Royal Oak, Michigan: Arts, Beats, and Eats 2010
Lots of press has been recently given to the Arts, Beats, and Eats festival in Royal Oak, MI. A suburb of Detroit, the local officials and festival organizers were attempting to make all firearms illegal on the public property holding the festival. Gun Rights proponents have stepped in to point out that this is illegal because of a conflict with state law, which provides preemption over local laws. (State firearms laws reign supreme over local ordinances).
The Michigan Open Carry group has pushed this issue with the Royal Oak city commissioners to have this rule repealed. Since they have the law on their side, they won. Legal open and concealed carry will be allowed at this event over Labor Day weekend.
This of course has quickly turned into a media frenzy. There have been many crazy news stories and anti-gun politicians putting crazy scenarios out about the danger this might present to the general public. Many legally-armed citizens will be able to attend this festival. Many dire predictions of possible dangerous outcomes.
It has been five days of since this story appeared on the Detroit Free Press web site, (one of several) and has already generated over 1,000 comments on both sides of the issue.
Of course, there are negative comments, such as:
“This is a disaster for public gatherings generally. Why would I want to go to a public event knowing that every other person there is packing heat? While I’m sure many are responsible gun owners there are bound to be some nut cakes as well. Patterson is trying to recreate a sense of security for people who enjoy the AB&E event. Unfortunately the crazies have made that a very difficult task.”
And comments like this:
“These are those little guys who drive big black SUV’s and pick-up trucks at high speeds in the left lane of the freeway tailgating anyone in their way. When they park they throw out their step ladder, climb down, strap on their weapon and look for a fight. Little people in big trucks with a large chip on their shoulder. Take your meds, stay home and stroke your gun.”
Many heart-warming comments also appeared, as follows:
“Somebody please give Mr. Patterson a copy of The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution of the United States of America, The Bill of Rights, make sure he has a legible copy of Amendment #2, and The Constitution of the State of Michigan. The law of the state is the issue here. He is not allowed to change the law in his county, city, township, or neighborhood to supersede the state laws. When he reads the Michigan Constitution he will realize that. People that want to carry a weapon openly are allowed to in this state. I have no fear of those who carry a weapon openly or concealed. This morning I joined the NRA and MCRGO. This morning also marks the day I will buy my first gun. It will be a handgun, and next week I will carry it openly where legally allowed to. Thank you for bringing this issue to the forefront.
Respectfully,
A new gun owner”
Also, this comment
“The reason AB&E was “targeted” was because the rule in their contract WAS ILLEGAL. Other festivals, such as the Dream Cruise were not “targeted” because they didn’t have any illegal rules/ordinances.
Law abiding citizens would have been carrying a firearm at this event regardless. When ever you go out into public, you are surrounded by people lawfully carrying firearms. 1 in 43 people in the state of Michigan has a CPL (Concealed Pistol License). You just don’t realize it because there is a tiny piece of cloth hiding it.
This wasn’t an “open carry issue”. This was an issue about a city board that thought they could create their own laws when in fact what they did was ILLEGAL. The only reason open carry was brought into this is because they were they only gun rights group that stepped up to fight it. They aren’t debating on the right to open carry at AB&E, they are debating on the RIGHT to carry (concealed or otherwise).
People need not fear these law abiding citizens.”
I am praying that this festival goes well, and demonstrates how responsible gun owners behave in reality, not fantasy.
Soccer Dad Pulls Gun, Goes to Jail
James Ian Sherrill was sentenced for pulling a gun on a fellow parent following a soccer match. His children’s soccer match ended in confrontation, when Mr Sherrill felt threatened and a pulled his legally-concealed pistol. This apparently ended the confrontation. Mr. Sherrill then immediately went to the local police station to report the incident.
The overall result is a sentence to felony charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, to which Mr. Sherrill pleaded no contest. The sentence is 30 days in jail, along with some fines and costs, as well as probation.
There are several important lessons here for us folks that believe in the 2nd Amendment right to carry firearms.
1. Brandish a firearm only as a last resort. Somebody must be physically in peril and need the assistance of deadly force.
2. Recorders will prove your case and the amount of physical danger when/if self defense measures need to occur. It will be much easier to prove your case if you have a recording of exactly what happened. This was not a jury trial, but merely a prosecutor and judge deciding how to handle this.
3. The actions of single individuals affect the perception of entire groups of people. All concealed-carry permit holders come under scrutiny after this incident. Viewpoints from the comments on this story reflect the poor views on those that conceal carry.
Many kudos to the individual for taking personal responsibility for his actions. Mr Sherrill immediately made his way to the police station to make a report, definitely not know where things would lead. He made himself a great example as a father and concealed carry holder for taking responsibility for the situation that occurred.
Self Defense Training
There is an old saying that “You don’t know what you don’t know.”
This certainly applies to the topic of self defense. Knowing how to handle various situations is very important for your survival. Whether you are acting as a civilian, law enforcement, or military; threatening situations can happen any time or place. How you react and handle them is very important. Of course this includes both your mental and physical reaction.
An interesting program I ran across is called the “Flinch Response.” This program comes from Defiance Combat, and is an interesting take on how to react to situations. Especially for us civilians that do not have regimented, formal training, it is good to open our eyes to the possibilities. Defiance Combat does a lot of coaching, teaching, and certification for instructors of their system.
Check out the video on how to handle (and not handle) an attacker. The video does a very good job of showing how quickly decisions need to be made so that the situation does not go bad and get you hurt or killed. The video does a great job of giving a rough idea on how and when to go for your gun and how to handle your attacker’s weapon.
Know Your Enemy: Germans in WWII
America’s Office of Strategic Services produced some video that was designed to instruct Allied agents in the use of German weapons. Forerunner of the C.I.A., the O.S.S. ran many agents behind enemy lines during WW2. Made in color and narrated at a good pace with excellent visuals, these videos are still very important in their explanation of the German’s weapons during World War II.
In these videos are the 98K Carabine, MP40 Submachine Gun, “Luger” 08 Pistol, Hand Granade 39 “Potato Masher”, MG34 and MG 42 Machine Guns, 80mm Heavy Mortar and 88mm AAA are shown here in close details.
These clips come from the ROMANO-ARCHIVES’ new website-”Unknown World War 2 in Color”-”Home Front(s)” section.
To see and learn about more color WWII footage, visit the website Unknown WW2 in color at:
http://www.webalice.it/romanoarchives/
I’ll Give Up My Gun by Steve Lee
Steve Lee, the gun-rights singer from Australia has another great song and music video out. It is called “I’ll Give Up My Gun.” A very interesting song with a good message about being a gun owner and fanatic. The video has some humor to it, as well as a bit of history.
This song follows his other hit song “I Like Guns,” which is a Youtube sensation for all of us that love anything that shoots a bullet. This new song has a great video to accompany the song and help explain it. Mostly the Australian experience of gun control. This was a tough lesson in how gun rights can be lost for a whole country.
Steve shows off some nice rifles, pistols, and revolvers, providing some cool images.
Enjoy!
