Atlanta Airport & Open Carry of an AR15

[kilimanjaro]

Regardless of how I feel about the RKBA, Open Carry, whatever, this idiot just put dozens, perhaps a few hundred, people who may have been ambivalent about the RKBA in Georgia and their home states firmly into the anti-gun camp. When the next Bloomberg petition drive starts in their state, they will sign on the dotted line.

 

[Slamfire]

So, do you agree with Mr. Cooley's actions? Do you believe if rights are not exercised to the extreme we will lose them? Might his extreme behavior actually result in the Georgia Legislature revisiting the Airport Carry provisions of the law?

There is a truth I have seen enacted again and again in my lifetime. Become a large enough nuisance, regardless of what you think your rights are, and your behavior will be regulated out of existence. Openly displaying such a weapon at an International Airport only shows the displayer to be a flaming idiot. What exactly does he expect to find at ATL, hordes of Zombies to shoot at baggage claim?

Some people are insecure to the point of stupidity.

 

[bandaid1]

I see it this way, many have said that what he did was an extremist act of open carry, others say that there are ways to open carry without being noticed. I think that everyone has a right to carry a firearm, I don't really care if its open or concealed, pistol, rifle, or shotgun. It makes no difference. Some say it does, I guess it's an image thing for some.

To me, carrying a gun is only about one thing, self defense, period, end of story. If someone is offended at the Georgia Airport by seeing a free American exercising his rights, that's his/her issue. If people don't want to protect their lives, that's their issue. The fact is, that this was a issue without an issue. Nothing happened.

I was born in Vermont. Every person I knew had "Guns" I.E. many firearms. Nobody cared. In the Military you're around guns all the time, hell you're even sleeping with the damn things. Nobody cares. I don't get the big deal.

I bet nobody tried to cut him in line. Hehe


Hooyah

 

[Tom Servo]

Some say it does, I guess it's an image thing for some.

And for those people, the "image thing" can translate into calls for regulation and restrictions.

 

[bungiex88]

The problem with today is not enough people do this. Everytime someone sees somebody in public carrying a gun people get nervous and think that thing he's carrying is a bad thing that kills people. How do you think these same people would of acted back in the wild west era. Everybody carried a gun openly back in those days and nobody questioned that or got scarred unless it was a known outlaw with his picture up outside the bar. But the point is if more people open carried everywhere they could or concealed I think more of those people that think those pieces of iron everybody is carrying might not be so scary. I just hate when people give you the dirty look if they happen to see you gun slip out from under your shirt for a split second like there thinking o he has a gun he's probably going to start shooting everyone real soon.

 

[FITASC]

Sorry, but his choice is something that can really do damage to us in 2016......all those soccer moms and similar we are trying to convince that we are sane do not need this in-your-face type of action.........

 

[bandaid1]

I've never understood why open carry made so many Firearm rights people uncomfortable. Some may think concealed carry is the only way to go, and I'm all for concealed carry as long as its free. I'm not paying for a right that was already paid for in American blood. If I have to pay for it and ask permission, then it's a privilege, not a right.

If everyone see's them, everywhere they go, they become common. I get why people want to hide them, but on some level, hidden things become taboo things.


Hooyah

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

How do you think these same people would of acted back in the wild west era. Everybody carried a gun openly back in those days and nobody questioned that or got scarred unless it was a known outlaw with his picture up outside the bar

That's not actually true. Many cities and towns passed laws against carry. Life wasn't TV.

I've never understood why open carry made so many Firearm rights people uncomfortable

That's because killers openly carry long arms into theaters, parliaments, churches, airports and colleges and kill people.

Are you Mr. Holmes or a defender of the RKBA strolling into the showing of Batman?

 

[kilimanjaro]

This idiot is a lead story in the Huffington Post today. Want to guess how many folks will agree with their take on it, vs. how many will take the purist RKBA position?

There's a reason most firms, agencies, and VIPs have public relations people, because image is just as important as substance.

 

[Glenn E. Meyer]

I get why people want to hide them, but on some level, hidden things become taboo things.

Go down the street with no pants? I think the issue is well explained.

 

[Tackleberry1]

OC of long guns is not my cup of tea but I have been watching this issue since It went viral post Newtown and in the beginning there were several false arrest by Officers who did not understand the difference between legal and illegal. The result was zero conviction that I'm aware of several large settlements paid out by municipalities.

Personally, I wouldn't do what he did but the result speaks volumes about how far LEO understanding of Open Carry has come in a few short years, and this is a good thing for liberty.

I also think the guys who come off as "rude" to LEO's serve a purpose completely unrelated to 2A but fundamentally important to 4A rights. I see no reason to be rude to a Cop unless he's demanding ID without RAS and threatening arrest for "interfering"... But

When the only reason for the stop is the perfectly legal possession of a fire arm, then there is no reason for LEO's to push the issue. Sure they can ask for ID, and many OC folks are happy to hand it over, but it's the ones who do not who are truly exercising ALL of thier rights and believe it or not, modifying what I believe to be illegal police conduct.

 

[Frank Ettin]

...How do you think these same people would of acted back in the wild west era....

That was then and this is now. All sorts of things have changed with the times.

...But the point is if more people open carried everywhere they could or concealed I think more of those people that think those pieces of iron everybody is carrying might not be so scary....

So how about some actual evidence to support that. On the other hand we have good reasons to conclude, based on history, that if enough people do something that's legal but they do it in a way that enough other people find obnoxious, the activity probably won't stay legal for long.

• There are plenty of examples of rights being lost because enough folks didn't like the ways in which they were being exercised. Over the years, in many communities, we have seen many zoning and other laws adopted restricting how you can use your own property. In some places you may not work on your car in your own driveway in view of the public street. In some places you must get design approval of remodeling or landscaping visible to the public. In some communities, you may not park or store large vehicles like boats on trailers or RVs on your property so as to be visible to the public. These sorts of restrictions have in large part been the result of strong enough public sentiment that some things previously lawfully done by private parties on their own land were unseemly or unattractive.
  
  
• In California in 1967, because some folks with whom much of the public lacked sympathy legally carried loaded guns openly in public, loaded open carry was made illegal.
  
  
• And because demonstrations in California in which folks legally carrying unloaded handguns openly in public made too many other people too uncomfortable, the open carrying of unloaded guns in public was made illegal, effective 1 January 2012, in California.

There are some things that people some places won't accept.

 

[zincwarrior]

To me, carrying a gun is only about one thing, self defense, period, end of story. If someone is offended at the Georgia Airport by seeing a free American exercising his rights, that's his/her issue.

Respectfully, its your issue if you end up in the back of a police car, or bleeding out on the floor before the ambulance arrives. You are creating a situation where there's an excellent chance something could go very wrong very fast.

 

[zincwarrior]

Everytime someone sees somebody in public carrying a gun people get nervous and think that thing he's carrying is a bad thing that kills people.

I disagree. The public gets nervous when they see a rifle, especially when it is carried at low ready or in their tacticool 3 point sling like these guys seem to like to do (and this guy did-look at the pic of him, and with a drum magazine? Come on...). I work downtown and the federal and county courthouses are both within a block. I see guys with pistols in the tunnel here all the time-in and out of "uniform." No one pays them a mind.

But if I saw a guy with an AR walking in the tunnel, I would be very nervous, as in turning and going the other way.

Quote:
I've never understood why open carry made so many Firearm rights people uncomfortable
That's because killers openly carry long arms into theaters, parliaments, churches, airports and colleges and kill people.

Are you Mr. Holmes or a defender of the RKBA strolling into the showing of Batman?

Exactly. Again, how many of these stories do you see involve a guy with a pistol properly holstered? Its usually just this sort of thing.

 

[dakota.potts]

I don't get how he says he was harassed.

Cops had consensual conversation with him and they allowed him to leave without detainment. They have a right to have a conversation with somebody, and that right is far less offensive than walking around with an AR-15 and loaded Beta mag in a known sensitive area.

Do I support his right to do so? Yes. My opinion is he was wanting to get attention and he got it.

I support the second amendment right to carry arms, including long arms, in public. I don't support doing it in a manner by which you want to show off or make a point. That's how we lose what should be an intrinsic right, because somebody convinces somebody to vote it away for public safety reasons.

 

[bandaid1]

Zincwarrior-"Respectfully, its your issue if you end up in the back of a police car, or bleeding out on the floor before the ambulance arrives. You are creating a situation where there's an excellent chance something could go very wrong very fast"

Thanks for the advice. All be it very unnecessary. I have treated more SGW's than I care to remember. Respectfully.

" The public gets nervous when they see a rifle, especially when it is carried at low ready or in their tacticool 3 point sling like these guys seem to like to do (and this guy did-look at the pic of him, and with a drum magazine? Come on...)".

Tacticool like cops do? Why is it ok for 80,000 SWAT raids annually to go tacticool, mostly for nonviolent crimes, but not civilians? The Goose is loose looking for the Gander.

" I work downtown and the federal and county courthouses are both within a block. I see guys with pistols in the tunnel here all the time-in and out of "uniform." No one pays them a mind."

I worked all over the globe for Uncle Sam till retirement. Had my full measure of death in every way imaginable. Guns aren't the only things that kill people. Hell firearms aren't even in the top ten. Smallpox killed 300-500 million during the 20th century. Its what you can't see that will likely kill you.

 

[zincwarrior]

Thanks for the advice. All be it very unnecessary. I have treated more SGW's than I care to remember.

It probably matters more to you if you’re the one bleeding out from your own foolishness.

Tacticool like cops do? Why is it ok for 80,000 SWAT raids annually to go tacticool, mostly for nonviolent crimes, but not civilians? The Goose is loose looking for the Gander.

1. You’re not a cop. If you want to be a police officer, join the force. This is a significant part of the problem, the appearance that you’re trying to be some sort of tacticool operator type. OC People that aren’t going to create situations are going to pay it cool.
2. People are having issues with SWAT and the militarization of the police now as well, but that’s a separate issue.

I worked all over the globe for Uncle Sam till retirement. Had my full measure of death in every way imaginable. Guns aren't the only things that kill people. Hell firearms aren't even in the top ten. Smallpox killed 300-500 million during the 20th century. Its what you can't see that will likely kill you.

And? That’s not related to the issue in any material way.

 

[4thPoint]

While I don’t think Georgia is going backwards anytime soon this could influence the electorate in other Sates especially when coupled with the usual misinformation and drama.

Never say never. Airport carry was a contentious issue when it passed in 2009. Right after the law's passage, Mayor Jackson took it upon herself to pronounce the airport a "gun free zone." It took a subsequent lawsuit and another piece of legislation to clarify the matter.

It might not be tomorrow or next year, but that work could be undone in time.

It would appear that the only thing 'being undone' is Mayor Reed's insistence on ATL being a gun-free zone. The People proposed, the Legislature passed, and the Governor signed legislation specifically decriminalizing the gentleman's conduct.

When the Governor signed the legislation into law, members of GeorgiaCarry were specifically invited to the open air ceremony. A conservative estimate was 300 people showing up the great majority of whom were either openly or concealed carrying.

People that stupid should not be allowed to breed.

I'm surprised he didn't get ventilated. If I were on a grand jury I'd be hard put to vote to indict a police officer who saw that (ESPECIALLY AFTER THE LA AIRPORT) and opened up on him.

Thankfully you are neither a Georgian nor a police officer, both here seem to have more sense than to commit homicide against someone completely within the boundary of the law. As can be seen from the vids posted, OUR police seem to be well acquainted with the legality of his conduct, much as it seems to pain you.

Everytime someone sees somebody in public carrying a gun people get nervous and think that thing he's carrying is a bad thing that kills people.
I disagree. The public gets nervous when they see a rifle,..."

People in Texas loose their minds when they see an openly carried pistol.

The 'public' used to get nervous when horseless carriages first appeared, when bathing suits rose above the knee, again when Blacks started to eat at the front of the bus, and then when women wanted to be able to vote.

Eventually, 'the public' seemed to get used to the idea, but NOT because it stopped happening but because it Didn't.

No progress comes without struggle and strife

I could also exercise my right to publicly call his mother every filthy name in the book, but I exercise my rights with discretion and class so that others are not tempted to push for their removal.

Thankfully, you have no such right to criminal behavior in Georgia.

The airport is a sensitive area and these have been repeatedly targeted around the world by terrorists - including in the USA.

That gives a heightened sense of risk. Given the behavior is unusual (even if legal) it suggests abnormal behavior.

Begging your pardon, but "Non-sterile" areas of commercial airports in Georgia are no different than any other government building that offers accommodation to the public, they aren't "sensitive" in any way. "Sterile" areas, that are beyond the passenger screening area are subject to federal regulation.

 

[zincwarrior]

Thankfully you are neither a Georgian nor a police officer, both here seem to have more sense than to commit homicide against someone completely within the boundary of the law.

Someone walking into an airport with a rifle ported. Thats begging for a bad day.

One of these days one of these guys is going to walk into a restaurant or such and get pumped by a CHLer or police officer. As the number of "lone wolfs" increases, its going to happen.

What happened?
"This guy walked in pointing an assault rifle. I shouted for him to freeze. He turned at me. I was terrified for the lives of myself and my family. So I stopped the threat and immediately called 911."

 

[Sharkbite]

Quote:
Thankfully you are neither a Georgian nor a police officer, both here seem to have more sense than to commit homicide against someone completely within the boundary of the law.
Someone walking into an airport with a rifle ported. Thats begging for a bad day.

One of these days one of these guys is going to walk into a restaurant or such and get pumped by a CHLer or police officer. As the number of "lone wolfs" increases, its going to happen.

What happened?
"This guy walked in pointing an assault rifle. I shouted for him to freeze. He turned at me. I was terrified for the lives of myself and my family. So I stopped the threat and immediately called 911."

And that will be a bad day for not only OPEN CARRY but a black eye for the CCW crowd as well. The anti- gun media will make it look bad for all involved.

If something puts a bad spin on guns...we all lose