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I’d love to open carry. Strategically, it’s a big no-no. But I reckon open carry is the final frontier, the gateway to the “normalization” that would seal the deal for American gun rights. And if enough people did it, the strategic downside would diminish and the deterrence effect would be gi-normous. Yes, well, I don’t want to lose my gun or my right to carry a gun, even temporarily. Even though open carry is legal in the Ocean State, RI cops would confiscate my gun, charge with me with disturbing the peace and ban me from carrying in a New York minute. So props to PA gun advocate Mark Fiorino who wore his gun with pride and audio-taped the ensuing encounter with Johnny Law, generating some 257k views with the resulting video. And now that Mark’s left his mark, the City of Brotherly Love has settled the case . . .
A gun-rights advocate whom police stopped for openly carrying a weapon will settle his lawsuit against the City of Philadelphia for $25,000. Mark Fiorino’s lawyer said the suit was not about money but about retraining police on open-carry laws.
philly.com‘s report points out that the IT worker had a permit; Fiorino was well within his rights. What the news org doesn’t reveal: the exact deal involved. Does Fionino retain his right to carry? Can he talk about the case with the press? Is he going to open carry again? TTAG is investigating. Meanwhile,
Lawyer Benjamin Picker said Fiorino accepted the city’s offer Thursday because the city had been retraining officers. The retraining was not a condition of the settlement, a city spokesman said. City Solicitor Shelley Smith, in an e-mailed message, said the city did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.
Now if only we could get PA firearms owners retrained as well . . .