Surf, Sand and Smith & Wesson at San Francisco's Baker Beach

[marmar]

from the San Francisco Chronicle:



Gun rights activists take up arms at Baker Beach
Matthai Kuruvila, Chronicle Staff Writer

Sunday, February 28, 2010


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


A roving band of men with guns spread across Baker Beach in San Francisco on Saturday. But most beachgoers didn't even notice, even with the weapons visibly holstered.

The men, after all, had come to pick up trash and, in the process, quietly preach their gospel.

"It's not just criminals who carry guns," Robert Montgomery, 39, of San Jose, explained. "And criminals are not going to 'open carry.' "

The men - and some women - are part of an ad hoc group trying to increase awareness of gun rights by visibly holstering them in public.

They've had more controversial events, such as at a Starbucks, which allows the open carrying of guns. But Saturday marked the first time they'd come to San Francisco. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/28/BAVJ1C8CE6.DTL

[MisterP]

1. think they'll show up at San Onofre? "Hey, we found the OPFOR team: open up with the blanks!"

of course, no such incident can dissuade a true obsessive...

[arbusto_baboso]

2. Are they aware that parts of Baker Beach are NUDE beach?

Maybe that's the real reason they chose the location they did.

[paulsby]

4. this is my rifle, this is my gun

this is for fighting, this is for fun

[leftstreet]

5. Oh my. Where would they....uh, carry?

:rofl:

[Demoiselle]

11. I have a suggestion, but I'm too much of a lady to repeat it.

[MineralMan]

14. They can just stick it...

[Gormy Cuss]

7. Yeah, I was wondering about that myself.

There's a lot of "open carry" every day at that end of Baker Beach. :D

[paulsby]

3. good on them for being civil rights advocates

open carry washington, an org here in WA state has done the same thing (except here one can open carry with a loaded firearm w/o a permit).

several jurisdictions that have had either signage and/or ordinances banning firearms etc. in parks, etc have been forced to at a minimum not enforce their ordinances and/or take the signs down. example: kitsap county.

in kitsap county, sheriff's deputies calmly did nothing when open carry wa arrived, as they knew damn well any county ordinance was contrary to state law/unconstitutional .

[tularetom]

6. Criminals aren't going to open carry?

Hey, when everybody else does it, you better believe the criminals will.

You won't be able to tell the good guys from the bad guys.

I have no objections to these guys walking around with guns hanging from their belts, but they seem awfully naive about the real world.

[Arctic Dave]

9. Exactly. Now imagine you're a cop dispatched to scene with twenty people

With guns showing.

[Statistical]

10. Yeah that would require some Police work.

The horrors.

Open carry &Conceal Carry are both legal in VA. Never heard of it causing a problem with cops being able to identify suspects.

[Arctic Dave]

12. The story says they would like to see more open carry.

How will it help police identify the bad guy

[Statistical]

15. How will it hurt?

Open carry has never been made illegal in the state of VA. Hasn't been a problem.

I would identify criminals by looking for people who are committing a crime.

I know it is a crazy concept but that would be my "radical solution".

[arbusto_baboso]

18. Here's how:

If someone is shot with a .38 caliber revolver and six people at the scene have said weapon, how do you determine who the criminal is?

And DON'T say "check to see which weapon was fired," because chances are ALL of them will have been fired.

Plus, you can't rely on the CSI shit to determine it, either. Too many factors can render microscopic and DNA evidence useless.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

22. If there's six people with a suitable weapon at a crime scene...

Did you really just ask, "what if there are other armed people present (legally carrying) when a criminal shoots someone?" :rofl:
The perpetrator is probably laying on the ground with about five .38cal holes in him.

However, in the unlikely even this is not the case the officer can take statements from armed persons present... presumably, there may be five witnesses. Also, a simple GSR test of hands and clothing will find out who had been firing their pistol that day. All the guns may have been fired in the past, but how many of the PEOPLE will have fired thier guns recently? Also, you could check for the revolver with spent/missing rounds.

If the police show up quickly and there are 6 armed and compliant suspects the case will be solved quickly.
If one of the armed suspects happens to be not "compliant"... I'll bet you can guess who your man is.
YAY FOR HYPOTHETICAL GAMES! :D

[Statistical]

25. How about you ask the 5 people who witnessed the shooting?

Like I said. "Police work." That thing we pay Police Officers to do.

Strangely Virginia has allowed Open Carry since the inception of the Commonwealth and our Police Officers have never been "baffled" like you were.

While CSI show is a bunch of BS not all guns are alike. The odds that there are 6 people all with identical weapons, all that have been fired recently, no eye witnesses, and all the persons blame each other is unlikely that isn't worth worrying about.

Maybe Police work just isn't your strong suit?

[era veteran]

26. The black one

That is normal police work

[NewMoonTherian]

30. The purpose of open carry is not to help police identify the bad guy. n/t

[slackmaster]

21. OK, I'll play. Why was I sent there?

:hi:

[jeepnstein]

27. At least you'd know what they had.

I never approach anyone without making the working assumption they are armed.

[krispos42]

29. Cops often know the local criminal element on sight.

So if a cop sees a guy he knows can't legally carry a gun, carrying a gun, well, that's an arrest and one more gun-toting criminal in the pokey for a decade.

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

8. If they would just pass a ccw law like most other states, we wouldn't have to see guns everywhere.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

16. Getting a CCW permit in CA is a real PITA, and is mostly political

but some of us can get them anyway.

[ET Awful]

13. The first thing that comes to mind is . . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-jqEj1Hvnc

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Euromutt]

19. The article says it was too cold for the nude bathers

So no penises, extended or otherwise, on display.

Or were you making some kind of gratuitous quasi-Freudian comparison between firearms and genitalia? If os, you may want to read this thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x288003

[Euromutt]

20. "'I was shocked,' said Lawrence, 37, ... 'I'm afraid of guns.'"

From the article:

Brad Lawrence came to Baker Beach on Saturday so he could take video of people bathing nude, which is common in the north section of the beach. But it was too cold for the bathers, and in their place, Lawrence saw the men with guns.

"I was shocked," said Lawrence, 37, who lives in the adjacent Sea Cliff neighborhood. "I'm afraid of guns."

Well, Mr. Lawrence, some people take issue with some skeevy creep videoing naked people without their permission, so maybe you need to straighten out your priorities as to what you consider shocking.

[friendly_iconoclast]

23. Now there's a poll for the posters in this thread: What creeps you out in this story

1. Open Carry Dudes
2. Video Voyeur Dude
3. Both
4. Neither

[dashrif]

24. Video Voyeur Dude

he may have duck tape and rope in his trunk I would keep an eye on this guy I watch tru tv this is how it always starts out

edit: spelling uh oh

[SteveM]

28. Hmm. "A roving band of men with guns..." then "The men -- and some women"

Sounds like sfgate wanted to get in some stereotypical digs, but felt compelled to report accurately down-story.

[proteus_lives]

31. Good for them.

There's nothing wrong with political protest.