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Open carry demonstration in Michigan gets attention
The open carry movement has come to Michigan, with a demonstration by more than three dozen armed citizens described as "mostly white men" turning out for a stroll along the streets of Hastings, a small community in western Michigan's Barry County.

According to The Detroit Free Press, the group met at Richie's Koffee Shop and then walked outside and over to a fountain in front of the County Courthouse, where they listened to a speech by gun rights activist Skip Coryell, who was also openly packing a gun.

The newspaper noted that the Open Carry movement is growing in the United States. There are 44 states where open carry is legal without some sort of permit. While the practice is more common in places like Arizona, Alaska, Montana, Idaho, Virginia and Washington, there are activists in other states.
It was the right of open carry, and the exercise thereof by residents in Ohio a few years ago that finally prodded state lawmakers to pass concealed carry in the Buckeye State despite opposition from an, anti-gun governor and several police agencies.

Coryell reportedly called open carry "the next wave of the Second Amendment."

According to Newscenter 3 TV, there were plenty of people who turned up for the event to watch the spectacle. Despite some objections, Hastings Police decided not to intervene in anyway because it is legal in Michigan to carry a holstered side arm in public, without a permit, as long as it's visible and the owner obtained the gun legally.

Coryell said of marchers that "we just want people to know this is not something they should be afraid of, we want to put them at ease around guns. There is this stigma that guns equal crime and gun owners equal criminals, and that's just not true."

Not everyone in Hastings agreed. Some people believe the march was just a political stunt, and one shop owner was heard to remark that the march was about as welcome as the plague.

The practice of open carry went out of vogue long ago, but not off the law books. In an earlier time, Americans generally considered carrying a concealed handgun to be the act of a criminal or shady character. How times have changed.

Nowadays, open carry advocates are struggling to educate police agencies and the public that toting a firearm in full view is not illegal, and is no more a threat to public safety than hay fever or the common cold.

The Free Press said this is not the first time an open carry demonstration had been conducted in Michigan. Earlier, a group had gathered in a small park near Flint.

Open carry caught some criticism from Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. He told The Free Press that open carry activists are "pushy and aggressive." The New GUN WEEK, August 15, 2008