Absolutely nothing wrong with what the man did. He was not interfering with the police officer and not breaking any laws.
No the point is not to be inconspicuous, but rather to normalize the carrying of handguns....to educate as well. Rather hard to inconspicuously open carry.
There is considerable error with some of the comments on the link - some unnecessary vulgarity too.
Much wrong with what the officers did; however, care needs to exercised in that OCDO is not and will not be another CopWatch.
Let me clarify my first post a little. When I implied "inconspicuous" I simply meant carrying yourself in a manner that wouldn't draw unnecessary attention. To act no differently than if you were unarmed. I didn't mean to hide the weapon or lurk in the shadows.
Secondly, I have no problems with his actions when the officer stepped out of his car, and with the second officer's approach, either. My issue comes within the first minute of the video. It appears to the viewer that this guy went out of his way to draw attention to himself, thus resulting in the stop later on.
If all OCers carries ourselves this way, by approaching law enforcement first, wouldn't you think it would become more and more difficult to educate them and the public on the benefits of open carry? The cops already had it in their heads from the get go that this guy was up to something, regardless of the man's stated intentions he was just minding his own.
My point is this: if open carry is to be accepted by everyone, then we need to paint the picture of a polite, respectful society of responsible gun owners. I think, and it's just my opinion, that by deliberately drawing attention to yourself in a way that this guy did, regardless of if he was breaking the law or not, it sends the message to the public, and especially the police that we're a bunch of lawless bandits and this is the old west.
It's one thing, I think, to be stopped and harassed by LE when you're walking the dog and OC'ing, or pumping gas. It's another to present yourself to the cops like he did and not expect them to react like they did.
Also, I never intended this thread to turn into CopWatch. I just found the video to send the wrong message about standing up for your rights.
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