Open Carry in the United States

According to CBSnews, California had performed another one of their infamous anti-gun acts. This time, the state governor had signed a bill that banned open carry of handguns. For those who do not know, the act of open carrying is to carry a firearm, usually a handgun, in open view of the public. This allows for a faster draw than concealed carry, which hides the firearm under cover garments, but also denies the element of surprise and also causes many people who do not know the person open carrying to feel uncomfortable around the carrier. California is the fifth state to pass an anti-open carry for handguns law in the United States. The law will give anyone a misdemeanor if they are caught with an unloaded firearm in specific public locations. This law is called Assembly Bill 144. It was already illegal to carry a loaded firearm into a public place, now an unloaded, practically useless (as a firearm is useless without ammunition) hunk of metal cannot even be openly carried around. Many gun advocates in the state had found a loophole in the bill, however. The bill specifically stated that handguns could not be openly carried in public, but it did not say anything about long arms, such as rifles and shotguns. Luckily for the city of Washington DC, the citizens there did not have to find a loophole in a bill. This year (2014), a federal judge finally lifted the ban on carrying handguns outside of one's home. In 2008, the United States Supreme Court overturned the 32-year ban on handguns. After this new Supreme Court decision, the crime in the city has plummeted. In 1994, when the law-abiding citizen was unconstitutionally banned from owning handguns, the amount of homicides was as high as 399, but in 2013, when the law-abiding citizen finally got their constitutional right to own handguns, the homicides dropped to approximately 104. It cannot be denied that the new law allowing handguns in DC had something to do with the drop in homicides. Even with the undeniable facts that a law-abiding citizen with a firearm aides to lower crime, there are those who still wish to restrict the rights of those who carry openly. One group, called "Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America," has stated that "American moms will not shop where [their] children and families - including [their] teens who work at Target - are not safe." This group and many other groups, along with individuals have pushed for bans on the carry of firearms inside restaurants and stores. Many stores have heard these requests and have created rules to accommodate the anti-gunners' wishes, even though the ones carrying have the legal right to carry. I personally prefer open carry and wish to open carry when I become 21, which is the legal age to carry a firearm in public. The open carry debate will remain a constant topic in the argument of gun control.