Free Republic

Link to video The First and Second Amendments protect and reinforce each other. On September 11th, 2015, the protestor in this case, Michael Picard, was legally open carrying a handgun and had a camera running.  The police took the camera, his pistol and pistol permit.  They did not realize the camera was still recording. Charges against Picard were eventually dropped, after he refused a plea bargain.  On September 15th, 2016 the ACLU-CT has filed a civil rights law suit against the three individual police officers.  From acluct.org: HARTFORD — In a complaint filed today in the U.S. District Court...

My Daughter and Son in law, and two grandchildren were going to the Grapefest in Grapevine, Texas, between Dallas and Fort Worth. They graciously invited me to tag along.  Sunday afternoon, 19 September, 2016, was the time that fit with schedules and the kids naps.  The temperature was 97 in Dallas, and I could feel the humidity. I missed my Sun Helmet.  I am heat acclimated, but the kids were not.  We had to walk a couple of blocks to the festival, and the family stopped in some shade to consider options. I notice some sign-age that looked as...

On 27 February, 2016, Brett Sanders was arrested while openly carrying a firearm in Texas.  He had refused to show the officers of the Southlake, Texas, Police Department, any identification or a Texas carry permit.  Brett Sanders is an open carry and liberty activist. Link to video on Youtube The legal ability of Texas police officers to demand to see a carry permit of people openly carrying firearms, was hotly debated during the passage of the law that restored the right to openly carry modern pistols in Texas. A clause stating that officers could not demand a permit without...

I often open carry, especially in the summer when the temperatures make concealed carry a bit more cumbersome.  I was open carrying at this Yuma, Arizona gas station when a man approached me. He asked if Arizona were an open carry state.  I said that it was, and went on to explain that most states were.  He said he was from Colorado, where open carry was forbidden in some cities.  Yes, I said, the Colorado Supreme Court had made a weird decision that Denver could ignore state law.  He said the city of Aurora also prohibited open carry in...

Sea Bears is a successful restaurant serving sea food in Ogden, Utah.  They have made national news by their policy of open carry for restaurant employees and guests.  The policy brought them attention, and they have been successful enough to expand to larger quarters.  The family owned restaurant signed a lease for a new space at Union Station.  Union Station is home to four museums, including the John M. Browning Firearms Museum and the Utah Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.  This appeared to be a good fit for an open carry themed restaurant.The management of Union Station decided to...

The Sea Bears Ogden Fish House has become prosperous as a restaurant that welcomes and practices the open carry of firearms.  They have done so well they needed to move to a larger venue.  That venue was Union Station in Ogden.There are four museums at the station. One is the John M. Browning Firearms Museum, another is the Utah State Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, a third is the Browning Classic Car Museum, and the fourth is the Utah State Railroad Museum.  It seems like a good fit. From standard.net: For more than a year now, owners, employees and...

A woman openly carrying a Glock was threatened by an armed felon in the early morning hours of 1 August, 2016.  She was leaving the gas station with a drink in her hand and the Glock on her hip.  Her daughter would be turning three in about a week. From abc15.com: Miracle said she was leaving the Circle K near 59th Avenue and Camelback Road with her family early Monday morning when the suspect, Frank Taylor , tried to bum a cigarette. She told him that she didn’t have one, and then seconds later, Miracle said, she could feel...

If any of my family members found out I engaged in such a rally, I would be pulled out of college faster than you can say Jack Robinson. But if that would be before or after the butt whooping I would receive... I couldn't tell you. The College Fix reported that the Campus (Dildo) Carry protest will take place on August 24 at the University of Texas at Austin. The anti-gun demonstration was organized on Facebook by three current students: Jessica Jin, Ana López and Kailey Nicole Moore. According to the group's Facebook event page, the demonstration will entail “strapping gigantic swinging dildos to [their]...

We were warned. Prior to the Republican National Convention, multiple mainstream media outlets warned about Ohio's dangerous gun laws that allow for the open carry of firearms. The head of the police union wanted Ohio Governor John Kasich to (unconstitutionally) suspend the state's gun laws. "We are sending a letter to Gov. Kasich requesting assistance from him. He could very easily do some kind of executive order or something -- I don't care if it's constitutional or not at this point," Stephen Loomis, president of Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, told CNN. "They can fight about it after the RNC...

Open carry in Cleveland Ohio at the Republican National Convention has been hyped by those that want to disarm the population.  A scam petition was created to open carry inside the convention floor.  It was run by a “progressive” to create problems for Second Amendment supporters.  It did not last for long or fool many. The Quicken Loans location is a private concern.Then the head of the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association published a hysterical rant about how the Constitution need not apply.  He wanted the citizenry disarmed. From cnn.com:“We are sending a letter to Gov. Kasich requesting assistance from...

At almost all other Trump events masked thugs attack Trump supporters and try to disrupt events. Leftist groups had threatened to block the streets and shut down the convention. There were demonstrations but almost no assaults. Do you think this is because demonstrators thought Trump supporters might be legally armed? Did the demonstrators not want to risk getting shot during one of their assaults?

In March of 2016, members of Michigan Open Carry (MOC) and Michigan Gun Owners (MGO) were manning a booth that they had rented in the DeVos Place Convention Center. They were openly carrying holstered pistols, which has never been against the law in Michigan, except for a small number of restricted areas.  While people with concealed carry permits may not carry a concealed firearm into a school, they may openly carry a holstered pistol there.  They can openly carry holstered pistols into the State Capitol.  Late in the day on 11 March, the members of MGO and MOC were...

The head of Cleveland's largest police union is calling on Ohio Gov. John Kasich to temporarily restrict the state's open carry gun laws during this week's Republican National Convention following Sunday's shooting in Louisiana that killed three officers and wounded at least three others. "We are sending a letter to Gov. Kasich requesting assistance from him. He could very easily do some kind of executive order or something -- I don't care if it's constitutional or not at this point," Stephen Loomis, president of Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, told CNN. "They can fight about it after the RNC or they...

No link. I heard it on fox news. Police association is wanting Ohio state law regarding open carry suspended so there are no open guns during the Republican convention. Kasich has refused their request.

 Link to image source On 11 July, an open carrier, Brandon Francis, made a citizens arrest on a hit and run suspect.  Francis had just seen the driver hit a pedestrian and drive away. Francis drove after the suspect, cut him off, then ordered him out of the car at gun point.  It is clear from the video that Francis was open carrying his pistol.  Nevada has always been an open carry state.  In the video, you can see Brandon's holster on his right side.  In interviews with two television stations, he is open carrying. From lasvegasnow.com: Matthew Shaykin,...

Image from thearkansastimes.com Open carry at the Dallas protest worked.  No protesters who open carried were shot; nor did open carrier protesters shoot anyone. Police are now less likely to harass or arrest peaceful open carriers. The doomsayers who rail against open carry make numerous nonsensical claims.  Primary of them is that open carriers will be shot first by criminals.  They also claim that open carriers are likely to be shot by police. Supporters of open carry claim that the open carry of weapons is tactical deterrence.  That is, that criminals are less likely to attack a person who...

An open carrier in Oregon stopped an armed robbery suspect who demanded money at knife point.  The story was covered by kezi.com, and has gone national. From kezi.com: He said he flashed his gun at the suspect who then put the knife in his pocket and walked away. "And then I was just relieved like Katie was ... that I had my pistol with me so that I knew he couldn't do anything at that point," added Rorex. He said his date then called the police. When officers arrived they arrested 29-year-old Adolfo Rodriguez of Eugene. Rodriguez is now...

Hundreds of men women and children participated in an open carry march in Florida on the 4th of July.  On video posted on facebook, you can see the march stretching into the distance in front of and in back of the camera. You can also see the wfla video posted on wfla.com.  It is taken at a corner. That perspective makes the march look much smaller. From wfla.com: INVERNESS, FL (WFLA) – More than 300 people marched through the streets of Inverness in Citrus County to show their support for the Second Amendment on the morning of Fourth of...

During their live coverage of the July 7 attack on police in Dallas by Micah Xavier Johnson, CNN, in their infinite wisdom, decided to discuss the scary open carry law that just went into effect this year, as if to suggest this has something to do with a crazy person–Johnson–who wanted to kill white police officers. It doesn’t. Nevertheless, lawyer Areva Martin and New York Times columnist Charles Blow decided to talk about gun control, which host Don Lemon blessedly cut off, saying that’s a subject for another day (via Newsbusters): Of Course: CNN’s Blow, Martin Rush to Blame Guns,...

As a demonstration against police shootings made its way downtown here on Thursday, it differed from others around the country in one startling way: Twenty to 30 of the marchers showed up with AR-15s and other types of military-style rifles and wore them openly, with the straps slung across their shoulders and backs. In Texas, it was not only legal. It was commonplace. The state has long been a bastion of pro-gun sentiment and the kind of place where both Democrats and Republicans openly talk about the guns they own and carry, on their person, in their vehicles, at their...