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Mark Fiorino stirred-up the gun rights community pretty good when he YouTubed an audiotape of Philadelphia cops hassling him (to say the least) for openly carrying a firearm—even though he was well within his rights to do so. Ditto his refusal to provide ID. Listening to the tape, it’s clear the Philadelphia police weren’t feeling any brotherly love towards open carry in general and Fiorino in particular. Rather than back off, “Lt. Raymond Evers, a spokesman for the city police, told FoxNews.com that gun owners who open carry, which is legal in the city, may be asked to lay on the ground until officers feel safe while they check permits.” The missing word: “respectfully.” You may recall that Philly po-po have shown similar animus towards out-of-state concealed carry permit holders. If ever there was a time and a place for an open carry sit down, this is it. Isn’t it?
Technically, that’s unlawful detention, to which violent resistance is a justifiable response.
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The "gun rights" (or, more appropriately, the freedom-loving) community is rightly taking advantage of the incident, but nobody with any sort of experience of American sociopolitical machinations would be surprised by this. It's Philadelphia.
1) Does anybody else notice how concise and knowledgeable Fiorino is in the matter?
2) Did any of you guys laugh at that dude at 03:45 implying it’s Fiorino’s fault the dipshits in blue spent time and resources harassing him?
The mere act of carrying a firearm, in and of itself, is not evidence that crime is afoot. There need to be lawsuits.
If ever there was a time and a place for an open carry sit down, this is it. Isn’t it?
It is indeed. Last week’s small, well organized march downtown was an opening salvo. There are larger projects in the works.
I agree that open-carry protest marches are called for.
Fiorino is lucky to be alive. Philadelphia cops have a long and well-published record of murder, corruption, use of excessive force, falsifying evidence, frame-ups and even a murderous bombing. Phildelphia is known as “The City that Bombed Itself” for an incredible act of police criminality, when a cop chopper dropped a bomb on a house, setting it and 65 others ablaze and killing five children. Say what you want about the police elsewhere, but the Philadelphia PD is a national disgrace.
On the positive side, I’m told that the Philly PD is now accepting applications from BATFE agents.
It’s very simple in Philly, if you open carry you WILL be stopped. Now if you piss the cops off during the stop you stand a good chance of being shot. All they have to do is say you did anything that they believe to pose a threat and you’re dead! Just because you have the right to do something, doesn’t mean that you have the right to survive. I agree that this guy had every right to do what he did, but now he’s paying a lawyer to defend him and he’s going to lose all his guns. Jeff (the lawyer) told me last week that he likes it when people like me cooperate with the cops because it helps him pay off his loans. I believe that he would make double the money from the guys who are rude to the cops because they would just pile on the charges. I love guns and I would love for everyone to be able to open carry, but that’s never going to happen.
At about 3 minutes Fiorino says his boss prohibits him from carrying his handgun around clients and he “totally understands that.” Then why can’t he understand that his fellow citizens on the street don’t want it either?
I don’t want firearms carry “normalized.” Why should I? Just because you have a constitutional right to do something doesn’t make it socially acceptable — or even a good idea. I don’t want citizens toting guns up and down my street, and I haven’t read or seen anything at TTAG that would incline me to change my mind.
“I haven’t read or seen anything at TTAG that would incline me to change my mind.”
Then you have confirmed for yourself and the entire readership of this website, that it is absolutely stupid for you to be here, Troll.
Gun-grabbers would be much more tolerable if they weren’t so brazenly ignorant.
I’m no gun grabber and I am not a troll. I’m a lifelong gun enthusiast and 2A defender. I am opposed to mall ninjas and range commandos acting out their hardware fetishes in my neighborhood. I don’t like their skill levels or their attitudes. They need to go play soldier of fortune somewhere else.
Please make a cogent argument for how someone merely in the process of open carrying is a range commando, mall ninja, or soldier of fortune. If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t this guy just loading some items into his car? There’s no evidence of his skill level and his attitude appears in keeping with the fact that his life was being unlawfully threatened. All of your comments are made within the context of this man’s experience so I think you are quite unfairly maligning and disparaging the man with no evidence to justify your assertions.
If you’re against carrying firearms, you’re entitled to your opinion, but surely you’re not suggesting that anyone wishing to carry a firearm should have to pass YOUR determination of fitness or worthiness to carry. Unequal application of the law is indeed tyranny. Are you going to deny someone their free speech based on YOUR test of speaking skill level or the attitude with which they deliver their words?
If you’re a 2A defender, defend it for everyone.
Great post VH, I wish that I could have said it first.
Thank you very much, Joe. I have no doubt you would’ve said it. I just beat you to it. All I did was put to paper what YOU and many of us already know in our hearts and believe with our heads. The pro-self-defense community is sick and tired of seeing the 2nd Amendment selectively applied. Mayors Daley and Bloomberg come to mind as we watch them work arduously to disarm the average man, keeping him defenseless, while they surround themselves with Uzis.
The 2nd Amendment is for ALL American citizens, and I confess that I’m a bit hypersensitive to any effort or suggestion to selectively apply it.
You think it’s smart to be walking around with an unloaded gun on your hip and cause the public and police officers have to worry if your planning on taking poeple out “or just exercising your 2nd amendment right”. It is obvious that you know you are causing these disturbances because you deliberately record your interactions and even after you are advised your making the public uneasy you continue just to get a rise out of the police who are looking to protect you and everyone you scare as you walk by them. Why is that people have lost thier common sense. And you are doing this near a school? The only thing that accomplishes is puts the school into lock down and scare kids….but God forbid you can’t exercise your 2nd amendment right..How many of you open carry people would help someone in need including an officer? Or are you too busy trying to harrass them…
your absolutely right “*”. (sarcasm) the people who are following the laws are making people uneasy?? in what world does that make sense. with officers being laid off and underpaid and only RE-acting to laws that are being broken it is every law abiding Americans right to be PRO-active and to exercise our rights. are people who are following the law and open carrying really causing disturbances. but not the guys selling drugs on the corners near or to school kids
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