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 ...
If you knew what my attitude is, you could judge from it. You don’t, so you can’t.
“Acting irresponsibly is not ‘freedom’ it is irresponsible.”
Freedom means, so long as you do not physically harm or threaten to harm anyone else or their property, you can be as irresponsible as you like. Sorry so many people think freedom means everybody has to live the way they would like them to.
“Duty to those around you,” is socialism. Sorry, there is no such duty in a free country.
When I was young, no decent person would ever have used a disgusting expression like that. But then, people weren’t afraid of freedom, or of being totally responsible for themselves and their own lives. The idea in those days was, nobody owed you anything and you made it on your own, or didn’t make it.
I really do not think you know what freedom is, and I really think you would be afraid to live in a country that is truly free. I don’t blame you for that, but it is sad. By the way, my “happiness” is not determined by circumstances, and I wish you the happiness I enjoy, in my freedom, because my freedom does not depend on circumstances either. Circumstances and today’s oppressive government just make it more difficult.
Hank
His actions point out a glaring disconnect in law enforcement and the gun community both.
The cops had no idea what was "legal" and gun forums are so terrified of their liberal enemies that they'd toss one of their own to the wolves faster than you can spit.
Ain't nothing like preemptive surrender to embolden ones enemies.
“Yeah, I commented before I saw the pic.”
I had the same thought before I saw the picture and read enough to realize it was a real firearm.
Collecting firearms is a worthy cause but these look like junk and of no use for anything.
My apologies, I thought you meant I was lying.
Good post...
‘Freedom means, so long as you do not physically harm or threaten to harm anyone else or their property, you can be as irresponsible as you like’
But he was around other people and he was having an effect on them. Under your definition you can run around carrying a gun and threaten to kill someone. Until you actually shoot them you are just exercising your ‘freedom’.
“When I was young, no decent person would ever have used a disgusting expression like that”
Duty, honor, country ring a bell? Old and stupid eh.
“I really do not think you know what freedom is, and I really think you would be afraid to live in a country that is truly free. “
Living in anarchy with idiots like this running around is kinda scary. Even in the old days people behaving irresponsibly would be arrested and thrown in jail. In the old days that is just what would have happened to a guy running around scaring people.
No harm, no foul.
Happy New Year.
Best,
L
Doesn't mean I think you are an idiot for wanting to own one.
Happy New Year to you as well. Haven’t seen you around lately.
“Doesn’t mean I think you are an idiot for wanting to own one..”
I didn’t say he was an idiot for wanting to own one. Although I can think of many better uses for the money.
He’s an idiot for his behavior. IMHO his actions are not about gun rights or freedom. Its about him getting attention and feeding his ego.
LOL.
Hang on my friend. I have a feeling the right is going to get a lot rougher soon and there is no off switch.
IMO, they are. His actions point out a glaring failure on the part of Law Enforcement to know where their authority ends. It also points out that those who are supposedly on the side of RKBA that are only for THEIR brand of RKBA. Anything falling outside of their narrow little world view is automatically "bad" and gives the Left an open invitation to restrict our Rights further.
This is no different than Rosa Parks sitting at the front of the bus. And yes, the corollary fits.
Exactly, however, I think that as a gun owner/hunter/whatever this guy is .... he has the duty to act responsibly within his rights. For instance, it's completely legal for me to clip past the playground in my neighborhood at 45 mph. However, when there's a bunch of kids running around, and dogs, and teens on bikes, and moms out with strollers....I slow down and keep a close eye out. It's just the right thing to do.
It's a question of responsibility versus legality. I'm not sure how it would be, or even if it should be, enforceable. From the comments on this thread, it sounds like this guy has been made into a pariah, and that's likely the best that can be done.
It only takes one fool to make everyone look bad, IMHO.
From what I've read, he was. He didn't brandish it at anyone, didn't act menacing towards anyone, and was well within his Rights.
When confronted by Rangers and Law Enforcement, it doesn't sound like he acted belligerently, complied with all legal requests, and knew his Rights.
A legal gun owner acting within the letter of the Law and within his Rights and you think "making him into a pariah" is "the best that can be done".
Are you SURE you've thought this all the way through? Really?
THe issue of painting your gun to look like a toy is separate from the issue of open carry, at least for me. I don’t see how criticizing a person for trying to make their gun look like a toy threatens to erode our 2nd amendment gun rights.
I support open carry of weapons, and think that if people did it more often, it would become less of an issue.
Gun rights are under attack, and taking actions that needlessly stir up opposition to gun rights seems quite counterproductive to me. Our rights ARE threatened, and encouraging those who threaten our rights is not a wise thing.
Yes, we all played with guns as kids, and none of us got shot, but then we didn’t live in a crime-infested housing unit where gangs used children to run drugs and commit armed robbery and other felonious acts.
I don’t believe my children were ever in any danger of being shot by police for having realistic-looking weapons either.
But apparently there are places in our country, mostly liberal bastions where guns were banned, in which children WERE shot by police. Did making the guns less realistic help matters? I don’t know, I guess not, and I also guess that smart criminals would have given the gun-running children weapons painted to look like toys, if it mattered in the least bit.
But the fight over 2nd amendment rights has nothing to do with the fight over whether kids should be allowed to play with realistic toy guns. The 2nd amendment does not protect the rights of a 5-year-old to have an authentic-looking ak-47 to play with. Government shouldn’t interfere in such things, but it’s not a 2nd-amendment issue, and those fighting for 2nd-amendment rights should not allow themselves to be distracted into tangential and unproductive fights over unrelated matters.
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A self loading pistol that looks like the old Thompson sub-machine gun.
It’s cute, but I’m still not trading in my 10mm for a carry piece. ;-)
Exactly.
Can’t tell if it’s a “pistol” or an AK with no shoulder stock as there is no scale. The foregrip looks short, though. I know there are AR “pistols”, why not AK?
Learn something new everyday.
>If this guy wasn’t breaking any laws, what really is the problem? <
When some kid is shot and killed by a paranoid cop because of his toy gun, get back to us.
Toy guns have orange painted tips to make them easy to identify. I think this idiot needs to be the guest of honor at an all-out blanket party.
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