The tragic shooting of police officers in Dallas this month has already been used as an excuse for the federal government to begin walking back reforms on the militarization of police. Now statist opportunists are citing the attack as a clear sign that it’s time to put an end to the constitutional right to open carry in America.
In 45 of the nation’s states, Americans are legally permitted to openly carry firearms in public. Though state and municipal ordinances place limits on open carry in many places, open carry rights—especially with regard to long guns—have generally been well-recognized throughout the nation.
There’s even a healthy open carry movement in the United States, bringing together activists who walk city sidewalks and public areas all over the country to inform police and the public about the benefits and constitutionality of open carry.
Often, as witnessed by thousands of videos on YouTube, many police neither understand nor appreciate the open carry demonstrations. And, for years, certain law enforcement lobbyists have joined forces with anti-2nd Amendment outfits in efforts to curtail legal open carry in the U.S.
Some of those factions are pointing to the Dallas tragedy as proof that open carry makes Americans less safe.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown told KBTX that open carry activists onsite during the active shooter incident earlier this month made it harder for officers to distinguish the murderer from non-threatening individuals.
“We’re trying as best we can as a law enforcement community to make it work so that citizens can express their Second Amendment rights,” Brown said. “But it’s increasingly challenging when people have AR-15s slung over their shoulder and they’re in a crowd,” he said. “We don’t know who the good guy is versus the bad guy when everyone starts shooting.”
Brazos County Chief Deputy Jim Stewart added, “I think these folks with the long guns, with rifles slung over their shoulders, that is of concern of me… They’ve been able to do that for years, but particularly as we experienced in Dallas where the shooter was shooting with a long gun, how are they to know who the shooter actually was when you have so many people going around with long guns?”
New York Republican Rep. Pete King recently made a similar comment about Ohio’s open carry laws as it became clear that Americans would open carry in the vicinity of the Republican National Convention.
“I think it’s dangerous, but then again I have my own views on guns,” King said.
The lawmaker essentially said he believes things would be safer if only police and bad actors have firearms in public places.
“I think the cops and the ordinary person is not going to know who’s good and who’s bad,” King said.
The lawmaker added: “If you see a guy running at you and he’s got a rifle over his shoulder, or an automatic weapon, is he a good guy or a bad guy? Is he there to kill you, or is he running away, or is he trying to help you?”
As I’ve written in the past, I don’t think open carry has much practical value from a self-defense perspective. And I’m not a huge fan of people who do it for attention.
See:
Are Open Carry Advocates Helping To Kill The 2nd Amendment?
NRA, Gun Rights Groups Tell Open Carry Advocates To Cool It
But it’s certainly a dangerous and very slippery slope for law enforcement officials to even hint that having a gun in a public place makes a person more likely to be a criminal than not.
The post Dallas being used as an excuse to denounce open carry appeared first on Personal Liberty®.
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