The open carry debate rages anew, and a different way to look at the question.
Open Carry (OC) is a subject of nearly religious zeal for some people. It’s also something of a “litmus test” for second amendment advocates; if you don’t support open carry, you’re not a “real patriot”.
There are, in my mind, two aspects to the OC debate: application in self defense, and political leverage. Let’s get the self defense aspect out of the way first: I think OC when concealed carry (CC) is available (which is darned near all of the country these days) is silly. I won’t debate that point of view at this time, but for now I’ll just say that I don’t believe OC has any advantage over CC from a “tactical” standpoint.
On the social and political fronts the situation is a little less clear. I often wonder if the civil rights activists of the 1960s and the gay rights activists of more recent memory would have made the gains they did without their open and sometimes controversial exercise of their rights. Just fifty years ago restaurants and theaters were routinely segregated; thanks to the confrontational activities of civil rights advocates, today integration is so normal that we don’t even think about it. The same could be said for abortions and being openly gay.
Whether you agree or disagree with those subjects isn’t important to this discussion – what is important is that what was normal was changed, thanks to people who were willing to stand up for their rights and risk ridicule and arrest to mold society’s opinions.
To say that such activity was acceptable for them, but not for Second Amendment advocates, seems on the surface to be a little inconsistent.
OC activists insist they’re doing the same things for the same reasons, and it would seem to be a hard argument to dismiss. I do think, however, that there is a big difference between open carriers and civil rights marchers: the rights being defended here are already well established (if not in fashion), and are subject to a different standard of comportment. It’s called “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”
Rosa Parks was doing something that the law said she couldn’t. Open carriers are doing something that the law already says they can. That doesn’t seem like a huge difference, but it is.
If OC advocates were carrying guns in areas where laws unjustly say they can’t, then I’d support them fully. The problem is they’re not, and in my opinion that removes the civil rights rationale from their argument. Carrying a gun openly in a city like Portland, where it is against the law, could be construed as advocating for change and pushing people to recognize other’s civil rights. Doing it in an area where it’s allowed, even if uncommon and misunderstood, is usually just grandstanding.
I understand the argument that rights which are not exercised are ripe for abrogation, and that OC is a strong exercise of Second Amendment rights. That doesn’t mean one needs to do so from a posture of defiant confrontation, which seems to be the norm for open carriers. We already possess those rights, and it’s incumbent upon us to exercise them responsibly and intelligently. Like it or not, that means not scaring the public.
Yes, people who are scared of the sight of guns are irrational. I agree. Yes, cops who don’t know the nuances of the law are ignorant. I agree. Getting belligerent in public isn’t going to change either of those. Want to advocate for actual social change? Open carry in a city where it’s illegal; get arrested like the civil right marchers did, then use that to help publicize your case for the repeal of unjust and unconstitutional laws.
That’s real political activism. Being a contentious loudmouth on YouTube isn’t.
-=[ Grant ]=-
- Posted by Grant Cunningham
- On September 7, 2011