Open-carry activist treated nicely by police; proceeds to antagonize officer

[Dangit2019]

​

What the above video contains is a man walking around his town (where open gun carrying is legal) and carrying a semi-automatic rifle around his shoulder in an attempt to bait police officers before he spouts out the penal code to make them look in the wrong. He also videotapes these encounters. Surprise surprise, an officer arrives on the scene.

What happens is that the police officer actually knows the law (presumably because there have been dickhead encounters before this one) and speaks very clearly about the established rules of open carrying. The guy carrying spouts out remarks about how any search/seizure would be a violation of his rights, and continues to presume that he will be on the news as a hero before morning. The officer asks that the man to outstretch his arms so that the officer can make sure that the gun is not automatic (which is not allowed in their area without a license) and the dickhead insightful citizen continues once more to state that "search and seizure is a violation of the 2nd amendment" even though the officer clarifies that he is not seizing anything.

The cop gives him the thumbs up and explains why he had to check the gun (maybe because the gun could've easilly been an automatic and added another tragedy to the list). The cop actually invites him to a automatic gun training and licensing clinic that was apparently scheduled in the case that he would be interested in learning how to not be a douchenozzle less knowledgeable citizen when it came to handling guns. The officer actually gives the guy THANKS because "no one is going to commit crimes with a gunholder around", which I guess is the bigger twist ending in this. The rest is the citizen and his friends asking questions (I'm too tired to make them all out at 2 AM), and the cops leave.

Look, I'm not anti-gun myself (My family has a 2 shotguns and I think 3 pistols), but this guy is just so obviously being an over-antagonistic moron. He saw a video or two where cops freaked out at the sight of a big gun (which they kind of should with common sense, but not with legal sense apparently), and he thought that he could become some sort of martyr among his backwards douchebag buddies.

But I don't really matter, let me know how you think, Escapists

 

[Korolev]

Sometimes people want to feel excitement. They want to feel important. They're tired of their boring 9-to-5 job and they feel like they are missing something in life.

That antagonistic open gun carrier is one of those people. They seek confrontation over virtually nothing, for the sole purpose of feeling a thrill and a surge in adrenaline! "Look at me! I'm standing up to the Authorities! I'm fightin' for my rights! I feel SO ALIVE!". He's seeking confrontation and arguments because he has nothing else in his life that gives him joy.

He's an antagonistic jerk, but I feel sorry for him. People who act this way are desperate for attention and status.

 

[Zhukov]

Ugh.

"I know, I'm going to walk down the street with a bloody submachine gun and a video camera in the specific hope that someone gets understandably freaked out and calls the cops so I can lecture them on tape because that makes my balls feel big."

I find the distinction between fully and semi automatic weapons a bit odd. If you wanted to carry out a crime or a massacre or whatnot then a semi auto weapon would do the job just fine.

Oh yeah, and total kudos to the cop for being all calm and professional and whatnot.

 

[antidonkey]

Wait.....the cops have knowledge of the local laws?!?!?!?!?!

Videos like that reinforce why I think open carry is a bad idea. No one makes a fuss over concealed carry because no one know you have a gun.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Most gun owners are perfectly reasonable people. And then some are like this asshat.

 

[loch belthadd]

I don't really get the point of open carry. Criminals are going to do their thing regardless (Except now they'll shoot the open carrier first.) I've seen people who open carry just because they like to make other people nervous. It has no benefits over concealed carry other than making you look like a douche.

 

[Something Amyss]

Ugh.

"I know, I'm going to walk down the street with a bloody submachine gun and a video camera in the specific hope that someone gets understandably freaked out and calls the cops so I can lecture them on tape because that makes my balls feel big."

I find the distinction between fully and semi automatic weapons a bit odd. If you wanted to carry out a crime or a massacre or whatnot then a semi auto weapon would do the job just fine.

Oh yeah, and total kudos to the cop for being all calm and professional and whatnot.

I'm reminded of the dickweed who took a firearm into a Colorado theater like a week after the Auroroa shooting and was all surprised that the police were called. Though that one may not have been antagonistic, I don't know.

 

[Something Amyss]

Most gun owners are perfectly reasonable people. And then some are like this asshat.

Sadly, there are asshats in all walks of life.

 

[loc978]

Exercising your second amendment rights simply to demonstrate that you're allowed to do so (and in the hopes of causing a confrontation with public servants)... such stupidity. Even in out here in rural areas, I don't go around with my kalashnikov slung from my shoulder, that's just trying to freak people out and waste an officer's time.

Also... a .22LR plinking MP5? Really? The threat of force from that thing is considerably more effective than the actual force. Better off carrying a concealed subcompact .32ACP... at least a .32 has a little punch to it.

and from the little I saw of the gun, and the officer's description of it ("My SWAT team gun looks exactly like that"), it was one of these [http://www.hk22rimfire.com/index.php?page=mp5-a5], which is very, very hard to tell from the real thing at any sort of distance. At the very least, you need a good look at the selector lever to know it started life as a semi-auto... and then you need to function-check the weapon (as the officer did) to know it hasn't been modified to fire full-auto with the selector lever set to semi.

 

[exessmirror]

i'm all for gun ownership (if controlled to a certain extend) but i dont really get the point of carrying anything els then a pistol (if you have a permit) the only time you should openly carry arms if it is in times of emergency (like a zombie apocalypse or invasion not a riot or civil disobedience).

What happens is that the police officer actually knows the law (presumably because there have been dickhead encounters before this one) and speaks very clearly about the established rules of open carrying. The guy carrying spouts out remarks about how any search/seizure would be a violation of his rights, and continues to presume that he will be on the news as a hero before morning. The officer asks that the man to outstretch his arms so that the officer can make sure that the gun is not automatic (which is not allowed in their area without a license) and the dickhead insightful citizen continues once more to state that "search and seizure is a violation of the 2nd amendment" even though the officer clarifies that he is not seizing anything.

Irrelevant. Without an articulable suspicion that the gun may be full-auto the cop has no authority to perform a Terry stop(what this effectively was under the law). A guy carrying around a rifle is NOT an articulable suspicion. Now, if this guy had a MOLLE vest on filled to the brim with mags and a helmet, then he could have performed the Terry stop and had it be legal. Of course, most mass murders occur with a semi-auto weapon and indeed are more deadly when such are used.

a weapon which has known to have a full auto version carried openly with no gunlocks is enough suspicion for a strip search

 

[Guffe]

In Finland we get fines for walking around with toy weapons.
Go figure.

 

[Vivi22]

Irrelevant. Without an articulable suspicion that the gun may be full-auto the cop has no authority to perform a Terry stop(what this effectively was under the law). A guy carrying around a rifle is NOT an articulable suspicion.

Unfortunately I can't watch the video at the moment from where I am, and I can't claim to be an expert on US law. But I'm assuming if the officer asked to look at the weapon at all that it must be visually almost indistinguishable, or at least difficult to distinguish, from a fully automatic variant? How does carrying what looks almost indistinguishable from a fully automatic rifle not create a reasonable suspicion that it may be fully automatic? Moreover, how is asking to get a closer look at such a weapon when it's in plain view at all a violation of someone's rights?

I'm honestly curious.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Most gun owners are perfectly reasonable people. And then some are like this asshat.

Sadly, there are asshats in all walks of life.

Very, very true. These kinds of people get the attention, and then paint the entire community with their shenanigans. It's why people think gamers are all hateful, misogynistic jerks who can't function in normal society - because the asshats are loud and get a lot of attention.

This guy isn't a gun advocate, he's just a jerk.