Don't Be A Dick

In the video "Jeremy" was open carrying an unloaded firearm. This is 100% legal in the state of California. The Police officer, one of the awesome ones by the way, knew the law and was well within his rights as a Police officer to ensure that the man open carrying his pistol was complying with the law.

Here is the problem that I had with "Jeremy." The cop new the law. Jeremy did not. The cop, wanting to cut what was obviously a guy looking to make a cool YouTube video loose, let Jeremy go without incident, but could have lit Jeremy up with multiple charges. Here is why.

Jeremy wanted to flex all of his Constitutional rights in front of the cops and his camera. He wanted the cop to freak out, so that everybody would post "you are a lover of Freedom, Jeremy" comments on YouTube. He handled all of that perfectly until the cop asked Jeremy for his ID. Jeremy remarked that he had no ID on him. This is perfectly fine. You do not need to have your government issued identification on you while walking down the street in California. You don't even need to have your ID on you if you are walking down the street with a holstered unloaded gun in California. HOWEVER, the Supreme Court said in Hibel v. 6th Judicial District Court Of Nevada, Humbolt County that you MUST provide your name to Police officers should the state have legislation that requires it. Guess what? California has legislation that requires it. So, while Jeremy is well within his rights not to have ID on him, by refusing to let the Police officer know what his name is, he is violating the law. Not only is he breaking the law, by carrying a pistol and refusing to identify himself to law enforcement, he is committing a felony. The cop gave Jeremy every opportunity to identify himself, had him caught cold on the felony charge, then decided that the kid simply wanted to be a dick to get a reaction. The cop could have cuffed and stuffed Jeremy right there.

This just gets to the whole point of the open carry thing. While it is your right to carry your pistol openly and in full view, why would you do it?? John and Jane Q Public freak out at the mention of a gun, when they see law abiding civilians carrying it puts them in to overdrive. Why do you want to do this??? It is far better to work for a Shall Issue Concealed Carry law in your state. Best of all worlds, you get to carry your gun, police and public are not freaking out, because they don't know you are carrying, AND you are not the first person shot if a bad guy actually does come up in your grill intending you and others harm.

In my opinion the whole open carry thing is a dick move to get a rise out of people. In getting a rise out of people you only serve to hurt the cause, not to help it. Normal people and the police don't support things that first and foremost make them poop their pants. The last thing the movement needs is an actual direct analogies to the Wild West; because, let's face it, the only place normal people have seen individuals with iron on their hips is in Wild West Movies.

Don't be a dick, take the class and pack concealed.