Open Carry at the Beach

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Open Carry at the Beach

Postby RYP » Sun Jul 11, 2010 1:10 pm

Openly bearing arms, beachgoers cite their rights
Members of a South Bay group hope to win public acceptance of the public display of firearms.


Firefighter Scott Brownlie wears an unloaded Colt M-4 Carbine slung across his back on a Hermosa Beach street. “If a lot of people were allowed to carry more … there would be a lot less crime,” he said. (Christina House, For The Times / July 11, 2010)
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By Jack Leonard, Times Staff Writer
July 11, 2010
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It was clear this was no ordinary community cleanup.

Trash bags? Check.

Gloves? Check.

Glock .45-caliber handgun? Check.

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More than a dozen people packing pistols on their hips strolled down the Hermosa Beach strand Saturday, picking up garbage and distributing fliers about the rights of gun owners.

The event was part of a burgeoning and controversial "open carry" movement nationwide promoting the right to carry guns in public. Although carrying a concealed weapon is illegal without a permit, California allows people to openly carry guns in many areas as long as they are unloaded, though they can keep ammunition with them.

Members of South Bay Open Carry, which organized the beach cleanup, said they hope such events will dispel misgivings about gun owners and make carrying a handgun in public more acceptable. Organizers said they turned the event into a cleanup to demonstrate that they are contributing to the community.

"Just because somebody is carrying a gun doesn't mean that they're a criminal," said Scott Brownlie, a 25-year-old firefighter who stood outside Peet's Coffee & Tea with an unloaded Colt M-4 Carbine slung across his back. "If a lot of people were allowed to carry more … there would be a lot less crime."

Most people walked by the group without a second glance. A police spokesman said the department received no complaints about the event.

Open Carry has drawn criticism from gun control groups that say police, not untrained gun owners, should be protecting the public.

Similar Open Carry gatherings have taken place in recent years in San Francisco and San Diego.

A bill by Assemblywoman Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) would, with some exceptions, prohibit civilians from openly carrying handguns. The legislation, which was approved by the Assembly but still needs to pass the Senate, has won backing from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the California Police Chiefs Assn.

Suzanne Verge, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, described Saturday's event as a "public relations stunt."

"People use the guns in a moment of passion, under the influence, when they're angry," said Verge, whose brother was fatally shot in 1978. "I don't think it's going to lessen the risk for children and families who go to the beach."

But Ryan Burbridge and others at the Open Carry event disagreed.

Burbridge, an oil field equipment mechanic, said he carries a firearm whenever he goes shopping or visits a restaurant.

Sporting a Rock Island 1911 pistol in a holster on his right hip and a clip of ammunition on his left side, Burbridge looked toward his wife, Tiffany, and their two children, Brooke, 8, and Noah, 2.

"I would like to have the right to protect my beautiful family and not feel that people are thinking I'm breaking the law," he said. "I'm not trying to intimidate people."

Burbridge said he hoped law enforcement officers would understand that openly carrying firearms is legal. He said he was recently handcuffed and detained before being released when he was peacefully watching a July 4 fireworks show in Long Beach with his family while armed.

Harley Green, founder of South Bay Open Carry, met with Hermosa Beach's police chief last month to explain his group's plans. In response, police published a map that showed large sections of greenbelt, the beach and areas near schools where people are barred from carrying weapons without a permit, even if unloaded.

As the well-armed group spent about an hour picking up litter, the reaction from onlookers was mixed.

Ryan Rogado, a 31-year-old space engineer, stopped to watch.

"If they were handing out weapons here, I would carry one in a second," said Rogado, who owns a handgun but has never worn it in public. "I would be more intimidated by someone who pulls out a concealed weapon."

But as the gun toters wrapped up the event at Peet's, customer Shawna Johnson said the sight of someone armed in public was unnerving.

"I think people have the right to arms," said Johnson, a biology student at Cal State Channel Islands, "but I think it's unsafe that people carry them on the streets."

jack.leonard@latimes.com

Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby Dabbi » Sun Jul 11, 2010 3:26 pm

just because you can carry a gun openly does not mean you have to do it
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby Woodsman » Sun Jul 11, 2010 5:46 pm

RYP wrote:Although carrying a concealed weapon is illegal without a permit, California allows people to openly carry guns in many areas as long as they are unloaded, though they can keep ammunition with them.


1. Retarded.
2. Retarded.
3. More retarted.

I've carried a gun in CA and would never in a million years think about carrying an unloaded gun.

Imagine driving a car without the tires mounted, instead - have them in the back seat.
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby Hitoru » Sun Jul 11, 2010 6:44 pm

Please feel free to post your views on the rights and wrongs of weapons and their usage on the main or opinions forum.
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby coldharvest » Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:01 am

Hitoru wrote:Please feel free to post your views on the rights and wrongs of weapons and their usage on the main or opinions forum.

You Sir are an excellent moderator.
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby Hitoru » Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:32 am

A simple cut and paste , Kurt is the only mod worth a shit.
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby z911hyper » Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:30 am

Hitoru wrote:A simple cut and paste , Kurt is the only mod worth a shit.

a good moderator copies Kurt, as no one can be as good as he is, therefore the best thing a moderator can do is cut and paste Kurt's words
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby JamesInTheWorld » Mon Jul 12, 2010 3:17 pm

The Open Carry crowd is an odd group – I have never understood why you would want to draw that much attention to yourself?

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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby Chimborazo » Mon Jul 12, 2010 4:52 pm

Sporting a Rock Island 1911 pistol in a holster on his right hip and a clip of ammunition on his left side...


It's a fucking magazine, not a clip! That annoys the shit out of me.
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby Woodsman » Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:06 pm

JamesInTheWorld wrote:The Open Carry crowd is an odd group – I have never understood why you would want to draw that much attention to yourself?

~JITW


Yeah, but is THIS gay?

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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby Woodsman » Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:07 pm

Hitoru wrote:Please feel free to post your views on the rights and wrongs of weapons and their usage on the main or opinions forum.


You bet, chief.
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby coldharvest » Tue Jul 13, 2010 6:06 am

Woodsman wrote:Yeah, but is THIS gay?
Image

....hopefully later in the evening they can be a little gay.
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby crotalus01 » Mon Sep 06, 2010 2:40 am

Open carry very rarely draws any attention. Most of the sheeple either a) Assume you are a LEO or b) just plain don't notice. In this day and age, there are so many accessories that are carried on the hip (cell phones, PDAs etc) that most will never register it is a gun.
I OC in the summertime (legal in my state with HCP) and have had maybe 3 people make a comment about it. Of those 3 only one was negative, and I basically told her sorry you are afraid of my tool but your opinion means as little to me as mine does to you...
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby rickshaw92 » Mon Sep 06, 2010 3:33 am

coldharvest wrote:
Woodsman wrote:Yeah, but is THIS gay?
Image

....hopefully later in the evening they can be a little gay.



Or a lot gay in a hard core woman on woman tongue lashing kinda way, with a bit of spanking of course.
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Re: Open Carry at the Beach

Postby Devlin » Mon Sep 06, 2010 4:46 pm

When I read the headline, I thought it said "Open carry at nude beach"

I still don't get it, why bring the attention to yourself, unless you just have some super bad ass iron that you want to show off.

Like this

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