Two OC guys...

...do a walkabout in Portland and Gresham (neighboring cities) and mass hysteria results.

Mind you, in order to do a legal OC walkabout in the Citehs of Portland and Gresham, the rifles had to be slung unloaded, carried only by Concealed Handgun Licence holders. All of these laws were complied with to the letter, but the local blatt reported that 1,640 comments to their online version were recorded. Few of the commenters were pro-2A. The po-po reported that at least 10 emergency 911 calls came in, with some reportees hysterical. The police checked out the OC activists, and found nothing to complain about.

Several questions:

• My question: there's a time and a place for everything, as I learned at my Father's knee as a youth. Is this the time and place for OC demonstrations?
• Since the police found nothing wrong, do the 911 callers get prosecuted for the crime of Making a False Police Report? Hint: I'm not holding my breath.
• Since it's a hassle to make an online comment to the Oregonian newspaper, may we assume that well over 1,000 people like to get hassled over nothing? No, we may not assume that. What we may assume instead is that well over 1,000 people were caught up in mass hysteria, and these same people, we may assume, support letting mass hysteria be the generator of a system of laws regarding the possession, carriage and display of firearms.
• If mass hysteria is a normal and accepted behavior upon which to base laws to control behavior, is there anything wrong with ME getting hysterical about hysteria? When I see hysteria displayed, may I suppress that hysterical behavior with whatever level of force it takes to do that? If telling a hysterical person to STFU doesn't work, is gagging them an appropriate level of force to end their vocal hysteria? If not, how about a dousing with a cold bucket of water?

When you boil down the current "conversation" on Gun Control, the vast majority of the pro-Control side exhibit mass hysteria of the nature reported above. The current controversy boils down to whether or not we create law on the basis of mass hysteria. If we do, our law means nothing and cannot be respected.

The real enemy isn't guns or even criminal gunners, it is fear itself, hysterical fear of objects which have no dangerous function that evil people don't give them. I discussed this fear last month, and observed that it is being used as a tool for control of the masses.

If YOU are a person who gets hysterical at the sight or even thought of a gun, it sucks to be you. I refuse to allow YOUR suckage to infect MY life, so go take a long walk on a short pier.

Comments

[Richard Bergerson]

Excuse me all to heck. I'm not a real gun person, although I do own a varment .22 rifle, and am considering buying the Mrs. a handgun - come tax-return time.
Do I have this correct? We have a constitutional right to bear arms, but one cannot carry an unloaded rifle? Well, unless it be slung on a shoulder sling (otherwise it might be "considered" intimidating or threatening) and unless one holds a concealed handgun permit for this blatently unconcealed (and unarmed) weapon?
Now that's enough to make me wet my pants! If that's currently accepted mentality, anything I buy in the future will have to be off the record.

[Diogenes T. Cynic]

You ought to be questioning the statement of the paper (maybe they lied about the numbers, or don't count very well, or don't understand sarcasm, or maybe they just flat lied, or maybe the paper is so left wing that no self respecting gun owner would use it to wrap fish). And were these comments from 1640 different people, or two pants-wetters and one calm, reasonable gun advocate? That skews the numbers too.

And you should question the police statistics too: were the ten calls from ten separate people, or one "Nervous Nelly" with a cell phone, following them and making repeated hysterical calls. You also need to realize that out of all the people who saw the "parade", only ten (or fewer, if there were repeats) people worried enough about it to call 911. That isn't too bad, actually.

Pants-wetters are always gonna wet their pants. I am heartened that there were so few.