Posted on 04/26/2013 7:05:36 AM PDT by LibWhacker
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A man who walks around his neighborhood with a rifle strapped to his back says he is not a threat to harm anyone, but some neighbors fear he is an incident of vigilante justice waiting to happen.
John Schultz, 19, also wears a bullet-proof vest, carries ammunition and has a knife in a holster as he walks through Walnut Creek, which is off Sunset Road in north Charlotte.
The gun is his grandfather’s 303 British Enfield from WWII.
His walks cause double-takes as well as safety concerns for some. Schultz says others thank him and wave at him.
He says his walks are for exercise and picking up garbage, but also for looking out for his neighbors.
"It's nothing to do with the body armor, it's the person,” Schultz said. “Yes, it just so happens to be there."
“It’s a problem and a concern,” said neighbor Vanessa Aidara.
She says the rifle scares her and scares her kids to the point they won’t play in the yard.
"He could be good without the rifle. The rifle is what scares everybody because why do you need a rifle to pick up trash, get a trash bag,” Aidara said.
Schultz says he's spotted peeping toms and potential burglars in backyards while on his walks, which include in nearby woods, but not on private property.
"I won't brandish a firearm or anything, I won't chase somebody around. I will ask them to stop,” Schultz said.
"Let the police take care of that, not you,” said Aidara.
Aidara says she called police the first time she saw Schultz walking down the street.
“I had a panic attack, didn’t know what was going on,” she said.
She fears Schultz could be an incident of vigilante justice waiting to happen, or someone could target him for violence because he is armed.
"He could get hurt,” Aidara said.
"She's not really wanted to talk to me,” Schultz said.
If she did, Schultz says Aidara would feel different.
He's from a military family, hates garbage, loves his neighborhood and says he isn't looking for a fight.
Aidara wants the rifle-strapped neighborhood walks to stop.
Schutlz’s answer is no.
Police say Schultz isn't breaking any laws because he's not pointing the gun at anyone or threatening anyone with it.
Norm, You are a great FReeper and I respect you. I do not normally get argumentative here. But let me give you some scenarios. You are a true Red Blooded American as I am. If I am put in a situation that might avoid a situation that would harm myself, my family or others, I would normally act (depending on the situation). And I do have CCW and exercise that every day.
You are in a bank and a person walks briskly into a bank wearing gloves and a ski mask. Do you hope that either you or someone else might take notice, pay close attention or confront the guy before a weapon shows up? What then if you find out the guy is a recovering burn victim? Did anyone violate his rights?
If you see a driver swerving from one side of his lane to another late at night on the highway, do you call the police? I do. What if the guy had bad ball joints in his car and it was windy or he is trying to eat a taco while driving? His rights were not violated and he still might get a citation. But we acted on suspicion.
If you see a guy in a Wallmart parking lot working a slim jim into a vehicle door obviously trying to gain access to a locked vehicle without a key, would you at least suspect he might be breaking into it to steal something? What if he locked his keys in his car and keeps a tool hidden in his bumper?
That last scenario? That's me by the way. I was the suspicious guy and completely understood why a police officer rolled up and asked me what I was doing. Incidentally, following my explanation, he helped me open my truck. He was much better at breaking into vehicles than I was as it turned out.
I am conservative through and through. I don't feel the need to prove it. But I would like to convince you that we can be observant, proactive, vigilant, logical and support conservative ideology and freedom at the same time. The police acted on a report, they talked to him and then defended what he was doing.
We complain that LEO is only there to clean up, investigate and report crimes after the fact. But I for one support the citizen action that unfortunately lead to the death of Tryvon Martin. I also would support officers having some conversation with groups of minority youth loitering in gang colors late at night in downtown Chicago with their pants drooped off their buts. I support border patrol stopping and questioning Latino persons that are found loitering near the border. I support teachers investigating strange men hanging around the playground at recess. I am OK with the FBI investigating college students of Middle Eastern decent when they are reported to have purchased a truck load of fertilizer whether they are studying Agricultural Engineering or not.
It’s the Amish that you gotta put the hammer to. Buncha wagoneering crazies that lot/ Should all be investigated for living outside the Norm....
Ok. Then what’s the problem?
Normalcy bias is a personal problem...
well, liberal fools teach their children to be very fearful of any gun, except if it is in the possession of the goons from government, er, I mean except if it is in the hands or on the person of the government angels.
...Boat accident... Etc. Etc.....
I’ve been tempted to put one of my Olympic 45lbs plates in my Med ALICE and do a few loops around the local park. Heavily wooded with a blacktop walking path. Outer loop is just under two miles.
Just jogging around in circles gets boring. ;-)
In NYC they have 50,000 freaks per square mile, so they need tighter gun control to be all packed in tight like that. They let their communist dictator out though when they proclaim one size fits all, that private gun ownership should be banned everywhere.
You have your pictures labelled incorrectly. They need to be swapped.
Ms Aidara ..obviously from an old southern family..
My boys walk around where we live all the time carrying guns...just like I did in the 60s
Lets stick with your first comment. How in the name of God can you as a conservative American say that living outside the norm is grounds to be investigated?
That leads to yellow stars my FRiend. And freedom through labor. Because some people have bitten off the liberal apple and fear guns does not mean that Joe X should be investigated until he does something wrong.
This man has a God given and Constitutional right to BEAR and even bare arms. That it makes ANYONE queasy is not his problem It’s theirs. There is NOTHING to argue beyond that without going into a direct challenge of the Constitution. Nothing.
I get that people might not like it. To Quote Brietbart...SO? Think hard about what you said and the natural and logical place it leads.
It’s more violent now exponentially than it was in Earps time
conventional wisdom notwithstanding
glad to see you believe in unrestricted concealed carry
hope for you yet
I don’t have a problem, I just think this kids wants attention and that it does no good for the gun cause.
He’s well within his rights it appears but it’s not a common thing to be seen these days. If I didn’t know the kid I would pause at first glance...I don’t think many wouldn’t. Openly carrying often times attracts more attention that you want to have on yourself. Kid should probably go get his Concealed Carry and walk all over the place if he likes.
Think about this and tell me if you disagree. All but a small fraction of gun owners will never ever commit an act of criminal gun violence. If all those people walked around with AR145s daily what would happen aside from a massive drop in crime?
People would lose their fear of guns. It would be normal.
Just as it was for a few hundred years before libs and leftists made a political issue of it.
Do you handle divorce cases? LOL
There’s lots more people, and many of them from countries that have had oppressive govts than before. It’s only natural that people that come from families that have only been in this country 2 or 3 generations would think differently, especially if they come from heavily populated places.
Weird... Sounds like the kid wants to pick up his neighborhood and keep it safe.
How that “does no good for the gun cause” is only in your mind.
You are acting like I think the guy should be stopped. I don’t. As I have said, I support him.
Where you and I disagree is that I am fine with LEO or any citizen talking to him (investigating) about his reasoning and then leaving him alone, or in this case defending his rights. You think it’s wrong that anyone would find his behavior odd or that someone might simply ask him what he was doing in a suburban neighborhood wearing military garb, a rifle, dress shirt and penny loafers.
Again, I support him and he can do as he pleases. But I completely understand that someone would want to investigate the situation.
I encourage you to comment on the scenarios I posted and explain how rational reaction to those situations is different. Do you think they are only different because they do not involve the 2A?
(BTW - Thank you for being cordial respectful in our dialogue. A number of FReepers could learn something from civilized debate.)
Yeah, but that’s not the way it is, is it? Lots of people, especially in cities, just don’t have the generational background where carrying weapons was the norm.
No, it’s obviously in the minds of lots of people, or we wouldn’t have these conversations.
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