I heart ColionNoir. As a fellow African-American (from a slightly different cultural background with a noticeably lighter skin tone) I salute his intelligence, wit, passion, perseverance, honesty, integrity, lucidity, focus and automotive choices. And I agree: an open carry demonstrator shouldn’t be a “dickhead” or “jackass” to police. But I profoundly disagree with ColionNoir’s statement that they don’t have a right to be a dickhead . . .
The Second Amendment protects citizens against government infringement on their right to keep and bear arms The First Amendment protects citizens against government intrusion on their right to free speech. If an open carrier is carrying openly in a legal fashion, if he stays within the letter of the law and tells “intervening” police to f-off, he has the right to do so.
Gun rights would be better served if a [metaphorical] army of clean-cut folks carried handguns and long guns in plain view around and about town. But what are the odds of your average gun owner open carrying in states where the practice is akin to wearing a T-shirt pronouncing “aspiring spree killer”? The People of the Gun most likely to risk losing their guns rights and/or imprisonment (not to mention being beaten or shot by unsympathetic police) are far more likely to be zealots. True believers. And yes, egomaniacs.
In the same sense that it takes a brave black man to speak publicly for the NRA, it takes a courageous man to push the open carry boundary. In fact, I bet some of our Founding Fathers were dickheads. Just sayin’ . . .