The picture above is from the Facebook page of Jared or Amanda Miller, and is their wedding picture. They are the couple who murdered two police officers and another innocent civilian in Las Vegas. I'm sure many on the right will assure us they were mentally ill, but what we know now for sure is that they supported right-wing causes, believed in Second Amendment rights, joined the right-wing militia members defending Clive Bundy and threatening government officers, and looked like normal people.
This second picture shows "good guys" defending their Second Amendment rights by openly carrying rifles into a discount store. The question, of course, is how is a person to know which kind of gun-nut it is that they are encountering in a store or on the street -- a murderous couple like the in the top picture, or "good guys" like in the bottom?
The answer (whether right-wing gun-nuts want to admit it or not) is that you can't tell until the shooting starts -- and then it is too late. If you encounter such people, you only have seconds to decide -- and deciding wrong could be your death sentence.
The "open carry" proponents will tell you they are just exercising their Second Amendment rights. That's nonsense. I agree that the Second Amendment guarantees Americans the right to own a gun. But that right has limits. For instance, those who have been convicted of a crime or declared dangerously mentally ill by a health professional do not have the right to own or possess a firearm. And the Second Amendment does not give anyone the right to openly carry a firearm anywhere they want.
Another excuse is that these people are openly carrying a firearm for self-defense. That's pure bullshit. Those who truly carry a firearm for self-defense are happy to carry that weapon concealed (and possess a concealed weapon permit). Those who sling a long gun over their shoulder (or strap a handgun to their hip) openly aren't doing so to defend themselves. They are trying to cover for their own inadequacies by intimidating other people (their fellow citizens) -- and that alone should tell us they have some psychological problems that are worrying.
There is no legitimate reason for openly carrying any kind of firearm in public. And personally, I believe it is time to outlaw the practice. It wasn't allowed in the cities of the "Old West", and it should not be allowed in our modern urban (and suburban) environments.
