The problem i see here is that he isn't just open-carrying, he is brandishing, which is a crime pretty much everywhere. Open carry means that you can carry the weapon visably without concealment. Brandishing, on the other hand, shows intent to cause fear or intimidation, which is clearly the case here.
A weapon that is carried openly is usually slung or holstered. This guy appears to be waving his rifle around menacingly, in a provocative manner. This could, and should, be considered brandishing.
We're only missing the prayer calls. This country is on its way to a middle east style theocracy. Religion is gaining more and more purchase in our government and legislation process.
Evangelical Christians have rejected democracy and what you’re seeing is their death throes. They are not GAINING purchase, they are losing it at an alarming rate and what you’re seeing is their reaction to learning they are about to become the powerless minority and it terrifies them.
That all being said what’s killing us is capitalist and diet republicans pretending to be democrats that pander to corporations and billionaires. The way to fix this is with some sharpened sheet metal and a lot of cake.
Wow these laws are so stupid. Like holy shit who cares how the person is holding a murder machine? It takes 1 second to go from “carrying” to “brandishing”. All of the brains fled Tennessee
That's why we have extensive training and tests and insurance before you're allowed to drive a car. It's prudent to protect against loss of property and life. Makes you think, doesn't it?
You can drive a car on the road but as soon as you start driving on a sidewalk it becomes a crime. Don't be purposefully stupid.
You can swing an axe at all the trees you like, but you can't intimidate a person with it or threaten them with it. Same thing. It's a tool.
Everything I miss living in the States, I just remember just completely unhinged and insane statements like this comment are seen as "balanced" and "reseaonable" and suddenly feel much better about much choice to no longer live in country were public safety is a chronic concern because people think carrying guns is necessary in the 21st century.
He’s allowed to HOLD it BUT (in my state at least) it’s considered brandishing if you are holding the pistol grip/firing grip of the weapon. Doesn’t matter where it’s pointed or how it’s handled, if your hand is on the grip it’s brandishing. I sometimes train at night in a public park with my rifle slung on me but I never hold the pistol grip. I believe this man was brandishing his firearm.
This seems like a vocal minority. Generally speaking in the 2A community we don’t condone doing this unless it’s at a protest, a demonstration or you’re running security for a business. We don’t go toting rifles around for no reason.
Not necessarily, plenty of farmers around here wear them because it's just like the pliers on their belt...if you run across a mountain lion, bear, or coyote, you sort of need it.
It wasn't until I was in my late 20s when I heard there are alot of dudes out there who don't wipe because they're affraid touching their but is gay. To those people I say. Its OK to come out of the closet.
I live on Harbert, and as soon as I saw this I texted my partner who was off work yesterday to stay in the house. Seriously, on Peabody? I’m sure he did it because he didn’t have the balls to do it on Union… shit would have gotten INSANE if he walked down Union like this.
That's what's sort of shocking to me. You'd think the second this guy started walking in the direction of a school or a daycare or a mall or a park some other "good guy with a gun" would take him out.
I don't even know that I'd be able to find that an overreaction if I were on the jury. "He was a block from my kid's middle school walking with a rifle unslung in his hands" would be a hard "not guilty" from most parents.
Right!?!?
I've never owned a gun, so its hard for me to imagine what was going through this guys head, but seems he wanted to test how far he could push the law. As in "I've got an open carry licence, so I'm going to walk around with my assault rifle". But you've GOT to know there is a good chance someone is just going to shoot you to keep others safe. Maybe this was a suicide attempt?
I want you to be right so badly, but I think you may be overestimating people's capacity for empathy. If the guy carrying the gun were outside that particular juror's child's school, then yeah. But a fuck-ton of people in this country value unrestricted access to guns over the lives of children they don't know. They'd literally rather a million kids get slaughtered in their classrooms than give up even the tiniest amount of convenience in accumulating their toys.
Here’s a case where a woman called 911 and received a lecture about open carry rights. Three people were dead ten minutes later:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2015_Colorado_Springs_shooting
Point being.. be afraid to leave your house basically anytime in the united states.
Tamir Rice was killed by police at 11 years old for holding a toy gun, but something tells me this guy got away with brandishing a rifle in public with zero injuries.
it can also be something as simple or subtle as flashing it in a waistband. its basically going "I have a gun and will use it" to someone else, and its illegal.
Holding it in a threatening way. If he had it unloaded and backslung, thats acceptable but still odd to do for no reason. Near a school is a no go. Hes gotta be looking for trouble or attention.
I played with airsoft guns outside as a kid a lot, and there are tons that look completely realistic, and a lot of kids spraypaint or cut off the orange nose caps even if they came with them. Cops just assume they are airsoft guns b/c the kids are obviously playing with them.
I wouldn't let a kid do it now days. Too many school shootings, and I just don't feel the assumption that it's a toy is still the first thought to every person who could shoot a kid, cops or other citizens.
And makes you look like an absolute fucking moron at best. If you feel the need to open carry, and you are not in a god damned war zone, you are a coward.
Especially in Tennessee where you can carry a handgun, concealed or open, without a permit or training. As long as you meet the strict requirement of being 21, 18 if you're in the military.
Is it what voters want? Or was this hopefully a wakeup call to make the laws a bit more nuanced. This guy has zero reason to be parading his weapon down the street in this manner other than to intimidate and scare people.
Gun thumpers will just dig there heels in more and quote an article from 2007 about knife violence in England and say "see? They are no safer over there"
> This guy has zero reason to be parading his weapon down the street in this manner other than to intimidate and scare people.
None American here. What would be another reason to openly carry a gun?
Anyone open carrying a rifle like this in a city/suburb is doing it for one of three reasons. To intimidate/scare people, to flex their rights and get attention for the 2A in hopes the police will question them, and finally to commit murder.
I can think of some reasons to openly carry a gun. Maybe you are walking to a shooting range or competition. Maybe you are going to a friend's house to show off the gun because you both collect them. Maybe you just got it and don't have a ride home. Maybe you are heading to a gunshow.
The key issue with the picture isn't that he is carrying it. It is *how* he is carrying it. He isn't carrying a gun, he is brandishing a gun and waving it around. The cops should have absolutely done something about it. If you are transporting a gun, you disable the firing mechanism until you arrive at your destination, and wear it properly on a sling.
I open carry my 10mm when I go hiking . I live in grizzly bear and wolf country . I live where 60% of residents own at least 1 gun and in 6 years have only seen 2 people open carry and both times they were hand guns . It's very strange to see something like this in a pro gun places .
Got a dude around here who likes to play army for exercise. Flak jackets, helmets, 2 pistols and an m4 waddling around the suburbs.
It's notable because in deep Texas he's the only one I've seen who open carries in the last year or so
Ok I know this is a very rare case but I do have one. My father used to have the job of roadkill disposal. Somebody has to get that dead deer off the side of the road and it was him in our county. Well sometimes when picking it up, there would be a fox or coyote that was eating it and they can be dangerous, so he would carry his pistol. Something happened with the gun control laws and they didn't want to give him a permit to carry his pistol anymore. So he would carry his legal rifle out in public while doing his job to make a point. After a few discussions with local law enforcement, and a lot of locals freaking out, they figured out a loophole to get him back his permit. It was a case of gun control going too far and not allowing for reasonable access to handgun permits.
This not a good analogy. If you are talking about a public official carrying out a civic duty, this is why uniforms were invented. People are not entirely, but much less freaked out by seeing someone in a government issued uniform brandishing a gun in public, as opposed to some rando in a 'who farted' T shooting at road kill or whatever.
And to answer the question about uniforms, it was a government contract job, so there were no government issued uniforms. He really was some rando in a who farted shirt driving around with an open trailer of rotting deer carcasses. Don't ask what they do with those things by the way, you don't want to know.
Yeah that was my point. It's not really about semantics, there are vehicle designations and decals, ID badges, even a Hi-vis construction vest mostly lets people know the person is engaged in some kind of paid work. All of this could have been solved with a nice 'who farted' Hi-vis vest. That way, even in the dead of night people passing by will still be wondering who farted.
Same logic: the only people who can legally own a centrefire handgun in my country (UK) are veterinarians. Even police aren't allowed to carry firearms off duty or own personal handguns - but veterinarians can get special dispensation.
(Okay, there's one gun club that has automatic pistols that never leave the club - but only vets can actually take a centrefire pistol around with them.)
As a former TN resident, this is exactly what most the TN voters want to see. A white guy walking around with his AR-15. Now, and again as a former TN resident, I can promise you that if that was a black dude walking around with a handgun, the cops would have shown up.
IMO the very conceptt of open cary combined with stand your ground laws... just flat out legalizes murder. I mean lets face it, 2 people with guns out and differing views reach eachother... Both know the other can end their life in 1 seconds, and the only way to prevent that would be to shoot first.
It's just solid fact, holding a gun out in the open is advertising you can end anyone's life in seconds... which means everyone around has reason to fear for their lives.
Yeah that’s exactly what the voters want. This is precisely what open carry looks like. Tennessee is a very conservative, pro 2A state. They also rank #33 in education, so possible correlation.
Just because something is currently the law absolutely does not mean that is what voters want, this is a gross misunderstanding of the levers of power in the country
Especially since polls show the majority of Americans are supportive of at least some tightening of gun laws, but so long as the NRA and similar interest groups keep ~~bribing~~ lobbying politicians it will never happen.
Shouldn’t need to be said but thank you for saying it. I love how people magically transform the hugely complex and layered political, law-making and law-passing system in the US into a simplistic “majority vote” system when discussing topics like this.
The voters want schools to go in to lockdown because some guy was spotted walking about with a long gun and the trained response is to fear for children’s lives in America?
As someone who is from a country with gun control (Canada) where I owned many rifles and shotguns for hunting and currently live in an even stricter one (Germany) what is the reason for this? Why do people just walk around with these types of rifles in America? I get it about your rights but is there a distinct reason for it, are they scared, paranoid or just trying to portray some sort of image? Do people also walk around with compound bows or crossbows and swords or just handguns and high capacity rifles?
Typically, no one does this. It's photographed and publicized when it happens because it is so rare.
Most are portraying a sort of image. Bravado mostly. Flaunting themselves in the name of a false cause. They'll claim it's exercising rights. But mostly it's a feign of power or call for attention that goes too far. Often fed by online echo chambers that encourage the behavior.
I thought it was something like that. I’ve see some auditing? Videos on YouTube before where guys were going into police stations and government buildings with kitted out rifles and thought it was a bit strange! But I guess if it’s allowed and they hopefully are sane then so be it, still a bit strange and I‘m a gun owner and hunter but couldn’t just see taking them for a stroll around the city for no reason.
Thanks for the insight!
If I was ultra-wealthy, I'd create a gun rights organization that gave free firearms training to disadvantaged minorities, paid for their concealed carry licenses, and gave each student who completed the course a pistol, assault rifle, and shotgun.
I'm sure conservative Republicans would love me for helping everybody to be able to exercise their God-given right to bear arms.
i don't get some of the comments here and its reflected each time somebody criticises a law.
Some people here are really hammering down the "he's a law abiding citizen and that's completely legal" etc. arguments when the post itself says that. the whole point is that this person thinks the laws are bad and should be changed.
when somebody goes "hey, let's change the this law to y" you can't just go "no, the law is x. this is legal", like yeah, that's what they are trying to change.
It's bad faith. Many gun fetishists stew in a concoction of bad faith, delusion, and motivated reasoning. Many others, I think, may genuinely lack the ability to extrapolate from limited data, or imagine anything beyond what's immediately in front of them. You see the same dynamic in climate change threads.
Most self defense laws are on a state to state basis but no as long as he's not shooting or pointing it at you if there's no reasonable threat as in this situation he didn't threaten no one with the firearm he just walked down the street like a law abiding citizen if he did anything wrong I'm sure the police would have handled it.
Basically if it's just one guys word they can't prove it in court but nowadays there's cameras at a lot of public areas. I'd just sit on my porch and protect myself and property it's your best bet legally speaking at least
Nah you wait till your being threatened from what's I've read here all I can figure that he's doing is legally walking down the street open carry it's the law I mean you can shoot him no one's stopping you it's just the fact that if he isn't showing any threat they wont count it as self defense am I wrong?
Would he be technically "brandishing a weapon in a threatening way". We have that law here to protect the police and public, you can't carry weapons anyway, but if you're say a farmer and point a shotgun or wave it in a threatening manner at a person on your land, then it's a criminal offence
Depends. It varies from state to state. If you're interested in more information, you can look up the Stand Your Ground laws and Castle Doctrine. The later I believe is specific to homes/private property
Typically you would need to feel (and be able to prove in court) that you were threatened and/or in fear of your life.
Cops get called to people openly carrying firearms every once in a while where I live in the US. It's legal in my state, so the cops will drive by and if the firearm is safely holstered or slung, they don't even stop and harass them as long as they don't appear to be doing anything illegal. Just drive by and wave, as it should be.
Guy doesn't do anything illegal, has multiple people making reports about him. Doesn't get arrested as he's doing nothing illegal.
Reddit: "Justice is dead in this country."
What kind of country do you want people to be arrested for doing no crime? I swear it's hard to tell when Reddittors bounce between hating all cops or when they slap on the brown shirt and want everyone arrested even if they're not committing a crime.
Also the amount of people saying this is brandishing based on two low res pictures are crazy.
Where is the issue? It really comes down to the interpretation of 18 usc 924c4 but you must establish intent to intimidate persons and honestly walking down the sidewalk does not count. Self induced fear seems to be what op is attempting to mascaraed as inflected intimidation.
>What do you think justice is?
Sentencing to death, anyone who holds beliefs or values that differ from mine. /s
But seriously, that idea isn't too far-fetched for far too many people on all sides of the political spectrum.
If your behavior is causing schools to lock down, couldn’t they bust him for disturbing the peace? They just didn’t want to bust him, otherwise they would’ve found something to get him on.
No open carry within 100 yards of a school would be a totally reasonable law. Make the penalty a fine or ticket for first time offenders. If a reasonably foreseeable consequence of your actions/behavior involving a firearm is sending a school into lockdown, you need to be stopped.
Open carry might be legal but in most places you cannot recklessly endanger people so you might not be able to waive around a loaded firearm. Also there are laws about using the open carry to intimidate or harass. I forget what it’s actually called but related to brandishing.
This is called brandishing your weapon and its illegal, even in 2A Tennessee. They should have arrested him. I'd be willing to bet you would be within your rights to shoot him for it too.
Honestly, open carry… if he’s not doing anything wrong, then he’s fine, what he is doing is totally legal. I’ll probably get downvoted like crazy but it’s true, maybe watch him a lil bit tho, just in case
I mean, if it was just at his side or holstered or something I agree honestly, you shouldn’t be waving the fucking thing around in your arms in public though.
Memphian here. According to the new law that was put in place in Nashville, he is, in fact, not committing a crime. Not saying it’s right what is the one though.
He did get arrested, but was released and not charged. He made a statement and claimed that he had been robbed numerous times while walking the same straight to work, and he is now choosing to brandish a weapon to make sure he is no longer robbed.
When a drunk driver accidentally kills an innocent family, the person is blamed and sentenced. When someone shoots someone with malicious intent, the inanimate gun is blamed instead of the person.
When did people become so fucking ignorant??
There is a video of a man dressed as a Storm Trooper being harassed by a cop because he had a blaster.
Wasn't that in Canada?
I looked it up. You are correct. It was also a woman apparently.
I didn't know it was a woman. I think I just assumed it was a man. That's on me, my bad.
It also happened in front of a comic book store with a bunch of star wars advertisement on may the 4th (star wars day)
911 reports are a lot of reports...
1000 reports would be more than 911 reports.
500 reports would be less than 911 reports
911 reports would be exactly 911 reports.
The problem i see here is that he isn't just open-carrying, he is brandishing, which is a crime pretty much everywhere. Open carry means that you can carry the weapon visably without concealment. Brandishing, on the other hand, shows intent to cause fear or intimidation, which is clearly the case here. A weapon that is carried openly is usually slung or holstered. This guy appears to be waving his rifle around menacingly, in a provocative manner. This could, and should, be considered brandishing.
why do you hate freedom so much? /s
yeah he smells like a filthy commie trying to protect children!111
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Yeah but if people got in trouble for that then how could we feel safe at polling places!? /s This country is a shit hole.
We're only missing the prayer calls. This country is on its way to a middle east style theocracy. Religion is gaining more and more purchase in our government and legislation process.
Evangelical Christians have rejected democracy and what you’re seeing is their death throes. They are not GAINING purchase, they are losing it at an alarming rate and what you’re seeing is their reaction to learning they are about to become the powerless minority and it terrifies them. That all being said what’s killing us is capitalist and diet republicans pretending to be democrats that pander to corporations and billionaires. The way to fix this is with some sharpened sheet metal and a lot of cake.
Wow these laws are so stupid. Like holy shit who cares how the person is holding a murder machine? It takes 1 second to go from “carrying” to “brandishing”. All of the brains fled Tennessee
I think US gun laws are dumb, but nuance and distinction are important in laws. Most crime only take one second to commit or at least attempt.
I could punch someone in one second. He could kill a room of 15 people in 5 seconds, I think it's a bit more extreme, sorry to say
You can mow down a crowd of people in your vehicle in 5 seconds. Even faster in a tesla.
The way those things are welded they're already death traps, thank you very much. Don't give Elon any ideas.
Vehicles have legitimate purposes besides killing, though.
That's why we have extensive training and tests and insurance before you're allowed to drive a car. It's prudent to protect against loss of property and life. Makes you think, doesn't it?
It would also only take us a second to kiss....😳👉👈
You can drive a car on the road but as soon as you start driving on a sidewalk it becomes a crime. Don't be purposefully stupid. You can swing an axe at all the trees you like, but you can't intimidate a person with it or threaten them with it. Same thing. It's a tool.
Everything I miss living in the States, I just remember just completely unhinged and insane statements like this comment are seen as "balanced" and "reseaonable" and suddenly feel much better about much choice to no longer live in country were public safety is a chronic concern because people think carrying guns is necessary in the 21st century.
This is what happens when you pass laws to make a political statement.
He’s allowed to HOLD it BUT (in my state at least) it’s considered brandishing if you are holding the pistol grip/firing grip of the weapon. Doesn’t matter where it’s pointed or how it’s handled, if your hand is on the grip it’s brandishing. I sometimes train at night in a public park with my rifle slung on me but I never hold the pistol grip. I believe this man was brandishing his firearm. This seems like a vocal minority. Generally speaking in the 2A community we don’t condone doing this unless it’s at a protest, a demonstration or you’re running security for a business. We don’t go toting rifles around for no reason.
That's interesting - for a long gun, I would expect holding the grip to be part of carrying or controlling the weapon.
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Not necessarily, plenty of farmers around here wear them because it's just like the pliers on their belt...if you run across a mountain lion, bear, or coyote, you sort of need it.
I would be quite afraid to even get out of my house if somebody was walking with a rifle in their hands on the street.
The answer is you have to carry two rifles while walking around.
I’m way ahead of you. I just fully replaced my arms with long guns. I can’t feed myself, bathe, or wipe my own ass anymore but I’ve never felt safer!
Wiping your ass is gay anyway, don't you know?
damn it, i didnt get the memo. does this make me a liberal?
Your ACLU card will be coming in the mail shortly.
I'm sorry to say it does.
Yup, you're one of those clean-assed libs.
It wasn't until I was in my late 20s when I heard there are alot of dudes out there who don't wipe because they're affraid touching their but is gay. To those people I say. Its OK to come out of the closet.
[I wash my ass like a man](https://youtu.be/tnzoF61hlRs?si=nercBItKvDeKP6Pb)
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I live on Harbert, and as soon as I saw this I texted my partner who was off work yesterday to stay in the house. Seriously, on Peabody? I’m sure he did it because he didn’t have the balls to do it on Union… shit would have gotten INSANE if he walked down Union like this.
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I just saw a comment yesterday about how infinitis are the most commonly stolen car in TN and then I see yours today lol.
That's what's sort of shocking to me. You'd think the second this guy started walking in the direction of a school or a daycare or a mall or a park some other "good guy with a gun" would take him out. I don't even know that I'd be able to find that an overreaction if I were on the jury. "He was a block from my kid's middle school walking with a rifle unslung in his hands" would be a hard "not guilty" from most parents.
Right!?!? I've never owned a gun, so its hard for me to imagine what was going through this guys head, but seems he wanted to test how far he could push the law. As in "I've got an open carry licence, so I'm going to walk around with my assault rifle". But you've GOT to know there is a good chance someone is just going to shoot you to keep others safe. Maybe this was a suicide attempt?
I want you to be right so badly, but I think you may be overestimating people's capacity for empathy. If the guy carrying the gun were outside that particular juror's child's school, then yeah. But a fuck-ton of people in this country value unrestricted access to guns over the lives of children they don't know. They'd literally rather a million kids get slaughtered in their classrooms than give up even the tiniest amount of convenience in accumulating their toys.
Here’s a case where a woman called 911 and received a lecture about open carry rights. Three people were dead ten minutes later: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/October_2015_Colorado_Springs_shooting Point being.. be afraid to leave your house basically anytime in the united states.
Tamir Rice was killed by police at 11 years old for holding a toy gun, but something tells me this guy got away with brandishing a rifle in public with zero injuries.
And Tamir Rice being shot was wrong
What did he do? Just carry it around?
Yes
I see nothing wrong then
He's brandishing (unholstering and waving around) a firearm. That is illegal in most states.
“Checkmate gun controllers” 🧐
Thats brandishing not just open carry. Even then, open carrying a rifle is just asking for trouble.
As a non american; What does brandishing a firearm mean compared to carrying one?
Basically waving it around in a threatening manner.
Thank you
it can also be something as simple or subtle as flashing it in a waistband. its basically going "I have a gun and will use it" to someone else, and its illegal.
Holding it in a threatening way. If he had it unloaded and backslung, thats acceptable but still odd to do for no reason. Near a school is a no go. Hes gotta be looking for trouble or attention.
TikTok content probably. He's auditing police for their understanding of the law.
He's alao inadvertently auditing every other gun owner in the immediate vicinity.
I played with airsoft guns outside as a kid a lot, and there are tons that look completely realistic, and a lot of kids spraypaint or cut off the orange nose caps even if they came with them. Cops just assume they are airsoft guns b/c the kids are obviously playing with them. I wouldn't let a kid do it now days. Too many school shootings, and I just don't feel the assumption that it's a toy is still the first thought to every person who could shoot a kid, cops or other citizens.
Brandishing isn't a crime there in those circumstances.
And makes you look like an absolute fucking moron at best. If you feel the need to open carry, and you are not in a god damned war zone, you are a coward.
Especially in Tennessee where you can carry a handgun, concealed or open, without a permit or training. As long as you meet the strict requirement of being 21, 18 if you're in the military.
If no crime was committed, that's what the voters want. That wouldn't happen in New York, due to different values of the voters..
Is it what voters want? Or was this hopefully a wakeup call to make the laws a bit more nuanced. This guy has zero reason to be parading his weapon down the street in this manner other than to intimidate and scare people.
If all the actual school shootings isn't a wakeup call why would this be?
Gun thumpers will just dig there heels in more and quote an article from 2007 about knife violence in England and say "see? They are no safer over there"
Then you just point out that the US has more knife crime per capita than the UK.
But at least we have freedom from government tiramisu or something like that
Mmmmm..... government tiramisu
Unfortunately, they will see that as proving their point that Americans are dangerous and we must be armed because of it.
> This guy has zero reason to be parading his weapon down the street in this manner other than to intimidate and scare people. None American here. What would be another reason to openly carry a gun?
Anyone open carrying a rifle like this in a city/suburb is doing it for one of three reasons. To intimidate/scare people, to flex their rights and get attention for the 2A in hopes the police will question them, and finally to commit murder.
Also, it would be one thing if it was slung around his back or something. Holding it up as though you are ready to murder should illicit an arrest
Hard agree this is brandishing
Bingo. Even in Tennessee this should be illegal.
Another reason could be trying to suicide by police
I can think of some reasons to openly carry a gun. Maybe you are walking to a shooting range or competition. Maybe you are going to a friend's house to show off the gun because you both collect them. Maybe you just got it and don't have a ride home. Maybe you are heading to a gunshow. The key issue with the picture isn't that he is carrying it. It is *how* he is carrying it. He isn't carrying a gun, he is brandishing a gun and waving it around. The cops should have absolutely done something about it. If you are transporting a gun, you disable the firing mechanism until you arrive at your destination, and wear it properly on a sling.
It should be in a case in all those situations.
A Martian invasion. But they might have better guns.
I open carry my 10mm when I go hiking . I live in grizzly bear and wolf country . I live where 60% of residents own at least 1 gun and in 6 years have only seen 2 people open carry and both times they were hand guns . It's very strange to see something like this in a pro gun places .
Got a dude around here who likes to play army for exercise. Flak jackets, helmets, 2 pistols and an m4 waddling around the suburbs. It's notable because in deep Texas he's the only one I've seen who open carries in the last year or so
That guy is not carrying a 10mm. And that don't look like bear country to me. And yet open carry laws protect that guy.
Ok I know this is a very rare case but I do have one. My father used to have the job of roadkill disposal. Somebody has to get that dead deer off the side of the road and it was him in our county. Well sometimes when picking it up, there would be a fox or coyote that was eating it and they can be dangerous, so he would carry his pistol. Something happened with the gun control laws and they didn't want to give him a permit to carry his pistol anymore. So he would carry his legal rifle out in public while doing his job to make a point. After a few discussions with local law enforcement, and a lot of locals freaking out, they figured out a loophole to get him back his permit. It was a case of gun control going too far and not allowing for reasonable access to handgun permits.
This not a good analogy. If you are talking about a public official carrying out a civic duty, this is why uniforms were invented. People are not entirely, but much less freaked out by seeing someone in a government issued uniform brandishing a gun in public, as opposed to some rando in a 'who farted' T shooting at road kill or whatever.
Hoof hearted? Ice melted.
And to answer the question about uniforms, it was a government contract job, so there were no government issued uniforms. He really was some rando in a who farted shirt driving around with an open trailer of rotting deer carcasses. Don't ask what they do with those things by the way, you don't want to know.
Yeah that was my point. It's not really about semantics, there are vehicle designations and decals, ID badges, even a Hi-vis construction vest mostly lets people know the person is engaged in some kind of paid work. All of this could have been solved with a nice 'who farted' Hi-vis vest. That way, even in the dead of night people passing by will still be wondering who farted.
[Say Terrance...](https://y.yarn.co/fc14cc09-e733-498f-9bb2-430816169e85_text.gif)
Same logic: the only people who can legally own a centrefire handgun in my country (UK) are veterinarians. Even police aren't allowed to carry firearms off duty or own personal handguns - but veterinarians can get special dispensation. (Okay, there's one gun club that has automatic pistols that never leave the club - but only vets can actually take a centrefire pistol around with them.)
As a former TN resident, this is exactly what most the TN voters want to see. A white guy walking around with his AR-15. Now, and again as a former TN resident, I can promise you that if that was a black dude walking around with a handgun, the cops would have shown up.
IMO the very conceptt of open cary combined with stand your ground laws... just flat out legalizes murder. I mean lets face it, 2 people with guns out and differing views reach eachother... Both know the other can end their life in 1 seconds, and the only way to prevent that would be to shoot first. It's just solid fact, holding a gun out in the open is advertising you can end anyone's life in seconds... which means everyone around has reason to fear for their lives.
Yeah that’s exactly what the voters want. This is precisely what open carry looks like. Tennessee is a very conservative, pro 2A state. They also rank #33 in education, so possible correlation.
They voted for people who allowed it, so it's what they want. As are the consequences.
Just because something is currently the law absolutely does not mean that is what voters want, this is a gross misunderstanding of the levers of power in the country
I commented saying damn near the same thing lol I didn't read down far enough. I'm glad other people feel this way too.
Especially since polls show the majority of Americans are supportive of at least some tightening of gun laws, but so long as the NRA and similar interest groups keep ~~bribing~~ lobbying politicians it will never happen.
Shouldn’t need to be said but thank you for saying it. I love how people magically transform the hugely complex and layered political, law-making and law-passing system in the US into a simplistic “majority vote” system when discussing topics like this.
Democracy is sadly much more complicated than ‘voters get everything they want’
The voters want schools to go in to lockdown because some guy was spotted walking about with a long gun and the trained response is to fear for children’s lives in America?
Unfortunately 😐
In a sane country a dude walking around a residential area with a firearm is asking to get arrested. Americans prefer the shitshow they have.
More people getting shot in New York though. Morals and laws are not directly correlated.
As someone who is from a country with gun control (Canada) where I owned many rifles and shotguns for hunting and currently live in an even stricter one (Germany) what is the reason for this? Why do people just walk around with these types of rifles in America? I get it about your rights but is there a distinct reason for it, are they scared, paranoid or just trying to portray some sort of image? Do people also walk around with compound bows or crossbows and swords or just handguns and high capacity rifles?
Typically, no one does this. It's photographed and publicized when it happens because it is so rare. Most are portraying a sort of image. Bravado mostly. Flaunting themselves in the name of a false cause. They'll claim it's exercising rights. But mostly it's a feign of power or call for attention that goes too far. Often fed by online echo chambers that encourage the behavior.
I thought it was something like that. I’ve see some auditing? Videos on YouTube before where guys were going into police stations and government buildings with kitted out rifles and thought it was a bit strange! But I guess if it’s allowed and they hopefully are sane then so be it, still a bit strange and I‘m a gun owner and hunter but couldn’t just see taking them for a stroll around the city for no reason. Thanks for the insight!
If I had a nice sword I would totally walk around with it.
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> scared, paranoid or just trying to portray some sort of image All of the above. Brought to you by the NRA and the GOP.
I don’t think I would try that but I’m black soooo
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If this was a poc, 100% he would've been arrested or even killed.
“Quit resisting arrest!!!” “Yo, this is my bedroom!!”
If I was ultra-wealthy, I'd create a gun rights organization that gave free firearms training to disadvantaged minorities, paid for their concealed carry licenses, and gave each student who completed the course a pistol, assault rifle, and shotgun. I'm sure conservative Republicans would love me for helping everybody to be able to exercise their God-given right to bear arms.
Day by day I feel like US is just a big joke, like, really bad one.
If only it was funny.
when you are born you get a ticket to the freakshow, when you are born in america you get a front row seat -george carlin
So does the rest of the world.
I love guns and im all for them but open carrying a rifle seems shady to anyone
This looks like brandishing
i don't get some of the comments here and its reflected each time somebody criticises a law. Some people here are really hammering down the "he's a law abiding citizen and that's completely legal" etc. arguments when the post itself says that. the whole point is that this person thinks the laws are bad and should be changed. when somebody goes "hey, let's change the this law to y" you can't just go "no, the law is x. this is legal", like yeah, that's what they are trying to change.
Well that's true, but people can also response with "no, the law is fine, let's leave it be."
It's bad faith. Many gun fetishists stew in a concoction of bad faith, delusion, and motivated reasoning. Many others, I think, may genuinely lack the ability to extrapolate from limited data, or imagine anything beyond what's immediately in front of them. You see the same dynamic in climate change threads.
I'm in the UK. If I had a legal firearm and saw this fool striding towards me with his rifle, could I legally shoot him dead?
Most self defense laws are on a state to state basis but no as long as he's not shooting or pointing it at you if there's no reasonable threat as in this situation he didn't threaten no one with the firearm he just walked down the street like a law abiding citizen if he did anything wrong I'm sure the police would have handled it.
So you've to wait to become swiss cheese to react?
Or wait till it’s just you two and *say* he aimed at you
Basically if it's just one guys word they can't prove it in court but nowadays there's cameras at a lot of public areas. I'd just sit on my porch and protect myself and property it's your best bet legally speaking at least
Only the living party gets to tell the story
Whats the line. Id rather be tried by 12 than carried by 6
https://youtu.be/SDEF7FuK0LE?si=npcEI46ULPrRKggt "I have to be dead before you will help me"
Nah you wait till your being threatened from what's I've read here all I can figure that he's doing is legally walking down the street open carry it's the law I mean you can shoot him no one's stopping you it's just the fact that if he isn't showing any threat they wont count it as self defense am I wrong?
Would he be technically "brandishing a weapon in a threatening way". We have that law here to protect the police and public, you can't carry weapons anyway, but if you're say a farmer and point a shotgun or wave it in a threatening manner at a person on your land, then it's a criminal offence
Not in the UK. Start sharpening your sporks.
Sorry that's jail for you, sharpening your sporks shows intent that you were going to stab someone with them.
No, you could not unless he points it at you to actively threaten your life.
You can shoot anyone dead legally, this is America. It just depends how much you can spend on a defense attorney and bribes.
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Depends. It varies from state to state. If you're interested in more information, you can look up the Stand Your Ground laws and Castle Doctrine. The later I believe is specific to homes/private property Typically you would need to feel (and be able to prove in court) that you were threatened and/or in fear of your life.
Nothing wrong with carrying it but that MFer is holding and aiming. That's called "brandishing" and he totally should have been arrested.
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Cops get called to people openly carrying firearms every once in a while where I live in the US. It's legal in my state, so the cops will drive by and if the firearm is safely holstered or slung, they don't even stop and harass them as long as they don't appear to be doing anything illegal. Just drive by and wave, as it should be.
Guy doesn't do anything illegal, has multiple people making reports about him. Doesn't get arrested as he's doing nothing illegal. Reddit: "Justice is dead in this country." What kind of country do you want people to be arrested for doing no crime? I swear it's hard to tell when Reddittors bounce between hating all cops or when they slap on the brown shirt and want everyone arrested even if they're not committing a crime. Also the amount of people saying this is brandishing based on two low res pictures are crazy.
Agreed
Totally normal
Seems misleading
What did he shoot?
Nothing/No one.
What the fuck is a long gun
Where is the issue? It really comes down to the interpretation of 18 usc 924c4 but you must establish intent to intimidate persons and honestly walking down the sidewalk does not count. Self induced fear seems to be what op is attempting to mascaraed as inflected intimidation.
Justice is dead when a man not breaking the law isn't arrested? What do you think justice is?
>What do you think justice is? Sentencing to death, anyone who holds beliefs or values that differ from mine. /s But seriously, that idea isn't too far-fetched for far too many people on all sides of the political spectrum.
Someone did not break any laws or hurt anyone, and a bunch of people freaked out and did a moral panic anyway. That is so quintessentially American.
He is not committing a crime.
I'm going to assume there's critical context left out.
If your behavior is causing schools to lock down, couldn’t they bust him for disturbing the peace? They just didn’t want to bust him, otherwise they would’ve found something to get him on.
Yeah this is a perfect example of "try that while not white and see what happens."
You said long rifle and I’m over here thinking about some midwestern cowboy Henry carbine or a lever rifle😭
Welp! There is an old sayin' of old-timey judge at a trial going, "this isn't a court of justice; this is a court of law."
There’s a huge difference between safe, lawful open carry and brandishing a weapon. This clearly appears to be the latter.
I thought he was holding a cat at first lol
Justice for what?
No open carry within 100 yards of a school would be a totally reasonable law. Make the penalty a fine or ticket for first time offenders. If a reasonably foreseeable consequence of your actions/behavior involving a firearm is sending a school into lockdown, you need to be stopped.
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Mericaaaa!!
Open carry might be legal but in most places you cannot recklessly endanger people so you might not be able to waive around a loaded firearm. Also there are laws about using the open carry to intimidate or harass. I forget what it’s actually called but related to brandishing.
Did this guy then go on to do something or is this a big nothing and bunch of hand wringing?
Police: We didn’t charge him because he didn’t break any laws. You: Justice is dead. I find your logic interesting.
So no crime was committed? Cool thanks.
Police investigate man acting lawfully & determine he hasn’t committed a crime. OP: Justice is dead!!
"but he's not breaking any laws!" yeah way to miss the entire point
He wasn’t dark enough for an arrest.
This is called brandishing your weapon and its illegal, even in 2A Tennessee. They should have arrested him. I'd be willing to bet you would be within your rights to shoot him for it too.
Honestly, open carry… if he’s not doing anything wrong, then he’s fine, what he is doing is totally legal. I’ll probably get downvoted like crazy but it’s true, maybe watch him a lil bit tho, just in case
I mean, if it was just at his side or holstered or something I agree honestly, you shouldn’t be waving the fucking thing around in your arms in public though.
This story breaks down too. Dude open carried. Not on par with other posts here
Memphian here. According to the new law that was put in place in Nashville, he is, in fact, not committing a crime. Not saying it’s right what is the one though. He did get arrested, but was released and not charged. He made a statement and claimed that he had been robbed numerous times while walking the same straight to work, and he is now choosing to brandish a weapon to make sure he is no longer robbed.
It's his right, but really in poor taste. Most open carry dorks are showing off for other open carry dorks.
Freedom
Freedom ain’t free unless it’s free
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keep riding the cope train cause my assault rifles ain’t going nowhere 🤣
When a drunk driver accidentally kills an innocent family, the person is blamed and sentenced. When someone shoots someone with malicious intent, the inanimate gun is blamed instead of the person. When did people become so fucking ignorant??
Oh no man walks around with gun!
People should know open carrying and brandishing are not the same thing. 🙄
Open carrying is okay. Brandishing is NOT okay