*xlaugh* Tell that to my student that had a bruise up and around his right shin or the player from the other team that got life flighted from a game because of a head injury.

The school’s trainer has indicated to several people that soccer injuries are the worst.

All it takes is a change in the culture and the state reps and the deed is done.

After all DC did with a city council despite the Congressional control etc. It has taken 30 years to reverse that.

I am more worried that criminals will figure out the OC make them be considered a good guy and then the attitude toward OC would change.

People really do not want to see gun fights between good guys carrying guns and bad guys in the public square.

There’s no way they’ll change PA’s constitution.

So, it seems at most they’d ban OC, but then have to issue CC permits at no cost. You can’t charge a fee for a right.

But the media isn’t going to print that part.

If you are relying on the media to ever cover the gun rights movement favorably, then you’re in for a long, long wait.

I like Ride Fast’s idea – Ask the parents if they preferred that you open carry or conceal your weapon. Or the Security shirt.

Idaho is not Pennsylvania. There’s a lot of urban/rural mix in this state, and the urban areas are not culturally gun friendly. I agree changing that culture is a worthwhile goal, but the question is which ways are effective, and which ways are not. If the parents have apologized, that’s great. But the media isn’t going to print that part.

I carry regularly, but concealed rather than openly. If open carry were all that were available, I would, oddly enough, probably only carry when I went places the likelihood of an unfriendly encounter was high (oddly because these places are probably going to be the most hostile towards open carry — e.g. Philadelphia).

So a right to carry was energized rather than shoved into the closet. No bad effect to gun laws hapened in Idaho.

So the Doty brothers changed the context and made it acceptable to carry in their town. Not a bad effect at all.

I also know people who carried concealed before Ohio had a law expressly permiting it….under the “prudent man” defense. It was a affirmative defense in that you had to “prove” that you were concealing or carrying a handgun under circumstances that a “prudent” man would go so armed. Alot of people went to jail….seems like that bar was always a bit too high. Kinda reminds me a “may issue” states :-)

Alot of people know I carry…..after all I write the occasional article for Buckeye Firearms Association so it is kinda hard to be too circumspect. I have had alot of people I know come up to me and whisper “How do I get a concealed carry permit” like they were asking to buy crack or where to visit a prostitute. For the record I don’t know where to procure either!!!

The anti-gun groups have succeeded in the past by making the mere ownership and possession of a firearm virtually socialbly unacceptable, gun owners and carry advocates are fighting and winning to a large extent by showing the lies and half-truths that make up the typical anti-gunners agenda.

One of the most effective ways a doing this is show the everyday people who own guns for self-defense going about their business day to day. You will have some attention getters and it is these people who will be pushed forward by the media. But never underestimate the power of ther personal example:

Just last week a friend of ours who knows I carry asked “Are you carrying your gun?” I always reply “If I answered yes, then it wouldn’t be concealed would it?” She replied “Good, I feel better knowing you are.” This person doesn’t own a gun, doesn’t like guns, and yet because of a personal relationship trusts me because she knows me. Perhaps if our soccer mom had a better relationship with the other parents it wouldn’t have gone down the way it did.