Go ahead... Make my day...
Only seven states ban openly carrying handguns (this USA Today article forgot about Illinois). Now four of them are considering legislation to drop the ban: Texas, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas would allow people to carry handguns openly in a holster, which is legal in most states.
While Vermont and Alaska allow adults to carry concealed weapons without a permit, and Wisconsin, Illinois and D.C. don’t allow them at all, most states have strict laws governing concealed weapons. But the story is different for open-carry. Historically, concealed weapons were seen as deceiving, while open-carry was honest. People should bear arms openly, according to gun-promoting group OpenCarry.org (“A Right Unexercised is a Right Lost!”). How bizarre.
February 20, 2009 at 3:24 am
For me as a non-American, the permissive attitude to legally carrying guns is generally very shocking, whether or not these are concealed.
I obviously won’t say that because in the UK people typically cannot own firearms (apart from an occasional licenced shotgun out in deep countryside) we don’t have a problem – of course we do. Gang warfare is very much on the increase in big cities. But I don’t know of any cases of gunmen going on shooting sprees in schools or shopping malls. And that must have something to do with the fact that weapons are not readily available to own on this side of the pond.
I guess once weapons become such a part of a nation’s culture it is not possible to reverse it now. Or is it? Does this not bother top American politicians at all, or do they see owning a gun as one of the population’s intrinsic rights? (I think I know the answer to that one..)
February 20, 2009 at 3:00 pm
Slaves were once part of American culture. :-)
January 22, 2010 at 11:14 am
Untill such time as they allow us to open carry. Please show your support for the laws currently on the books for Concealed Carry permit holders.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300387789050&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT
It is a must have if you believe in your rights to carry a concealed weapon.