AR: Open-Carry March to Celebrate Second Amendment Rights

Gun Watch ^ | 18 August, 2013 | Dean Weingarten

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Open carry at an IRS abuse protest in Arizona

Steve Jones, a prominent Second Amendment writer and activist has organized an open carry march to celebrate the change in Arkansas law that goes into effect on August 16th. The march is scheduled for 24 August.   From 5Newsonline:

The “celebration walk” is set to begin at 9 a.m. in Ben Geren Park. Twelve people have been invited to participate, Jones said, since a larger number would have required a permit.

Jones said the participants will begin in the park with their handguns concealed, but then will openly carry the firearms once the group reaches the street. He said the participants will walk about a mile, then turn around and return to the park. The group has received approval from law enforcement authorities to conduct the event, Jones said.]

Jones said the walk also is designed to show support for the belief among gun-rights advocates that a state law passed this year, Act 746, allows for handguns to be carried openly. The law takes effect Friday (Aug. 16).

Attorney General Dustin McDaniel issued an opinion last month stating the act does not allow Arkansans to carry handguns openly.

AG McDaniel's opinion is just an opinion, though it carries more weight than an ordinary persons.   Steve Jones does a fair job in dissecting the opinion.

It is clear that McDaniel is hostile to the idea of open carry.  He completely discounts the most important reform in the law.

The previous law made it illegal to carry a weapon for the purpose of using it against another person.  It did not matter if the use was legitimate or not.  The reform in the law fixed that by making it illegal to carry a weapon with the intent of using it unlawfully.  

 Arkansas is a Second Amendment friendly state, and I think it unlikely that the legislators will see fit to change the law back to the position it was before.

Still, strange things can happen in a state that elected and reelected Bill Clinton.

 ©2013 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.

Link to Gun Watch

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The question is: Will Arkansas courts uphold the law as written, or will they create a convoluted rational to prevent open carry?

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I bet there’s an NSA drone overhead taking pictures at that event.

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“I bet there’s an NSA drone overhead taking pictures at that event.”

Possible, but unlikely. All of these activists are known, if no other way, from their email and forum discussions about the event. They are openly exercising their rights. They do not care who knows it, they are flaunting it.

If you do not exercise your rights, you tend to lose them.