Open Carry II – Confessions of 2ND Amendment “Butter”

Last week I ran an article written by Chris Hernandez criticizing open carriers with rifles (specifically the ones carrying them ‘at the ready' or at port arms). A predictable hue-and-a-cry ensued. I later wound up engaging in further debate after we pushed the article to Facebook. There were some intelligent points made by those who disagreed with us, but boy were they outnumbered by the stupid ones. They called both Hernandez and me names. They said we were anti-2A, made the obligatory ‘you're either for us or against us!‘ arguments and said we were doing MDA's work for them. Some questioned our patriotism and manhood and even accused us of cowardice. It was though you can somehow reconcile a lack of common sense and willingness to look like a dumbass with someone's support (or lack thereof) of a Constitutional right. Some of them actually mixed Chris and me up – don't ask me how that's possible.

I'm from God's Country (Oklahoma), not Texas.

Most of the readers seemed to be responding to the topic and the pictures rather than the actual contents of the article, but why argue over such a minor point? This is the Second Amendment dammit! All responses must be visceral! Exclamation points and profanity are required!

In the end, they brought me around with their vitriol and their tired, inane arguments. Okay. Asking for extra sour cream in the city while carrying a Kalashnikov at ‘patrol ready' is going to make a difference. It will persuade John Q. Public to support us all. It is the same thing as someone open carrying a holstered Glock and comporting themselves with decorum in the public eye. There's no difference whatsoever between open carrying in an urban sprawl and doing so in the ass end of nowhere where there are lions and tigers and bears.

I give. I'll go to the coffee shop today and open carry not one but two rifles. That's right – I'm going to dual wield and do my bit. I'm not going to sling them muzzle down over my back either. I'll carry them like Col. Kilgore, but with one on each hip and really prove a point.

That will show them. That will show everybody.

Meantime, you read Hernandez's response, Confessions of 2ND Amendment “Butter”. It made me laugh out loud a couple of times, though if you're in favor of open carrying a rifle around Home Depot you may not find it quite as amusing. Also, my own confession – I don't really understand the term “butter”. As pejoratives go it's pretty anemic. Also, I'm not really going to go open carry a rifle at the ready. Because, you know, that's stupid.

“You want to do something that’s actually brave? Take responsibility for your actions. Admit that your desperate quest for attention gave the anti-gun side the equivalent of a neverending ammo belt to use against us. Stop blaming Moms Demand Action and Bloomberg for using your pictures as “propaganda”. You posed for those pictures yourself. All MDA did was use your own stupid actions against you. Stop blaming “gun snobs” for looking down on you. Other gun owners are looking down on you because you’re doing stupid crap that hurts the 2nd Amendment, not because they’re snobs. Stop hypocritically saying “It’s wrong to criticize the way someone exercises their 2nd Amendment rights” while simultaneously screaming “How dare you use your 1st Amendment rights to criticize me!” Stop contradicting yourselves by saying “carrying a rifle into Chili’s makes perfect sense!” and then saying “we’re only carrying rifles into Chili’s to show how ridiculous it is that we can open carry rifles but not pistols.”

Tell you what, if open carrying a rifle makes so much sense, do it when you’re by yourself. Don’t only do it when you’ve got 50 other guys with rifles to back you up. Walk into Chipotle by yourself, with your rifle in a combat ready hold. See what happens. Let us know how it works out for you.

Someday, if you guys ever grow up, you might realize you don’t own the 2nd Amendment. Just as the Westboro Baptist Church doesn’t get to decide who “real” Christians are, you don’t determine who real 2A supporters are. I don’t have to prove my loyalty to you. No matter how many guns you carry into Target, you’re not the scariest people I’ve ever dealt with. You won’t frighten me into agreeing with you.”

You can read the whole thing in its entirety on his blog here.

#CCW #opencarry #gunsense #nra #2A #concealedcarry

About Chris Hernandez: Chris a veteran of both the Marine Corps and the Army National Guard, with deployments to both Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a veteran Texas police officer of nearly two decades and a former member of a UN police mission in Kosovo. He is a lead writer at Breach Bang Clear and is the author of The Military Within the Military and White Flags & Dropped Rifles – the Real Truth About Working With the French Army. He also authored the modern military fiction novels Line in the Valley and Proof of Our Resolve. He writes on his own blog, Iron Mike Magazine, Kit Up!, Under the Radar and other places. You can find his author page here on Tactical 16.

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