Posted on 01/10/2013 9:46:29 AM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Two men seen walking down a Portland street armed with assault rifles told police they were exercising their Second Amendment rights and hoping to educate the public on gun rights.
Several calls were made to 911 on Wednesday afternoon, with alarmed residents reporting two men with guns strapped to their backs walking through the area of Southeast Seventh Avenue and Spokane Street in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood.
When police arrived on the scene, they found two 22-year-old men carrying rifles openly on their backs. The two were also holding valid concealed handgun licenses in Oregon, according to Fox affiliate KPTV.
The men reportedly told officers that they were seeking to educate onlookers about their Second Amendment rights.
"Exercising my rights with a rifle to try to decrease the demonizing of peacefully exercising your rights in public," one of the men, who declined to release his full name, told the station.
Portland authorities later identified the men as Warren Drouin and Steven Boyce. Officers said carrying firearms openly is legal in Oregon and carrying a concealed gun is legal with a valid license, according to the station. But doing one or both may generate 911 calls and possibly tie up resources that are needed for a real emergency.
One of the men told the station that he hoped people would approach him and talk to him, instead of calling police.
"What they really should do is observe the person to determine if the person is aggressive," he said of seeing someone with a gun in public. "We're not doing anything threatening to anyone."
The Portland Police Bureau, however, asks anyone who sees someone armed with guns to immediately call 911.
He’s a Sweet Old Bob no doubt...
If only criminals would act at the proper time and place.
LOL
I don’t know the governor personally, so I can’t say.
??? ???
??? What should people do
How many people today would be happy if the govt spent money on institutions for people that do inane or insane things? If Obama wanted to put people in institutions because the govt thought that owning an assault rifle was insane, would you mind your tax money being used for that? Who gets to pay for all those mental illness tests? Would the govt administer the tests? Would that be ok? What are all kinds of crazy things that should warrant this action? Used to be, if you saw someone talking to themselves, they were considered nuts, now they’re just using their bluetooth device.
I am fortunate enough to work in a gun-free zone, so I don’t have to worry about stuff like this.
But I have considered wearing one of my open-carry holsters to work - no gun, just the holster. I know there would be meltdowns all over the campus.
I could go with either ‘old west leather’ or ‘black/full assault’ holster...just as a fashion statement.
Many decades ago was a 13 year old carrying a WWII era militry bolt-action rifle on my shoulder on a sling as I walked through town. I was on my way to my friend’s home on the edge of town, where we were going to do some target shooting. The rifle was mine, given to me by a relative who captured it from a prisoner of war. I couldn’t put the rifle in a case, because I was a teenager without that kind of money. I had to walk through town because I was too young tto have an automobile and drive. The streets and sidewalks I had to travel eventually ttook me along side of a state highway. The folks I met along the way waved a friendly hello to me. The State Police officer waved a friendly hello to me as he drove by on the highway. No one screamed and ran away in fright. No one called the Sheriff. It was all normal as normal can be.
Today, because there are people who assume it must be idiotic for an adult , much less a teenager, to walk through town with a rifle slung on their shoulder, the person carrying the rifle is placed at serious risk and the pulic safety is degraded. It should make us all who the idiots are, the people exercising the right to keep an bear arms or the people who fear the carrying of those firearms.
“Right now it appears that the liberals and anti-gun people are in the majority. Why inflame anyone when it really isn’t necessary or does any real good?”
You’ll find the answer in your own question. It was formerly the law for every militia age and physically able male to keep and bear firearms. The U.S. Government even spent taxpayer funds to buy the firearms for the men who could not affford to purchase them. Then the militia was disarmed and discouraged from owning firearms, and you wonder why there are so many people who fear firearms and support their banning.
I don’t wonder why.
Good post and welcome. I was going to write something more, but not sure if now was the time or place. I’ll check on the wording in the First Amendment and I may or may not get back to you.
You keep doing what you always do Stuart, enjoy your family, enjoy shooting your firearms, stay politically active in your community.....and above all, stop listeing to all the "revolution" crap that this site is known for.
Don't forget, we dumped Michael Rivero years ago.........
As to “Make your move.” and “??? ???” You have your opinion and I have mine. I offer no threat, only a response to those who would attempt to interject themselves and decide for others what they may or may not do or the manner in which they act according to their right. You may persist in your criticism of others based upon your personal likes and dislikes; but rest assured that once you begin to interfere in others lives where you have no right to do so, someone is going to present you with the necessity to "Make your move." Choose wisely. Mull it over. I sincerely hope this has enlightened you as to my position and for my justification in responding to your comments. End of debate.
I don’t recalll the Constitution saying anything about rights being subject to time or place. Perhaps, in your shining brilliance, you can cite the source for your statement.
The leg tried to introduce an “open carry” billlast session in 2011...It was not filed due to the blustering of the Open Carry movement, they overstepped their bounds and cost the one state Rep who was going to walk this bill through...We tried to get her to re-consider, but she was not going to take the political heat from the assinine statement(s) made by this organization...
But that is all in the past...What is going to be introduced is a lessening of the enforcement of un-intemntional exposure of your firearm if you are a Texas CHL holder...That is a good thing, probably to remove the provisions of suspension or revoking of the license, and other punishable provisions in the Texas Penal Code...
Soory if I was ambiguous about the long gun issue...I do understand it is acceptable in Texas to do so, but the caveat to that is that some jurisdictions that are NOT friendly to civilain firearm issues will find a way to charge you with a disorderly conduct...
Also, as far as open carry in Texas is concerned, it is an overfal negative that would change things in regards to private businesses posting the provisions of section 30.06 and its restrictions that is improperly interpreted by those same entities, that would have those signs popping up all over the place...So, that provision in the penal code would have to be re-worded to allow open carry in this state...A political move that would not be successful at this time anyway...
A nieghbor of mine who IS on the NRA board of directors explained this to me a few years ago, and I have to say that I agree with his oncerns about this issue...He was intimately involved in the writing of the bill back in the early 1990’s and worked extremely hard with Patterson and others to get it through finally in 1995...
Most of us are happy with the way things are going now as far as Texas CHL is concerned...Things are always acceptable to tweek the law every two years,but for now we have bigger issues to deal with now...And we still have the law to cover us anyway...
Did the same thing as a kid with my .22 to go to the drainage ditch a couple blocks away from my home to plink turtles...
No one seemed to mind then either...that was in the early 70’s in the City of Houston...
Things certainly have changed...
Inactions have consequences too, espcially when you are an unarmed lamb among the wolves deciding what to eat for lunch.
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