imported post
I live in New Orleans, where open carry is perfectly legal, but will result in persecution by the police anyway. I like the idea of open carrying as a way of teaching people their own rights, but I don't have time to spend in jail or money to spend on a lawyer so I'm starting small, not just on a local level but on a household one.
The first time my roommate saw me with a handgun on my belt, she was surprised and seemed a bit nervous. After seeing me walk around with it on a regular basis, both around the house and going to and from matches, she's gotten used to it. A few days ago I returned from a match and when she saw the outfit I was wearing with my weapon and mag pouch she actually said I looked "professional." I wondered what sort of professional she imagined (I'm not an LEO of any sort), but I'll take the compliment. We've also had a couple of incidents in the neighborhood that have led her to be quite happy I have a weapon in the house should it be needed. She has made comments to this effect on a couple of occasions.
My other roommate had never shot a gun when he moved into our place and had a lot of questions about them. He wasn't anti, but he wasn't pro either. I taught him what I knew about LA law and took him to the range and things have taken off since then. He comes to the range with me on a regular basis (and even proposes it himself) and has become an afficianado. He's gone online and learned all about different makes and models. He's saving to buy a gun of his own and even knows which one he plans to get.
My next stop is the yard. After a recent match I returned home and was taking out the garbage and scooping poop in the front yard. I was openly carrying and a guy walked by and said, "Are you allowed to carry your piece around like that?" I gave him a short answer, "Yep, it's perfectly legal" and he went on his way.
He was just walking by, so we didn't have any longer conversation, but I plan to open carry in the front yard on a regular basis so that people in the neighborhood can get used to the sight. I'm on my own (rented) property, and the landlady knows I have a weapon (I've taken her to the range too), so even if the police try to harrass me they'll have an absolute minimum of excuses to give me trouble.
Hopefully it will stimulate conversations and maybe other people will follow suit. I would LOVE to see everyone in my neighborhood carrying openly. The crime rates would go right down and the police would get used to the sight and not be as tempted to harass people. At that point, it would be a lot easier to open carry further afield. The more people that know what their rights are, the more people will choose to exercise those rights. In my own small way, I'm trying to get the ball rollling.
I fully expect local LEOs to be called at some point, and figure that it's hard to consider someone pulling weeds or mowing grass on private property any sort of threat. This means that any interaction is likely to be low key and easily turned positive. I've worked in the service industry and look harmless (except for the M&P, lol) so I'm pretty good at being disarming (no pun intended). I may even end up educating the police. I would like to think they already know the laws, but we have an overstressed, understaffed police force which has a large percentage of rookies. My expectations for the moment are low.
I've seen many posts here that discuss how they don't generally pass laws that directly take away rights, instead they chip away at the edges. Given long enough the rights are gone, but like water eroding stone the visible difference from one day to the next is minimal.
I figure if rights can be taken away through this insidious process, they can be regained and even broadened through the same process. At the moment so few people open carry here that a majority of people assume it's illegal, a misconception that the police encourage. This means that if they passed a law making it illegal, hardly anybody would even notice. BAD. Maybe people will start out by thinking of me as the kooky strapped chick. But seeing even one person carrying on a regular basis will help get the word out that you're ALLOWED to carry. Nothing like gossip to spread the word. It will go from, "did you see that weird chick carrying around a gun like she thinks she's Annie Oakley" to someone responding, "You know, I talked to her and anybody who wants to (except convicted felons) can openly carry a gun if they want, I'm thinking about getting one myself."
I suppose some would consider me a coward for not jumping straight to open carrying all around town. Like I said, I'm aware of my rights but the cops aren't. I can't afford to miss work sitting in lockup planning my unlawful arrest suit.
Among animal people there is the concept of an "ambassador for the species." For those unfamiliar with this term, an ambassador for the species is a good natured animal from a breed that has a bad reputation (pit bulls or dobermans for example). They often work as visiting animals for the sick or elderly, but any well-mannered animal can be an ambassador for the species. If you have a rottweiler that everybody loves, you have an ambassador. The idea is that if people get a chance to meet a nice example of something they've been told is always mean, they will realize that their generalizations about the group are incorrect and that they've been misinformed. I plan to be an ambassador for the gun-owning species on the same premise. Hopefully people will think, "If she carries a gun and she's nice, maybe other people that own and carry guns are OK too. Maybe it's not guns that make criminals."
Wish me luck. I'll be posting occasionally with developments and welcome input. I know I posted this in the Virginia forum rather then the Louisiana one, but I figure what I'm working with at the moment is general enough to apply in either state (we're talking human nature, not details of law), and it seems like the bulk of posting on OC is in the Virginia section for some reason, so I figured I'd be social and write here.
I live in New Orleans, where open carry is perfectly legal, but will result in persecution by the police anyway. I like the idea of open carrying as a way of teaching people their own rights, but I don't have time to spend in jail or money to spend on a lawyer so I'm starting small, not just on a local level but on a household one.
The first time my roommate saw me with a handgun on my belt, she was surprised and seemed a bit nervous. After seeing me walk around with it on a regular basis, both around the house and going to and from matches, she's gotten used to it. A few days ago I returned from a match and when she saw the outfit I was wearing with my weapon and mag pouch she actually said I looked "professional." I wondered what sort of professional she imagined (I'm not an LEO of any sort), but I'll take the compliment. We've also had a couple of incidents in the neighborhood that have led her to be quite happy I have a weapon in the house should it be needed. She has made comments to this effect on a couple of occasions.
My other roommate had never shot a gun when he moved into our place and had a lot of questions about them. He wasn't anti, but he wasn't pro either. I taught him what I knew about LA law and took him to the range and things have taken off since then. He comes to the range with me on a regular basis (and even proposes it himself) and has become an afficianado. He's gone online and learned all about different makes and models. He's saving to buy a gun of his own and even knows which one he plans to get.
My next stop is the yard. After a recent match I returned home and was taking out the garbage and scooping poop in the front yard. I was openly carrying and a guy walked by and said, "Are you allowed to carry your piece around like that?" I gave him a short answer, "Yep, it's perfectly legal" and he went on his way.
He was just walking by, so we didn't have any longer conversation, but I plan to open carry in the front yard on a regular basis so that people in the neighborhood can get used to the sight. I'm on my own (rented) property, and the landlady knows I have a weapon (I've taken her to the range too), so even if the police try to harrass me they'll have an absolute minimum of excuses to give me trouble.
Hopefully it will stimulate conversations and maybe other people will follow suit. I would LOVE to see everyone in my neighborhood carrying openly. The crime rates would go right down and the police would get used to the sight and not be as tempted to harass people. At that point, it would be a lot easier to open carry further afield. The more people that know what their rights are, the more people will choose to exercise those rights. In my own small way, I'm trying to get the ball rollling.
I fully expect local LEOs to be called at some point, and figure that it's hard to consider someone pulling weeds or mowing grass on private property any sort of threat. This means that any interaction is likely to be low key and easily turned positive. I've worked in the service industry and look harmless (except for the M&P, lol) so I'm pretty good at being disarming (no pun intended). I may even end up educating the police. I would like to think they already know the laws, but we have an overstressed, understaffed police force which has a large percentage of rookies. My expectations for the moment are low.
I've seen many posts here that discuss how they don't generally pass laws that directly take away rights, instead they chip away at the edges. Given long enough the rights are gone, but like water eroding stone the visible difference from one day to the next is minimal.
I figure if rights can be taken away through this insidious process, they can be regained and even broadened through the same process. At the moment so few people open carry here that a majority of people assume it's illegal, a misconception that the police encourage. This means that if they passed a law making it illegal, hardly anybody would even notice. BAD. Maybe people will start out by thinking of me as the kooky strapped chick. But seeing even one person carrying on a regular basis will help get the word out that you're ALLOWED to carry. Nothing like gossip to spread the word. It will go from, "did you see that weird chick carrying around a gun like she thinks she's Annie Oakley" to someone responding, "You know, I talked to her and anybody who wants to (except convicted felons) can openly carry a gun if they want, I'm thinking about getting one myself."
I suppose some would consider me a coward for not jumping straight to open carrying all around town. Like I said, I'm aware of my rights but the cops aren't. I can't afford to miss work sitting in lockup planning my unlawful arrest suit.
Among animal people there is the concept of an "ambassador for the species." For those unfamiliar with this term, an ambassador for the species is a good natured animal from a breed that has a bad reputation (pit bulls or dobermans for example). They often work as visiting animals for the sick or elderly, but any well-mannered animal can be an ambassador for the species. If you have a rottweiler that everybody loves, you have an ambassador. The idea is that if people get a chance to meet a nice example of something they've been told is always mean, they will realize that their generalizations about the group are incorrect and that they've been misinformed. I plan to be an ambassador for the gun-owning species on the same premise. Hopefully people will think, "If she carries a gun and she's nice, maybe other people that own and carry guns are OK too. Maybe it's not guns that make criminals."
Wish me luck. I'll be posting occasionally with developments and welcome input. I know I posted this in the Virginia forum rather then the Louisiana one, but I figure what I'm working with at the moment is general enough to apply in either state (we're talking human nature, not details of law), and it seems like the bulk of posting on OC is in the Virginia section for some reason, so I figured I'd be social and write here.