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Florida and open carry
The Florida Sheriff's Association is pitching an alternative to legalized open carry.
As an Arizonan, I find these debates rather strange. In Arizona, open carry has always been legal -- it was concealed carry that was viewed with suspicion until fairly recently (presently, it's allowed without even a permit). Open carry was a matter of -- if a person carries where everyone can see it, he's unlikely to be thinking of doing something illegal. The idea of laws that permit concealed carry, but allow the carrier to be arrested if anyone else happens to see that he's carrying, is very hard to understand from this viewpoint.
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GOA Action Alert. Constitutional Carry in Tennessee. All TN residents please follow the link at Gun Owners, it's easy and fast. Self Defense is a natural right by God and a civil right under the law. Let's pass it this year, finally.
http://gunowners.org/statetn01202016.htm
Sorry Mr. Hardy for using your site to promote but hey, it's in context at least.
But ... but ... what about my right not to be afraid? If I even SEE a gun, well, I might have to go to my safe place. (Isn't that what college kids claim they need these days?)
Seriously, I think one of the comments appearing with the article gives the best explanation for the cops' opposition - they don't want to have to deal with the volume of "man with a gun" calls they know they will get for years after OC becomes legal.
Campus Carry is dead and Open Carry is on its way to die this year in Florida. Senator Miguel Diaz de la Portilla (RINO) already sacked Campus Carry and has said he wants the Sheriff's pitch rather than OC.
The reason Florida is considering OC is that some districts with anti gun police departments were having their officers arrest and charge CC folks that inadvertently had their piece show.
Whether it was wind blowing up a shirttail or a reach to a high shelf, just a flash of a GUN!! was cause for arrest.
Florida tried to amend the momentary show but again the anti CC districts decided just how long or how short a momentary show was as a criteria for arrest.
Hoplophobia is alive and well in the Gunshine state in many areas.
The real issue is that in no-OC areas OC quickly becomes a cop status symbol. Off-duty and plainclothes cops soon see OC as a type of police uniform and one that looks very cool. Remember the scenes in "Walker Texas Ranger" where these morons are plainclothes but OCing big chrome hardware in Texas in the mid-1980s?
That's actually realistic. Guaranteed it's happening in Florida right this second. I used to see it in California all the time.
That's the issue - preserving a police-only status symbol.