Let's Hope This Is The Last Time We Have to Deal With This

A great deal has been written on the Open Carry Texas (OCT)/Chipotle incident and the resulting policy announcement by the restaurant chain (not really a change in policy, just fodder for the gun ban lobby to claim it was a victory).  I wasn't going to add to the discourse but after reading an article that was posted on Wednesday over at Legal Insurrection, I thought I would share the article and one of the point's made by the author.

First, for those not familiar with Virginia law, The Code of Virginia is silent on open carry, which means it is not prohibited.  I know people who carry handguns openly and do so in a safe non-threatening manner.  Chances are, most people would not know if the person carrying is a private citizen or an off duty police officer.  For the most part, there are few issues in Virginia with open carry.  I don't personally know anyone who carries a modern sporting rifle openly in public but it has been done in Virginia.  VSSA supports the right of law abiding gun owners to carry as they believe is best for their circumstances.  This writer also believes, as NRANews host Cam Edwards says, gun owners should be good ambassadors for the 2nd Amendment.  The vast majority of us are.  There is however that small percentage (see the above) that doesn't help our cause.

I've read some good commentary on the incident depicted in the photo above but I think the best comes from the aforementioned piece at Legal Insurrection.  After describing his pro-gun bona fides (shooting since he was aged in the single digits, NRA Life Member for some two decades, and an NRA Instructor), Andrew Branca gives what I think is one of the strongest arguments against the practice of walking into a business carrying an AR-15 or similar long gun in the manner in the photo:

I’ve described my gun rights “cred.” If I’m in that Starbucks, and such an “OCIYF!” crowd strolls in, they’ve brightened themselves considerably on my personal “threat radar.” As is my practice any time such brightening occurs, my first move after having identified the threat is to assess imminence, followed by immediately vacating the area.

That, gentlemen, is the degree of alarm experienced, and evasion performed, by someone with a life around guns, more than a few rounds down the barrel of an AR, an effective personal defensive weapon on my hip, and many years of training and practice in its use.

Sebastian notes that Open Carry Texas has changed their protest protocols.  Let's hope this policy change helps OCT in their cause, and stops causing the rest of us a problem.

Hat tip Gun Free Zone, The Gun Wire, and Shall Not Be Questioned.