WI:Open Carry Has Become Acceptable in Milwaukee

Gun Watch ^ | 4 June,2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

William Polster on a Open Carry Walk

On 17 May, I attended a gun turn in event in urban Milwaukee.  The neighborhood is known for its high crime rate.   One of the first things that I noticed was a person openly carrying a holstered handgun, who marched with those calling for an end to unjustified shootings.

That was a special occasion, and one focused on guns.  A few days later, on Memorial day, I took a picture of a young man openly carrying at a busy McDonald's in Hayward, Wisconsin.   A commenter, "Secret Agent Man" on freerepublic.org, one of the sites it was published on, mentioned that:

...a solo open carry guy in downtown milwaukee wold not get the same treatment. he’d be taken down and cuffed. and flynn’s said so.

Secret Agent Man is referring to the infamous statement of Milwaukee  Police Chief Ed Flynn, in 2009.  It shows how far reaching a police chief's statements can be in chilling the exercise of Constitutional rights.  In 2009, before the passage of the shall issue law in Wisconsin, Chief Flynn said, as recorded on washingtoncountysheriffwi.org: 

"My message to my troops is if you see anybody carrying a gun on the streets of Milwaukee, we'll put them on the ground, take the gun away and then decide whether you have a right to carry it."

I do not know of any incidents where Chief Flynn's "troops" carried out his threat; even a Milwaukee Police Chief seems to know when to back down.   The legislature changed the law in 2011, and it appears that police are mostly abiding by it.  Some monetary settlements to open carriers may have helped.

William Polster openly followed the law this last weekend in Milwaukee, in a neighborhood that was the scene of tragedy only a week before, when a gunfight between suspected gang members resulted in a stray bullet hitting a 10-year-old in the head.

He walked for two hours within two blocks of the shooting, openly carrying his Glock 21 and handing out pocket constitutions.   Most people were willing to take a constitution from a stranger with a gun.  He handed out about 30 constitutions and talked with about as many.

Milwaukee resident extends hand to welcome open carrier to neighborhood

Only one person suggested that there was a potential problem with the constitutional right to bear arms:  they were concerned with the possibility of mentally unstable people having access to firearms.   No one asked Mr. Polster to leave, no one was hostile.   While police drove by in squad cars three times, no one stopped or questioned his right to openly carry in Milwaukee.  Mr. Polster has posted his two hours of open carry to YouTube, if you wish to watch for yourself.

The unjustified homicide problem in the United States has been greatly reduced in the last 20 years.   As most of the country has embraced the "Shall issue" model of concealed carry, the unjustified homicide rate has dropped in half.  Many other factors may be involved, but the rise of carry permits, with the drop in unjustified homicide, is a startling fact for most people to find out.

The vast majority of unjustified homicides are concentrated in tiny urban areas, in a tiny subset of the population.    From the research of David Kennedy, a renowned criminal justice professor and former Harvard researcher:

 “We now know that homicide and gun violence are overwhelmingly concentrated among serious offenders operating in groups: gangs, drug crews, and the like representing under half of one percent of a city's population who commit half to three-quarters of all murders.”

The problem with inner city urban areas is that the people there have become acculturated to not trusting the justice system.   If you look all over the globe, you see that lack of trust as the common factor in high homicide rates:  If people do not trust the system to be effective and dispense fairly reliable justice, the homicide rate soars.   Europeans in the middle ages had homicide rates in the range of those of inner city urban crime centers and  failed nations-states today.

How do you restore trust in the justice system?  Perhaps one way to do it is to hand out copies of the Constitution while graphically demonstrating that the police have to respect the limitations that it places on the government.


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch

[marktwain]

The open carry of rifles and shotguns has made the open carry of holstered pistols non-controversial.

[jsanders2001]

> The open carry of rifles and shotguns has made the open carry of holstered pistols non-controversial.

I personally think concealed carry is the better way to go because its less alarming to the gun control goons and it has nothing to do with ego or bravado. These young guys carrying AR-15’s over their shoulders on the streets and in restaurants aren’t helping the cause IMO.

[riverrunner]

The gun control goons as you call them. Do not like your guns no matter what.

Trying to placate them plays right into their agenda.

Sorry no matter how much you try and make them like your guns they don’t.

Their goal is to out law all firearms and all carry.

[marktwain]

What do you base your theory on, other than the antagonistic media campaign paid for by Bloomberg?

Open carry is becoming more common and more accepted. Normalization is working. Open carry of rifles in Texas lead to both governor candidates supporting the legalization of open carry of pistols.

The old media has been manipulated by the Bloomberg campaign, and they agree with is goals anyway. The message is “Open carry of rifles is counterproductive”.

That is the message that you are propagating.

It is like the Democrats giving the Republicans advise on how to campaign: If you just become more like Democrats, you will elect more Republicans.

When you get more flack, it means you are being more effective.

[BuffaloJack]

“A free people ought not only be armed and disciplined, but they should have sufficient arms and ammunition to maintain a status of independence from any who might attempt to abuse them, which would include their own government.” - George Washington

[Flintlock]

The REASON for “open carry”:

The Fuzz can’t arrest you for FLASHING it if they can detect your legally-carried concealed weapon.

How do you defend against such a charge with and anti-gun cop/judge/police force?? Hence the law.

[OldPossum]

I agree. It is not helpful to our cause to carry what people conceive of as “assault weapons” since it looks menacing to their simple minds. I recognize the standard argument that a right not exercised is a right that can be lost, but here, I think that those who wish to promote open carry among the populace will be well-served to just carry a handgun in a holster. The point is made without unduly scaring the cattle.

[jsanders2001]

> Open carry is becoming more common and more accepted. Normalization is working. Open carry of rifles in Texas lead to both governor candidates supporting the legalization of open carry of pistols.

It may also have to do with Rick Perry’s pro-gun stance and the fact that he likes to collect rare guns. He has a set of Civil War pistols in his office. I like the concept of open carry or concealed carry for handguns; just don’t think open carry of AR-15s around town is productive for the cause. Just my opinion.

[wideawake]

"My message to my troops"

Hilarious.

Chief Flynn thinks he's a brigadier in combat or something. Give that man an extra bear claw.

[marktwain]

“I think that those who wish to promote open carry among the populace will be well-served to just carry a handgun in a holster. The point is made without unduly scaring the cattle.”

The point is that Texas is one of five states that forbid the open carry of modern pistols in most public places.

It is a leftover from reconstruction politics:

http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/2013/08/txcome-and-take-it-means-to-restore.html

[afraidfortherepublic]

Open carry in Milwuakee discussed. Secret Agent Man and Free Republic mentioned.

FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.

[Balding_Eagle]

All wars are won as a result of hundreds of different strategies and tactics.

Think of the reprehensible Dirty Dozen, a lot of them were ugly and probably scared the cattle.

[harpu]

"These young guys carrying AR-15’s over their shoulders on the streets and in restaurants aren’t helping the cause IMO."

YEP!

[rellimpank]

—agree— and Clayton Cramer has had some wise words on this starting when the 19 year old in Michigan strolled into the local library with a 12 gauge at port arms-—

[fella]

Every time you see an LEO your seeing open carry in action.

[Impy]

Are you packing heat?

[Last Dakotan]

Every time you see an LEO your seeing open carry in action.

One could say the same of a crime in progress.

I too am with the keep it concealed crowd.

[DaveA37]

Open carry only makes the statement that you have a gun. That’s fine if you’re in the “guns forsale” advertising business.

I much prefer to be the person you have no clue about or if I am carrying or not. It becomes much easier to get around and nobody bothers you.

[cycjec]

thanks very much for this post.

can’t say much for the dude’s outfit. short socks,
some bare leg.

[cycjec]

if “normalization is working” that’s one of the few good
news items I’ve seen in weeks.