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Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive
Funny how attitudes often completely contradict reality.
Minnesota, my state of origin, has some pretty draconian laws but permit-to-carry is not one of those situations. It was open carry in Minnesota from the getgo, over 20 years ago now. Some few did carry openly. I never did: I figured that the only person who needed to know I was carrying was me, and in any case the last thing I wanted to happen was to be in a grocery store one day and have some twentysomething mother-of-two dissolving into a gibbering puddle of drool at the sight of my LC9. If you are taught that guns are the enemy, such an occurrence would not be unexpected.
But perception is one thing. Reality is another. And it is interesting to gauge the reactions of those who deal with the reality of guns—and the law—on a daily basis. Some years back (2016, maybe?) I attended a 2nd Amendment rally held on the lawn of the Minnesota State Capitol building in St. Paul. A crowd of maybe 3,000, there to talk, look at exhibits and show their support for the 2nd Amendment. Most of us were carrying, maybe a quarter of the crowd carrying openly. There were some pretty high-powered political types speaking as well; a former member of Congress, a Minnesota State Senator and the House Minority Party leader, Republican Party chairperson, etc. There was law enforcement there as well; five officers in all. Four were Minnesota State Highway Patrol officers deployed on the sidewalks ringing the rally, but facing AWAY from the crowd on the lookout for anti-gun demonstrators (who never came). The fifth, a uniformed St. Paul cop, was with the crowd at the rally, looking at exhibits, chatting with the other attendees and having just as good a time as any of the rest of us.
I was particularly struck by this. A crowd of maybe 3,000 civilian rally attendees with maybe 2,000 if not more firearms both carried openly and concealed, well-known dignitaries in attendance—and the focus of the law was not on that at all but on possible problems caused by the ANTI-gun types! That said a lot: probably a whole lot more than the anti-gun people would ever want to hear.
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Well, that is a good and informative post about a one-day experience which, I believe was intended as an example of how peaceful a bunch of LIKE-MINDED (literally brothers-in-arms) individuals can be. Maybe they went home and beat their wives afterward, I don't know.
.........I do know that Minnesota 20 years ago is NOT the same as, or equal to, Florida today. That would be the famous apples and grapefruits comparison. Currently, the whole US has had ever-increasing murders and other violent crimes in recent years. And several northern visitors to The Villages (aka La, La Land) have commented that when they watch the Orlando nightly TV news, they say that it sounds like there are 3 NEW murders each and every night.
...........Anyhooo, I seriously doubt that this Applebee incident is a once in 5-year thing in La, La, Land. I imagine that incidents like that will be happening at a rate of about once every 5 MONTHS in our local area SOON !