I stated the same thing in a different thread Now let me do my devil's advocate routine and take the opposite side.Oldgringo wrote: ↑Sun Sep 08, 2019 9:34 pm
You're right, OC just ain't my thing. Furthermore, in the current widespread, anti-gun atmosphere, I firmly feel that we 2A believer gun owners should not taunt our opposition with our 1791AD Second Amendment rights. There's a lot more of them than there are of us. "....out of sight, out of mind", if you get my drift?
1. Is there a comparison between OC and wearing a MAGA hat? I have the right to do both and both trigger the "opposition." To be clear, I don't own a MAGA hat and would likely be careful about where I wore it in public. But should my ability to wear it be suppressed because some of my fellow citizens don't like it?
2. I don't think that I have to do anything to taunt the opposition. They have made it very clear that my existence with an opposing thought taunts them. Merely believing in the 2nd Amendment, if they know or suspect it, makes many of them willing to want me snuffed out. Eric Swalwell's half-joking threat the nuke middle America if they refused to turn in their guns got a lot of following. I had an unexpectedly political conversation in very Conservative enclave of senior housing near Denton. The person went on a rant about "assault weapons" and I simply said that I owned one and asked if that made me a bad person. My antagonist was more than willing to put me in jail even if I never committed a crime.
3. I'll climb way out on a limb and say that I believe that there is a greater problem. The whole goal of the Progressives since the 2016 election has been to suppress anyone who even looked like a Trump voter in any way that they could. It is clear that gun rights advocates, even if they are not rabid Trump supporters are not supporters of his opposition and are therefore targets for suppression. Other than MAGA hats there are not many ways so publicly say that we are not going to be suppressed. The more that they think that they are winning their suppression war, the more that they are going to be committed to carrying it out. The "out of sight, out of mind" is a collective acquiescence that they are winning. Yes, I get it. It may be the wrong gesture. In this context, what is a better choice than OC?
4. We all know that if all of OC was banned, the opposition is not going to stop. OC is just a milestone on their journey, not a destination.
5. I OC less than 20% of the time. Tonight, I will OC at a public meeting because it is 2nd Amendment friendly and because I think it is important to show my like-minded friends that it is OK to publicly oppose the anti-gun types. At this time last month, I was OC at a similar event with over 200 in attendance. We were playing a trivia game after a meal, I answered one of the questions correctly and went to the stage area to receive my prize for that correct answer. I got a lot of positive comments on OC. On OC at one event may not accomplish a lot but it seems to provide reassurance to others that they are not alone. I think that the feeling of being alone in the current onslaught tends to convince people that they shouldn't do things to show their opposition. Seeing others who are showing opposition can be an encouragement for them.
To be clear, I do not plan to OC this week in any of the stores that have requested that the practice stop, even though I have been in those stores OC in the past. Next week or the week following may need re-evaluation.