Posted on 08/18/2009 12:30:19 PM PDT by marktwain
The quiet streets of this San Diego seaside community were awakened to the Second Amendment rights as 12 Californians walked the sidewalks with their firearms. Six of the 12 open carriers were women and six additional non-carriers handed out informational fliers to anyone who was interested.
Most of residents were curious about what was going on, some thought the open carriers were a part of law enforcement and a few were offended, but the morning event ended with educating the public about their right to carry a gun in the state of California.
Of course there are a few rules to be followed when taking your gun outside your home. First you need to be a registered gun owner, the weapon must be in a holster in plain sight and it cannot be loaded. Ammunition is normally carried, but separate from the gun.
Once the group met, they notified the local law enforcement, as a courtesy, that they would be walking the downtown district of Encinitas.
“It’s awesome, we as Americans have the right to carry our guns and it can’t be taken away from us,” said Rochelle Howes, fellow open carrier participant. “This is my second open carry and it amazes me that some law enforcement officers don’t know we have this right.”
Fellow gun advocate, Mari Hayden, says this is her first open carry event. “This is great. I just talked to an off-duty officer who said they were creeped out by this right, but I told her I was creeped out that she was a cop.”
Another fellow carrier was Rosa Garcia, a Mexican immigrant who came here legally with a sponsor; “I do this to share quality time with my sons.” The Garcia’s belong to the San Diego Minutemen group and since they’ve lost their business due to illegal immigration, they depend on the kindness of the Minutemen for help to get by in the tough recession.
When it comes to the importance of being able to carry their firearms, many open carriers had different reasons for the educational walk through Encinitas.
“I will save a liberals' life even if they won’t save mine,” says Pendry Boteler. “I don’t mind though because I’ve been around guns my whole life.”
The goal of this group is to exercise this right in every North San Diego County city in order to educate as many Americans as possible, says Jeff Schwilk founder of the San Diego Minutemen.
Not everyone was convinced this was a good idea. A few residents left their table outside a café and said, “You people are nuts and paranoid. You shouldn’t want guns in your Christian nation.”
However across the plaza the group ran into current City Council member and former Encinitas Mayor Dan Dalager. “I’m not used to seeing people walk down the street openly carrying guns. I’m not endorsing it, but I’m not freaked out by it either.”
He continued to say that growing up he used guns and referred to them as tools that they used on the property to get the fox out of the chicken coop.
Finally one of the carriers drove down from Orange County to learn about the organization in hopes of bringing a chapter to the Orange County area in a few months.
Vincent Burke is a lifetime National Rifle Association member and assists the U.S. Border Patrol on the U.S./Mexico border in counter-narco terrorism activity. “It’s tough work, but someone’s got to do it.”
Once the streets were safe and the group hungry, they all ended their day at Giovanni’s Italian restaurant on Hwy 101 for lunch, guns and all.
“Of course there are a few rules to be followed when taking your gun outside your home. First you need to be a registered gun owner, the weapon must be in a holster in plain sight and it cannot be loaded. Ammunition is normally carried, but separate from the gun. “
WTF?!? the right to carry an empty gun?
WTF?!?
And these ladies reply, "Molon Labe, baby!"
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahaha! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
An empty gun is no better than a rock.
What right? “First you need to be a registered gun owner, the weapon must be in a holster in plain sight and it cannot be loaded. Ammunition is normally carried, but separate from the gun.” They need to pass a law that the criminals must give you time to load your gun when they rob you.
Wow! I wouldn’t mind having BOTH of those cuties in my bedroom tonight! (And the women look quite nice, BTW;))
Mark
Steve Martin did a movie a few years ago about how crazy life is in CA titled "LA Story." In one of the scenes, Steve Martin's character is going to get some cash from an ATM. There are two lines going up to the ATM, and you see one person getting cash, and then one from the other line walking off with that person. When Martin's character gets to the ATM and gets his cash, a man from the other line comes up to him and says, "Hi, my name is XXXX, and I'll be robbing you tonight."
Mark
They must be carrying concealed cause I dont see any guns...
Nah just throw the “bullets” at the criminal
No!No! Yau can carry fully loaded clips in the separate “clip holster/carrier” on the same belt as your weapon. Just not have bullets already inside the weapon.
How long do you think it taks you to withdraw and slip in a full clip? Seconds.
Of course carrying a loaded magazine on your belt is not as useful as carrying it in your pistol, but it's a lot better than nothing. And this is California! I'm astounded that California has any type of open carry at all.
I’d trust the girl on the left with something, but not a gun.
In those states which require concealed carry, a person must draw his gun from under a concealing garment before being able to use it. This can requie the use of the non-firing hand to shift a garment.
If the gun is carried openly in a holster, the non-firing hand is free to draw a full magazine and load it as the gun is being raised. An additional fraction of a second to rack the slide results in being ready to fire.
I intend to practice this at some length prior to joining the open carry movement in Kalifornia.
I live in CA. I have one of those new fangled “Handgun Safety Certificates”, (I kid you not), that let's me buy an “approved” handgun, but only one per month.
I even scored 100% on the written test Comrades.
Maybe I'm a Registered Gun Owner and didn't even know it.
I have a new feeling of empowerment.
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