But..."Bear" means "Carry." Doesn't it?

See, I think this is funny.

IT APPEARS some Bay Area residents feel that simply having a right to bear arms is not enough. They also feel they must exercise that right in a public display that conjures visions of a modern-day Wild West.

I think he means "right to keep arms," since he clearly doesn't believe in a right to bear them. Or maybe he thinks "having" a right doesn't give you the "right" to exercise it. Logic should scream when it's tortured like that.

Anyway, speaking of tortured logic, this all comes to mind as I peruse the subject of "Unloaded Open Carry." For some time now, gun-rights activists in California have practiced what I presume is a sort of civil disobedience in the form of openly carrying unloaded handguns in public. This just barely qualifies as legal in the Peepulz Republik of Kalifornia, though many legal experts (read, cops) disagree.

If the purpose of the exercise is to agitate for increased/improved gun rights, then I fear I must (oh, take this dagger from my heart) agree with a part of what yon snarky anti-gun editorialist had to say.

More than anything else, we surmise, this display is meant as a not-so-subtle political statement. But we hope those carrying the weapons are more judicious with their firearms than they are with fashioning political statements. This one misses the target. Instead of some grand public lesson, this action is seen by many Bay Area residents as childish machismo.

See, this is California. I've lived in California. I've lived in a couple of different coastal regions of California, and up and down the coast the people are all the same. They're sheep. And I don't mean big, brawny butt-your-ass-into-next-week mountain sheep, I mean daddy-daddy-please-save-us-from-the-bad-man-with-the-unloaded-gun sheep. The purpose of political theater is to educate and change minds. You don't do that by frightening the herd, which is all this will accomplish. California Open Carry seems to be aware of this, though they don't agree about the efficacy of the practice. Their website freely states:

You may also have encounters with law enforcement officers. You must be prepared for this. Know all the laws. Carry the flyers and memos with you. Many Open Carriers carry personal voice recorders to record their police encounters. You may be detained. You legally must allow police officers to inspect your firearm to ensure that it is unloaded (where applicable per 12031). You may even be arrested. This shouldn’t happen if you follow all the laws, but from many of the experiences shared on the OpenCarry.org forums, it appears that many police officers do not know or do not understand the law. Remain patient, and if you can, share with them what you know. If however you are placed under arrest, immediately stop talking.

If you are unwilling to accept this risk of false arrest, or are unable to bear the significant financial burden for your legal defense, then don't Open Carry in California.

Damn straight you shouldn't. Hell, I once came close to getting busted for carrying an unloaded handgun in a range bag behind the seat of my pickup, and actually found myself in the position of explaining to a supervisor that a pickup truck does not possess a trunk, which is where California law says it should be kept.

As political theater, I think UOC is wrongheaded and doomed, but I do admire the cojones of anyone practicing it. I'm just not an activist. But California Open Carry does make one claim I think is just plain stupid and wrong:

Therefore, in California, there are three main reasons to Open Carry:

[And the first one is] # For those choosing to carry a firearm for self-defense, it is the only legal means available.

I don't know or care what the actual law says, but the "common-use" law is that a loaded magazine is the same as a loaded gun. It absolutely will get you busted in California. So those unloaded guns really are unloaded, and...that's a means of self-defense? Not on my planet.

I was a California gun-owner once, and have nothing but sympathy and fellow feeling. But there's really only one solution to Californians who want better gun laws. It's the solution I exercised, and one I strongly advocate.

Get the hell out of California. You're never going to find common ground with those ... creatures, and why live where you're not wanted?