Open carry at open streets

[MasonK]

I particularly liked the quote in the article to the effect of "Why are they bringing guns? We aren't even allowing alcohol!"

[photogpat]

Comments should be reflecting the >144k MN Carry Permit holders currently...and how in order to open carry in the first place, the carrier must have: training, an FBI background check done annually, and a MN Carry Permit and matching Gov issued photo ID on their person.

[photogpat]

Oh for #@#@$ sake - the comments are even more drivelous than usual. Pants Wetting Hysteria appears to be reigning.

[yonse]

Comments should be reflecting the >144k MN Carry Permit holders currently...and how in order to open carry in the first place, the carrier must have: training, an FBI background check done annually, and a MN Carry Permit and matching Gov issued photo ID on their person.

Not to mention a shooting proficiency test (albeit a very easy one at that).

[gunsmith]

Oh for #@#@$ sake - the comments are even more drivelous than usual. Pants Wetting Hysteria appears to be reigning.

There's a lot of animosity in the comments...this may not go well ...

Big discovery in the Strib article: A woman named Shelly Leeson is the 'Director' of the group sponsoring the open carry thing. She's not a goofball. http://minnesota2a.com/ I'm suprised she's not active here. AFIK she' a northeast MPLS resident who is vocal about safety and crime issues.

Organizers of the legal gun-carrying gathering couldn’t be reached for comment. In an e-mail to Minneapolis city officials, Shelley Leeson, the gun group’s director, said she was informing them of her group’s plans as a professional courtesy. “I do not find it necessary to seek ‘permission’ or give ‘warnings’ to police about our lawful activities.”

She said she was giving officials a heads up “to avoid the overreaching spectacle of any of us being unreasonably detained.”

The gun group’s Facebook post invites “all law abiding gun owners, 2nd Amendment and liberty supporters” to socialize at the Open Street events in Minneapolis and St. Paul, pointing out that they’re not there to protest or rally. The post encourages guns to be carried out in the open but it’s not required, and it reminds owners they need a valid permit to carry.

The neighborhood events, known as Open Streets, started as single Minneapolis neighborhood event in 2011 on Lyndale Avenue S. and has grown to four in Minneapolis. St. Paul will host its first Open Streets event in September. During the events, the streets will be closed to motorized vehicles and opened up for families and children who want to ride bikes, skate, walk and play. The focus is on being healthy and promoting active play for children, said Susan Priem, a board representative for the Open Streets event.

“It’s meant to be a fun family event,” she said.

The idea that the events were being turned into a gun-toting event came as a surprise Tuesday to Ethan Fawley, president of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, which first hosted Open Streets two years ago. This year, Open Streets joined with the city for the series of events.

“It’s an open event,” he said. “It’s a family friendly, fun, kid-oriented event and we want healthy, active living to be the focus of the event. We don’t want sideshows. We want people to be out enjoying their neighbors and playing in the streets.

“My initial reaction to this is that it’s a distraction and it’s unfortunate from that perspective. We hope people will come out and be safe and have fun.”

“We’re expecting thousands of people at each event,” he said. “We had 10,000 people on Lyndale last year.”

Priem said Open Street organizers will not ask the gun owners not to attend. “Everyone is welcome at Open Streets,” she said.

John Stiles, spokesman for Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak, said city officials received notice about the Open Carry event on Monday. The original Open Streets event proposed by the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition is a “great event and we can hope that everyone will have a safe and enjoyable time.”

Although some families attending the neighborhood event may be taken aback by the gun-toting meet-up, State Sen. Bill Ingebrigtsen, a former Douglas County sheriff, said it could prove to be “educational” and help people feel more comfortable with having guns around rather than something that’s “intriguing” to a little kid.

“I’m hoping it’s going to be a positive thing,” he said. “I don’t think you’re going to find any felons or bad guys coming to put on a display with weapons because it’s illegal for them to have them. At first blush, I’m thinking people are just going to promote good gun safety.”

[Garret7857]

I would love to go this weekend but I have no one to go with and I feel nervous and awkward in public events by myself. I'd be the lonely guy sitting near the exit eating hotdogs people watching all day haha. Now if some of my friends decided to save some money and get the PtC and a gun... that'd be something to look forward to next year

[Stylin750]

Holy crap anti-gunners are violent, they hope the folks carrying shoot themselves... wow.

Some of those people scare me, I'm glad they don't have guns.

These people are nuts. I was personally given a death threat on youtube, for saying an assualt weapons ban was unconstitutional. Its a good thing they dont have guns. They shouldnt have access to blunt or sharp objects or anything that can go boom either. I think half of them should be locked up for mental illness, alot of these people, personally i believe if they had access to weapons would go through a gun free zone on a rampage.

Heres a real world example. I read an article remember, the whole poisoned letter thing sent to obama and some senator, it recently came to light they came from the antigun wife not the progun husband. She tried to blame it on him and make it look like a progunner did it.

They call us the violent ones, its quite the opposite.

[Josh189]

And at the Strib:: Gun owners target family event

Nice title

http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 85201.html

Did Fox News buy the Strib or something? Huge bias spin on it. I'm all for OC, and yes, there does need to be more public awareness, but I think this is really the wrong way to go about it. I see it as being akin to someone thumping their bible vs. just going out and doing the work. In other words, don't have an Open Carry Event or attach such a thing to another event; just go on about your daily lives and OC. Take the kids to the park, buy milk, get gas, live your life and carry your gun because it's normal.

This may work against the OC and gun ownership cause(s) really. What I see actually working for gun owners in general is when people get fed up of everything being blamed on guns, when pop tarts with a bite out of them and the thumb and fore finger "guns" are dealt with nazi-like "justice" due to zero-(in)tolerance policies. EVERYONE shot the thumb and fore finger "guns" as a kid. Everyone.

This idea is bad. Just as bad as when AVTM was going to do his gun march on Washington.

However, this is just my opinion.

I won't be OCing there, but I will be in my every day life....and that's where it really matters.

Fox News and the Strib couldn't be farther from each other. Strib is VERY liberally bias, while Fox is pulling for most of US.

[XDM45]

And at the Strib:: Gun owners target family event

Nice title

http://www.startribune.com/local/minnea ... 85201.html

Did Fox News buy the Strib or something? Huge bias spin on it. I'm all for OC, and yes, there does need to be more public awareness, but I think this is really the wrong way to go about it. I see it as being akin to someone thumping their bible vs. just going out and doing the work. In other words, don't have an Open Carry Event or attach such a thing to another event; just go on about your daily lives and OC. Take the kids to the park, buy milk, get gas, live your life and carry your gun because it's normal.

This may work against the OC and gun ownership cause(s) really. What I see actually working for gun owners in general is when people get fed up of everything being blamed on guns, when pop tarts with a bite out of them and the thumb and fore finger "guns" are dealt with nazi-like "justice" due to zero-(in)tolerance policies. EVERYONE shot the thumb and fore finger "guns" as a kid. Everyone.

This idea is bad. Just as bad as when AVTM was going to do his gun march on Washington.

However, this is just my opinion.

I won't be OCing there, but I will be in my every day life....and that's where it really matters.

Fox News and the Strib couldn't be farther from each other. Strib is VERY liberally bias, while Fox is pulling for most of US.

You'll never find the truth in main stream media.

A very common case in point.... watch the local news here in MN, look at what they say the temperature in Las Vegas is, 89, 100, lies, lies, and more liles, but also DAMN lies. When I was there, it was 112 a couple of weeks ago. the local weather/stations there told the truth, but not here. Likewise, in Las Vegas, they aren't hearing about the REAL temps in Embarrass, MN or International Falls, MN. Why? Maybe it's scare people to know that Las Vegas gets to 125 degrees (Heck, Death Valley is 140), or that those two MN cities I mentioned get down to -20.

If they will lie about the weather, what else will they lie to us about?

EVERY information source has bias, but that's not even bias, that's just outright bsing.