As you probably know whenever I go for bike rides I open carry a firearm. I don’t do this for political activism, I just have no practical method of concealing a firearm when I’m riding a bike. Through all of my rides I haven’t had a single negative encounter. Yesterday afternoon I decided to take a ride into Minneapolis. As I approached Minneapolis I saw two bike cops ahead of me. Since they were pedaling slowly I decided to pass them. What did they do? Nodded to me. Then, on my way back, I passed them again underneath the Twins Stadium. Again, they nodded and otherwise ignored me.
How have I managed to openly carry a firearm in, what is probably, hippy infested bike trails in Minneapolis? How did I managed to encounter the same two cops twice without them hassling me? The answer to both of these questions is easy: I’m not a dick. If you read Gun Nuts Media’s post about how to properly open carry you’ll notice that bullet point one and ten are both don’t be a dick. Not being a dick is probably one of the most effective methods of living a good hassle-free life.
At all times I attempt to conduct myself in a professional manner. Sometimes I fail at this, but most of the time I’m pretty calm and collected. As an anarchist I’m not a big fan of police. They’re the state’s enforcers and, in our society especially, do far more to harm people than good. But I don’t scream “Fuck you, pig!” every time I see a police officer. Why? Because there is nothing to be gained from being a dick. It harms my advocacy of anarchism as a peaceful philosophy, it harms my advocacy of gun owners being peaceful people, and it may harm me physically. If you’re a dick to somebody they’re probably going to return the favor.
As the Gun Nuts Media article systems, don’t be a dick when you’re openly carrying a gun. It makes us gun owners look bad. I will also add in that you shouldn’t be a dick even when you’re not carrying a gun. It makes everybody you associate with look bad and it makes everybody’s life miserable.