Man with a Gun!

by Christopher Flynn — Saturday, August 15, 2009

By now I'm sure you've heard about William Kostric, the man who attended a NH town hall meeting which Obama was scheduled to appear open carrying a gun on his leg. The media is outraged but why? First, if someone intended to use a firearm do you really think they would have broadcasted it publicly by wearing it out in the open? Second, he wasn't breaking any laws... not one, just because certain groups in the media don't like it doesn't make it illegal.

A right not exercised is a right lost is a popular saying among open carry enthusiasts. Open carry is about educating people that "a man with a gun" is not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of people don't like open carry because it let's the bad guys know who's armed so they can take them out first. For this reason, most people who carry do so concealed. However this does not raise awareness that law abiding citizens carry guns so there has been a growing group of people who are open carrying where it's legal to do so.

This is also a free speech issue, people who open carry are expressing themselves. By open carrying they are saying many things, most of which are peaceful and non-violent. It's also a form of speech which is covered under the 1st amendment. Don't believe me? Well Penn & Teller covered this in one of their episodes on Showtime regarding breasts. They asked Eugene Volokh who is a professor of law at UCLA. In the show, they were talking about women's breasts and how in some cases it is considered a form of free speech... I thought the media was pro freedom of speech. I guess it's only when it's speech they agree with.

Some people made the argument that sometimes things escalate. That is, a heated debate gets too hot and then someone pulls a gun. Well that seems like a reasonable argument right? Well in North Carolina only 0.2%, yes a fraction of a percent, of their 263,102 holders had their license revoked in the 10 years since they have adopted the law. (reference) So I guess that doesn't really happen all that often. Speaking of concealed carry, how many other people do you think had a gun there? I couldn't find any numbers on how many permits are issued in NH but seeing as how it's the home of the free state project I'd guess there's a lot. Do you really think he was the only one with a gun there? Also what about the people around Obama every day? The secret service, they carry guns and no one seems to have a problem with that.

If this man had threatened the President or pulled the firearm from it's holster then someone would have an argument for how he would be a dangerous person. However as I recall from the video I saw, the man's firearm never left the holster. The media is only outraged because this does not fit in their world view, we are taught that guns are bad so when something that doesn't fit this, they don't know how to react. This is evident by Christopher Matthews on hardball grilling William Kostric.

Overall I think Mr. Kostric handled himself very well and Chris Matthews really didn't. If this is a topic that interests you, I encourage you to check out opencarry.org to find other people who open carry, including possibly gatherings in your area.

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Comments

Posted on: Monday, August 17, 2009 - 10:01 PM

George Donnelly

Ok he was within his rights. But should he have held the poster together with the firearm? Or the poster under any conditions? These are the more important questions for libertarians.

Posted on: Wednesday, August 19, 2009 - 03:22 AM

Chris Flynn

I agree with what you wrote above as well as on your blog (http://georgedonnelly.com/libertarian/kostric-tactical-mistake) but even still I think Chris Matthews and the rest of the media really blew things out of proportion.

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