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Open Carry, Ethnic Carry

jahwarrior

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Apr 10, 2007
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i've written enough about my (poor) experiences with local law enforcement because of open carrying. i'm now convinced most my problem is my ethnic background. i know of plenty of other guys in my town who carry with little to no issues.

a little about my background: i'm hispanic, born and raised in NYC. culturally, i'm a New Yorker more than i am anything else. i speak Spanish, semi-fluently. in truth, i identify more with black people than i do with hispanic people. my close friends say i'm a "bilingual nigga," which is the best way to describe what i am.

still, i've read discussions, and always wondered, how an actual black man who open carried would be looked at, by the general public, and by law enforcement. i got my chance the other day.

i was sitting in my yard with my brother, when i noticed a man on my neighbor's deck, across the yard. he was knocking on the door, and peering through their window. i instantly went to yellow status. when he turned around, i noticed he was carrying a Glock, and what i thought was a cell phone was an extra mag. my alert status went down, because of this. the fact that he was carrying a gun openly put me at ease. that fact didn't occur to me until later.

he was dressed business casual, and was clean cut, so my first assumption was that he was either a probation officer, or some other plainclothes law enforcement. he walked down the stairs, and noticed both my brother and i were watching him. he waved, and spoke.

"hey, y'all, you know the girl that lives there?"

"yes," i said. "why?"

"oh, i just came to pick up my daughter, the little girl? she's mine."

"ah! little Nicole? yeah, she's a cutie. you're her dad?"

"yeah, i just came to pick her up."

"oh, i haven't seen them. hey, can i ask you a question?"

"sure."

"are you law enforcement? just curious, you're carrying a Glock, and no offense, i've never seen another brother carrying in this town."

he laughed. "nah, man, i'm an electrician. i have my own business, and everything. i used to keep it in my truck, but i've been robbed twice now, the first time the broke into my truck and took everything. then i got held up in a parking lot in Wilkes-Barre. things around here are getting crazy, man. i left the city to get away from that nonsense. you always carry like that, too?"

"only when it's nice out. can i ask you another question? you get alot of @#$% for it? carrying openly like that, i mean."

"yeah, sometimes. you?"

my brother and i looked at each other, and laughed, a lot. "yeah, you could say that."

"damn. nigga with a gun got no place in this town, huh?" he laughed at that. "couple of months ago, some dude walked up on me and told me i better give up my loot. nigga had a knife and everything, waving that @#$% around. so what did i do? i pulled out on him. mutha@#$%a ran like he seen the devil. i called 911, told them what happened, and you know what those mutha@#$%as did? they grilled me about my gun. about why i pulled it out, why i had one in the first place, and they ran my numbers, too. damn. like i stole it or something."

"that was illegal."

"huh?"

"the police can't run your numbers unless they have a suspicion the gun is stolen. the cops @#$%ed up. was that here?"

"hell, that was right up on Greenridge. that's supposed to be the good neighborhood, and i had to point a gun at some punk ass kid. so they cops @#$%ed up, huh?"

"yeah, they're good for that."

"they mess with y'all, too?"

i went ahead and shared a few of my stories with him. he stood there, horrified, and amused, all at once. he kept shaking his head. "man, that's why i don't go out much." he looked down, and then said, "you know what the problem is, don't you?" he pointed at my arms, and then at his own. "we're the wrong color, is all."

my brother and i both nodded. "you ain't bull@#$%tin' there. i know plenty of guys in town who open carry, and they rarely get hassled. it pisses me off sometimes. not them, but the fact that cops are quick to surround me, hassle me, and try and make my life miserable, but rarely give a white boy a hard time."

"well, i remember in the news they gave some white boys a hard time up in Dickson City..."

my brother almost fell out of his chair, and i doubled over, laughing hysterically.

"what? were y'all there?"

"i was," i said, through my tears. "oh, it was great."

"what happened with that?"

"they're getting sued."

at that moment, my neighbor came walking down the alley, with their litte girl running ahead. he turned, and took her up in his arms. "hey man, it was good meeting you! i'm gonna get going, though."

"hey, wait, let me get you something, real quick," i said. i ran inside, and grabbed him a handy dandy gun rights flier. i came back out, and handed it to him. "there, this is a pretty neat little guide to your rights. if anyone asks you anything, you can refer to this. plus, there are some websites on the back there you can visit to learn more."

he looked it over, and thanked me. he bid me goodbye, holding his daughter by the hand.

so, i guess now i know. it's unwise to be brown skinned and carry openly, at least here in Scranton. which means, of course, i need to do it more.
 

Sig229

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Dec 14, 2006
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926
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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
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If you dont mind me giving you my opinion, yes it is because your are not of Caucasian background.

I have lived all over the USA I have to say, in my experience, it seems that in many parts of PA (not all parts) many white people are really, i mean really scared of black folks or Hispanics.

I grew up in Baltimore city in a very poor area where 90% of the people living around me were black. And frankly, being around them doesnt bother me. And Im a clean cut white guy.

But the white people I have gotten to know here in SW PA always seem to be on guard around black folks.

I guess they really arent familiar or comfortable with it.
The SW part of PA is very white, so I guess they just dont have the level of comfort.

Again, this is just my observation. Not an attack on anyone .
 

Statkowski

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Joined
Sep 27, 2006
Messages
1,141
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Cherry Tree (Indiana County), Pennsylvania, USA
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We have an "adopted" son. Well, he's one of my son's fraternity brothers, and after their fraternity had a structure fire, many of his "brothers" needed a place to temporarily crash. We "adopted" them, and to them my wife is Mom. One such "brother," or "adopted son," is close to the color of anthracite. Doesn't bother us in the least, nor does it bother him. Gets some of the neighbors looking out there windows, though, whenever he visits. Gives us a good giggle at their ignorance.

Jah, if you ever make it across the state to this neck of the woods, you're more than welcome to get a fresh cup of coffee from my kitchen. We'd probably even swap a few tales about the South Bronx.
 

jahwarrior

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Apr 10, 2007
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another observation i had, just now:

the media has been carrying on about the Tea Party movement a lot these days, and members have been attacked and labelled as being gun toting, paranoid racists. it's been my own experience that this is far from the truth. i think if the media were correct, i'd be lynched at every Tea Party gathering i've ever attended. as it is in other aspects, most freedom loving people, such as gun owners, are more progressive and "forward" thinking people than so-called liberals. i've believed for a long time that "liberalism", and the Democratic Party, have ideologies deeply rooted in racism. the Dems have been leading minorities on a suicide run for last few decades; i still don't get why most minorities in inner cities vote Democrat, when they vote at all. my own mother was a Democrat for many years, until Bill Clinton became President. that's when the worm turned for her.
 
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