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Old March 22, 2009, 02:00 PM   #32
Dave85
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 3, 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 1,421
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If I own a restaurant and someone walks in with a .45 on their side I'll ask them if they are LE. If they aren't I'll tell them to leave. CC may be a right but business owners have property rights. Why would I take this stance? I have a business to run and I don't want you scaring my customers or my employees.
I can totally understand this sentiment. People have families to feed and bills to pay. It can be a scary thing to have to risk your income to protect and further the free exercise of a right. Too many people are not willing to take that risk, which is too bad, because that is exactly what is necessary to win access to and preserve any right. When we cater to the fears of the fearful, those fears become the default position; and rights and desires will be forever confused.

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Give me 100 liberal anti-gunners a day
and I'll give you 100 conservative anti gunners to go along with that.
I have my doubts. While it's fair to say that the Second Amendment has proponents and opponents in both camps, there are strong indications that the split is not particularly even in amongst true conservatives. One of the strong markers of conservative thought in the US is an emphasis on individualism. The Second Amendment is the flagstaff on which they fly that banner. That's not to say you couldn't find some otherwise conservative people who somehow missed the gun memo - Charles Krauthammer comes to mind - but not at the same ratio. The term "conservative" is simply more narrowly defined today than is "liberal."

Now, if you go simply looking for anti-gun Republicans, that would be a quickly-filled order.

Drifting back to the OP's question....

This is exactly the type of situation that everyone considering open carry needs to think through before you begin that journey. When you put that gun on, whether you like it or not, you become an ambassador for the gun community. If you show genuine conviction and are pleasant, patient and understanding with the curious, you will be doing us great justice. If you are gruff or dismissive, or worse, if you make a pretense of being some kind of operator or commando, you will be doing us great harm. Be thoughtful in your response, as you are answering for all of us.
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"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
--commonly misattributed to, and most likely not, Benjamin Franklin
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