Open Carry at the GOP convention

Seattle Husker

Seattle Husker

10,000+ Posts
By now most of have probably heard of the Open Carry petition to allow guns into the Quick Loans convention center for the GOP convention. It was posted on my Facebook page by a leftwing extremist friend who said "I signed it". Clearly the far left would like to push the right into a corner of the "gun free" zones argument. I wonder if some on the right actually support this idea?

The secret service today announced that they would not allow open carry in the arena under any circumstances.

I'm curious if anyone on this board thinks it would be a good idea to allow Open Carry at the GOP National Convention? If so, why?
 
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Open carry in general is a terrible idea for many reasons. I have not met a rational gun owner who would ever want to advertise that he is carrying a firearm.
 
UTChE96 said:
Open carry in general is a terrible idea for many reasons. I have not met a rational gun owner who would ever want to advertise that he is carrying a firearm.
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We agree UTChE96. I don't have any problem with concealed carry permits although do agree that there are certain places they shouldn't be; Bars, schools and National Party Conventions to name a few.
 
Open carry is a dumb idea. In fact I think it's the issue on which gun rights people are finally going too far. No, they shouldn't and won't allow it at the Convention.
 
I am all but convinced this petition was cooked up by the anti-gun left so that the typical uninformed (or barely aware) person, upon casually hearing about the petition and all of its signatures, will think the pro gun crowd are a bunch of extremist wack-jobs. To me this is a very ham-handed effort at social media manipulation by the left.
Seattle Husker said:
It was posted on my Facebook page by a leftwing extremist friend who said "I signed it".
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I have seen similar messages from similarly aligned people, and the glee with which they admit to signing up leads me to believe the vast majority of the signatures are bogus.

I agree with UTChE96 and Seattle - open carry, concealed carry, either one - in an event where the secret service is providing protection, and in an event that would be a very high value target for terrorists, is simply never going to happen, and any responsible gun owner will be just fine with that.
 
The whole thing is stupid, and I agree with Sangre that it is fake. (I don't agree that it was cooked up by "the left" - but by one person or a small group of people making fun of the gun crowd).
You have to admit -- it does read like something a lot of pro gun, extremist wack-jobs would say. They even included several direct quotes from the NRA, Trump, Cruz, etc...
 
I find it strange that a group so enthralled with such expansive ideas about gun rights should be opposed to open carry at the convention. I own a half dozen guns of various uses and think that reasonable restrictions on firearms would be useful to the society as a whole, but the GOP approach is no controls and to expand the ability of citizens to arm themselves. For protection, of course.

So if there is a danger that some terrorist might want to do harm in Cleveland, why not have a few thousand armed Republicans ready to rebuff their nefarious efforts? Can you imagine the reception said terrorist would get from such a group?

And if there was a little collateral damage, well, we tolerate that all the time, don't we?
 
I heard about this about a week ago and immediately thought it was a liberal satirical social media created non-event to again wedge people apart and turn us against each other. After some research, that is exactly what this is.

The story is so dumb, the convention is held in an arena that the GOP is renting, that the fact news agencies are writing stories about this and people are talking about this again makes me sad for this country.
 
This thread shows that we can agree on reasonable gun restrictions. What about the Presidential inauguration? Should we allow Open Carry on the Washington Mall? I'm trying to figure out where the line is drawn. Trump has already stated that on Day 1 he'd remove the "gun free zones" on schools and military bases. Does that idea have support here?
 
UTChE96 said:
I have not met a rational gun owner who would ever want to advertise that he is carrying a firearm.
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Unfortunately, gun issues have gotten so emotional and confrontational that "rational" hasn't got much to do with it anymore. I think having an openly holstered pistol makes sense when big game hunting -- and you may be at close quarters with a hog, bear or mountain lion that looked like it had been killed but was only stunned.
 
Guns have two primary uses outside of collecting. Hunting and personal protection. With the amount of security and especially Secret Service present, there is no need to allow guns in the convention.

I formerly lived in Houston and carried a weapon nearly 100% of the time. Thankfully, never needed it.

I never carry where I live now simply because I have no fear of being robbed or assaulted.
 
So, it seems that if the Secret Service is policing an event we can agree guns shouldn't be allowed. Are they the only law organization that get's this privilege or do all law enforcement managed events qualify? For example, would a concert apply?
 
I've carried open only when fishing. I stumbled into a meth deal on the river about 10 mins from the trailhead and vowed from then on to not be a complete lamb in the woods.

I have a CCL here in Virginia and carry about 1/3 of the time when leaving the house - mainly at night or if I'm heading to a rougher area (which is common in the DC Metro), an unfamiliar area, or an enticing soft-target for a mass shooter.

I go to the range every other week, was in CI/HUMINT in Naval Intelligence, and qualified expert on pistol and rifle.

Open carry should be up to municpalities. If you worked in a rural place in West Texas or New Mexico, open carry makes more sense then having to conceal and the required layers of clothing.
 
I hear ya theiioftx and texas-ex2000 .... I only swim in the ocean with a harpoon strapped to my side in case of a great white attack.

I'm teasing.... I think most gun owners are irrational but its your right. .
 
Totally different situation between concert and national political convention. I believe a business has the right to state whether guns or allowed. A gun owner then has the right whether to patronize that business or attend the concert.
 
chango said:
I hear ya theiioftx and texas-ex2000 .... I only swim in the ocean with a harpoon strapped to my side in case of a great white attack.

I'm teasing.... I think most gun owners are irrational but its your right. .
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People in Houston are routinely attacked in shopping parking lots and followed home to be attacked in their driveway. If you want to take your chances, more power to you. I choose to defend myself.
 
chango said:
I hear ya theiioftx and texas-ex2000 .... I only swim in the ocean with a harpoon strapped to my side in case of a great white attack.

I'm teasing.... I think most gun owners are irrational but its your right. .
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Chango, in addition to stumbling into that meth deal, my cousin was assaulted at gun point, I've had friends in grad school mugged at gun point, another cousin of mine was kidnapped, and the roommate of my ex-gf was raped by a stranger in a parking lot.

I've also had friends/colleagues killed in terrorist attacks abroad, and relatives and colleagues in downtown Manhattan and the Pentagon on 9-11.

Despite this, self-defense is not the first reason why I own guns. The first is because they're fun to shoot, secondarily out of principal and to support the 2nd Amendment, and then tertiarily for self-defense.

I'm not irrational. Certainly no more than the guy who puts on a helmet when cycling or straps on the seat belt when driving. I don't carry all the time, but I appreciate the right to do so if I choose.

Your "irrational" comment is ironic considering your chimp with a nickel plated pistol avatar.

And by the way, on Navy ships during our leisurely swim calls, the watch is always armed to repel sharks.
 
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Seattle Husker said:
Trump has already stated that on Day 1 he'd remove the "gun free zones" on schools and military bases. Does that idea have support here?
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On military bases, I would agree. I always thought that was a stupid rule.

In schools, I think it should be left to local districts to decide when or if anyone should should be allowed to be armed and under what circumstances.
 
Mr. Deez said:
On military bases, I would agree. I always thought that was a stupid rule.

In schools, I think it should be left to local districts to decide when or if anyone should should be allowed to be armed and under what circumstances.
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I'm former Army as an enlisted man. I wouldn't trust the average army grunt to walk around packing. Throw in the PTSD epidemic and I fear you are asking for trouble. Then again, it could be that everyone carrying might limit any carnage from the crazies.
 
I find the love of guns irrational - but maybe you find my love of golf clubs irrational. In any case -didn't mean to offend or insinuate that your love of guns is wrong.
 
chango said:
I find the love of guns irrational - but maybe you find my love of golf clubs irrational. In any case -didn't mean to offend or insinuate that your love of guns is wrong.
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I try to be empathetic to everyone and their views/perspectives.

To certain folks, that may be irrational.
 
I do not own golf clubs. Irrational would be if I sought to limit your ability to own or use golf clubs because I do not play golf.
 
texas_ex2000 said:
I go to the range every other week, was in CI/HUMINT in Naval Intelligence, and qualified expert on pistol and rifle.
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I find it reassuring to know that well-trained people like you might be armed. I'd be happy with liberal gun policies if they came along with training requirements to ensure that people who carry had even 10% of the training you've had. My concern is with people who want to carry a gun but don't know how to use it safely.
 
NJlonghorn said:
I find it reassuring to know that well-trained people like you might be armed. I'd be happy with liberal gun policies if they came along with training requirements to ensure that people who carry had even 10% of the training you've had. My concern is with people who want to carry a gun but don't know how to use it safely.
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I would be dishonest if I didn't say that there were many in my CCL class (optional for me, since I had qualifications from the military) who didn't instill the greatest confidence in their firearms skills. If I were to compare that class to Drivers Ed, it was about the same. I was expecting folks with much higher competence.

Maybe I have a skewed perspective because of my experience. But in the end, those things I observed weren't necessarily issues to public safety. These were things like, it took them 4 seconds to draw, or mediocre marksmanship, improper clearing of the weapon, decidedly "civilian" level of physical fitness, poor choice of effective concealed weapon (e.g. full size 1911), etc.

On the positive, like students in Drivers Ed, we all walked away knowing we had to keep practicing and get better. Everyone in that class was a responsible law abiding citizen who just wants to protect their families. When you holster a loaded gun to your waist, it hits you really quick that you better be confident and safe.
 
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Since criminals do not follow the law, declaring a gun-free zone does not disarm the individuals that are really the threat. I just do not think there is any value (and likely negative consequences) to declaring a location as a gun-free zone UNLESS the location is fully secured and it is physically verified that each person entering that location is disarmed. This is almost never the case.
 
Phil Elliott said:
This is my shocked face - It was cooked up by the left:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/surprising-source-of-gop-convention-guns-petition/

https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/03/30/hillary-supporter-started-rnc-open-carry-petition/
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giphy.gif
 
So in your mind, this one dude named "Jim" is "the left". .
Am I able to pick a random nut job blogger and we can agree that this person is "the right"?
 
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