Posted on 12/28/2009 3:51:18 AM PST by marktwain
The sight of a man openly carrying a firearm in a Nashville-area park has scared some people, resulting in a law enforcement response. From the Associated Press:
A man carrying an AK-47-style semiautomatic pistol was detained at Radnor Lake State Park on Sunday after startled hikers complained to park rangers.
Some would consider that a scary-looking gun. Some would consider coloring the muzzle tip orange so it looks like an Airsoft gun scary. And some would consider gun owner Leonard Embody's choice of apparel, "a camouflage jacket, military boots and a black skull cap" scary.
That's how hiker Ellen Thomas described her encounter with Embody. And even Minneapolis Gun Rights Examiner and Open Carry.org co-founder John Pierce, who is quoted in this story, concedes appearances can be problematic.
(Excerpt) Read more at examiner.com ...
This plays out time and again. The same attitudes be it drugs, religion, political speech, alcohol, clothing fashions, property Rights, or damn near anything else.
Is it ridiculous to carry an AK pistol? Yes. Is it his Right? Yes!
If not then we draw an arbitrary line that those in political power can use to take even more from us.
The NFA started out as a simple tax on certain classes of firearms. It has since been expanded to be an outright ban on many classes of firearms and has spawned one of the most unConstitutional enforcement agencies in our Nations history: The BATFE.
At each stage of encroachment there are those who refuse to hold the line. To compromise. It's an attitude that is part of a greater malaise. A willingness to be nibbled to death as fighting the good fight on "fringe" topics like those raised by Embody is just too much effort.
Know what the sad thing was? Most of my men said that there were no more sergeants like me. I was the last of the Mohicans, as it were. This was a fairly large agency. They used to kid me about where I kept my saber, muzzle loader and horse. When I started in LE there were lots of policemen who taught me the same things that I later taught my men. As the years passed, there were less and less of them and more of the risk aversion types. It’s too bad.
Tennessee laws are strict regarding handgun carry. Most all carry is illegal, tca 39-17-1307. Police in TN have harrassed me for open carring. I carry legally and will defend my rights. Many who have wrote on this thread don’t seem to understand freedom and the Second Amendment. It’s unfortunate.
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