Posted on 09/23/2013 11:43:27 AM PDT by marktwain
Arkansas Carry has postponed the open carry walk that was scheduled for Joneboro for two weeks. The open carry walk has been coordinated with the local prosecutor and police in order to educate the public about the change in Arkansas carry law. As stated by Arkansas Carry:
On September 22nd, 2013, at 3:00 pm, Arkansas Carry will host a legal and peaceful armed citizen walk in Jonesboro. The walk will begin near the County Courthouse and move north on Main Street to Cate Avenue, then back south on Union Street. Over a dozen Arkansas Carry members will take part in the invitation-only walk.
The gathering is being held to celebrate Act 746 becoming law on August 16th, and to bring attention to the fact that the public bearing of arms is now legal in the State of Arkansas. Arkansas Carry, Second Amendment leaders and various law enforcement agencies and prosecutors have long asserted that Act 746 has abruptly stopped the decades-long infringement upon unlicensed Second Amendment rights in the Natural State.An Arkansas law previously made it illegal to carry a firearm with the intent to use the firearm against another person. Act 746 clarified the law so that it was only illegal to carry a firearm with intent to unlawfully use the firearm against another person.
The Jonesboro open carry celebration hike has been postponed a couple weeks. We will re-schedule for a few weeks from now. Don't worry, NE AR: we still haven't forgotten you! -Nicholas StehleThe Arkansas AG Dustin McDaniel has written an opinion that open carry of firearms is not legal in the state, but does not quote any law to show where it is illegal. He simply claims that Act 746 does not make open carry legal.
I completely agree. This is absolutely the best way to do it. This educates the citizens and the police without unwanted or aggressive and fearful behavior from the ingnorant (LEO or LIVs).
I struggle to support the "one man crusade" approach where an individual takes a stroll downtown wearing Kevlar and an AR15 (In case, unloaded or otherwise) to make a statement on a whim. Then they video tape the interaction with an LEO once the police get a call about a suspicious person. Then they post it to Youtube to demonstrate how the government is abusing our rights and how police don't know the law, violate search and seizure, harrass, etc.
I have never thought the latter approach educates anyone. Instead, I fear it supports a liberal stereo type of 2A supporters as radical gun nuts for the LIVs.
Education belongs in class environs, not walking down the street, kit’ed up for a war.
You don’t hear about people running up saying “Gee, Open Carry man, can you tell us more about the second amendment?”
No, it’s the citizens, and rightfully so, calling the local constabulary to investigate Rambo walking through their nice quiet neighborhoods....
You want to make an open carry statement? Walk through Walnut Park in St. Louis...Because it’s really about protection and not showing off, right? Right.
“You want to make an open carry statement? Walk through Walnut Park in St. Louis...Because it’s really about protection and not showing off, right? Right.”
No. It is political. There is no more effective way to demonstrate that you have the right, than to use it while the police watch and do not arrest you. The message could not be more clear.
It is a Constitutionally protected right, and the police understand that.
Carrying a gun openly in a group is mostly about politics and the Constitution, and those involved in open carry exercises should always make that clear. It is why these organized walks and open carry picnics are more effective and less devisive than individuals openly carrying.
Because it is all about the right to bear arms.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.