom they say wants to stifle their gun rights.

Sarver, who's running for Barry County sheriff, denies that he wants to step on anyone's rights and acknowledged that Michigan law allows people to carry their handguns in a holster.

"We're not going to interfere with them," Sarver said before the rally. "I think that's what they want."

The event was heavily promoted on the Web site OpenCarry.org, the premier place on the Internet for those who like their pistols at their side. Web site cofounder Mike Stollenwerk, a retired Army officer, said he and partner John Pierce started the site in 2004 out of a mutual interest in U.S. gun laws.

"It's a couple of geeky guys who put together some maps and a database, and it became a movement," Stollenwerk said.

Stollenwerk said the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that assured the right of individuals to own and carry guns stoked some interest in the open-carry movement, but he added that it's been growing on its own.

His Web site has more than 8,500 registered members and has been attracting 600,000 visitors a month, he said.

The Hastings event was posted, and this week Stollenwerk issued a news release about it that suggested a looming confrontation in the streets. It didn't happen.

Heather Reed, 37, of Middleville, an unemployed animal-control officer, was among about a half dozen women who participated in Thursday's event.

"I enjoy the freedom of the Second Amendment and I want to make a point that women ought to be able to defend themselves," said Reed, who packed an inoperable two-shot black powder antique derringer she had borrowed. "Right now I can't afford the .38 I want."

Another gun toter was Alex Walden, 73, a retired dairy farmer who lives near Hastings and often carries his .32 caliber pistol with him in his holster. He said it makes him feel safer.

About 155,000 Michiganders -- about one in every 75 -- have permits to carry concealed weapons. They must first pass an approved gun safety course -- something those who carry their weapons in the open aren't required to do.

Carrying a gun openly in public doesn't require a permit, though people who want to purchase a handgun must fill out a form and turn it in to their local police or sheriff's department. The police agency is to check the buyer's background and issue a permit good for 10 days, according to the Michigan State Police Web site.

In 2002, Michigan's law changed to require county gun boards to issue concealed weapon permits to adults who passed an approved safety course and did not have criminal records. Prior to the change, gun boards could deny permits for any reason.

Dave Stevens, 56, a high school teacher and an NRA instructor with a shooting range in his backyard, holds a concealed weapons permit and usually would rather carry his handgun out of sight.

"I don't want to advertise. You make yourself a target if you do."

Still, on Thursday, he carried a loaded .45 caliber semi-automatic in the open.

While the event brought some business to the restaurant where she works, Desarai Haight, 23, a waitress at Richie's, said it left her a little nervous.

"I think there should be some kind of screening or test to make sure people who carry weapons are of sound mind," she said.
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,882
33,962
136
Depends on the person carrying. The guy slung like a gun fighter screaming at his girlfriend across the grocery store made me nervous. Most of the folks I see carrying don't bother me at all.
 
Dec 26, 2007
11,782
2
76
It doesn't scare me they have a gun, what scares me is the fact at how easy it would be for somebody to take their weapon and use it. Everybody thinks about "could I get that police offers gun out of his holster?", and most likely thats no because they are trained to stop you from stealing their weapon.

I honestly doubt 99% of them have ever had any kind of training to prevent somebody stealing their weapon, and that is what scares me about it.
 

RiverDog

Senior member
Mar 15, 2007
409
0
0
Where I work that was one of the question they asked on the interview. I attend many meetings that have people with handguns.
 

43st

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
3,197
0
0
Anyone who self appoints themselves with the right to take another persons life is a problem, regardless if they flaunt it in public or not.
 

MiniDoom

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2004
5,305
0
76
Originally posted by: 43st
Anyone who self appoints themselves with the right to take another persons life is a problem, regardless if they flaunt it in public or not.

in self defense i wouldn't think twice about it. that's not a problem.
 

RiverDog

Senior member
Mar 15, 2007
409
0
0
Originally posted by: 43st
Anyone who self appoints themselves with the right to take another persons life is a problem, regardless if they flaunt it in public or not.

I believe that would be the criminal. self defense is protection against this.
 

TruePaige

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2006
9,874
2
0
Originally posted by: 43st
Anyone who self appoints themselves with the right to take another persons life is a problem, regardless if they flaunt it in public or not.

Self-Defense, stop being dramatic.
 

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
Originally posted by: 43st
Anyone who self appoints themselves with the right to take another persons life is a problem, regardless if they flaunt it in public or not.

Good thing the right to bear arms is not a self appointed right then.
 

Mr Pickles

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2006
4,103
1
0
Originally posted by: TruePaige
Originally posted by: 43st
Anyone who self appoints themselves with the right to take another persons life is a problem, regardless if they flaunt it in public or not.

Self-Defense, stop being dramatic.

Nothing dramatic about it. 43st is right on.
 

Auric

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,591
2
71
Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
cops carry, and i trust them about as much as i trust the average guy, so i must say no big deal

Verily. Most citizens are more trustworthy.
 

LS8

Golden Member
Jul 24, 2008
1,285
0
0
If it's legal in your town/state I don't have a problem with it.

I CC myself just because I don't like to draw attention to myself.
 

TallBill

Lifer
Apr 29, 2001
46,017
62
91
Well since even concealed carry is banned in Illinois, people would freak out if they saw it. I wouldn't really care, but I would notice it quickly.
 

fisheerman

Senior member
Oct 25, 2006
733
0
0
Glad to see people protecting there rights no mater what it is.

So many people take our rights for granted that any involvement to protect or draw attention to them is a positive thing. Even if you don't agree it is better than sitting passively while others erode away the Constitution.

Good for these old timers..................

-fish
 

Auric

Diamond Member
Oct 11, 1999
9,591
2
71
The more folks who bat an eyelid, the more it proves the rights movement necessary.
 

TruePaige

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2006
9,874
2
0
Originally posted by: Mr Pickles
Originally posted by: TruePaige
Originally posted by: 43st
Anyone who self appoints themselves with the right to take another persons life is a problem, regardless if they flaunt it in public or not.

Self-Defense, stop being dramatic.

Nothing dramatic about it. 43st is right on.

If you mean right on wrong street.
 

child of wonder

Diamond Member
Aug 31, 2006
8,307
176
106
People having guns don't scare me. What scares me is that they might also be driving around in a big SUV, with "W '04," "WWJD?," and anti-evolution bumper stickers on their way to their local schoolboard meeting to push "Intelligent Design" into schools and vote for politicians on religious grounds.
 

scott916

Platinum Member
Mar 2, 2005
2,906
0
71
Originally posted by: child of wonder
People having guns don't scare me. What scares me is that they might also be driving around in a big SUV, with "W '04," "WWJD?," and anti-evolution bumper stickers on their way to their local schoolboard meeting to push "Intelligent Design" into schools and vote for politicians on religious grounds.

This. And also the simple assumption that every Tom Dick and Harry that carries a weapon in the open is a responsible, well-trained citizen, which is simply not the truth. Most people who carry are upstanding citizens, but it only takes one dipshit.
 

Nik

Lifer
Jun 5, 2006
16,101
3
56
Nope, doesn't make me nervous at all. I've seen one in Hillsboro, but open cary is illegal in Beaverton and Portland. Dude I saw in Hillsboro had it on his belt, was an off-duty cop. Said hello in passing, asked what he was carrying. Must be nice to be a cop, he was packing 40cal hydros :shocked: