Please to explain for the hard of understanding...

[DanaC]

Ok. I know that as a Brit my attitude towards firearms is different to many Americans' attitude towards firearms. I don't fully understand American attitudes to guns - but thanks to the Cellar I do have more of an understanding than I used to.

I get that for many families, a kid's first gun and hunting trips with dad are a rite of passage. I also get that for some people the idea of an unarmed populace seems a dangerous thing and opens the door to tyranny. I get why the constitution upholds the right to bear arms (or arm bears etc etc.).

But the open carry movement is baffling me. I've seen a few bits and bats in the media about it and I don't understand why anybody would want large numbers of people to be armed in public places - I can understand wanting to have a gun in the house for home defence - I can understand wanting to have a collection of guns as a hobby - I can understand wanting to have a selection of good quality hunting rifles - I can even understand wanting the right to carry a gun in your bag or car for self defence (I don't agree with it - I think if everyone does that then the world gets that bit more dangerous and you're more likely to have to use that gun in your bag at some point).

But open carry? I don't get how this is desirable. I see pictures of war ravaged hell holes and everyone and their dog is toting antique Kalashnikovs - is that somehow an appealing prospect for US cities?

What prompted me to post about this is an article in today's Guardian:

Pro-gun picture book for children aims to reassure kids about parents' weapons
My Parents Open Carry aims to explain 'the right to bear arms and the growing practice of the open carry of a handgun'

Sporting a cover image of a blue-eyed family with guns clipped to their belts, a new American children's picture book is setting itself out as the solution for all those parents who "carry a gun and sometimes struggle with how to best explain the reasons" to their children.

My Parents Open Carry, by Brian Jeffs and Nathan Nephew, co-founders of the pro-gun Michigan Open Carry, has been released by small US publisher White Feather Press. The picture-book fellows a "typical Saturday running errands and having fun together" for 13-year-old Brenna Strong and her parents, say the authors. "What's not so typical is that Brenna's parents lawfully open carry handguns for self-defence."

Jeffs and Nephew say they were moved to write the book because they "looked for pro-gun children's books and couldn't find any".

Read the rest of the article here:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...ent-open-carry

So - please to explain for the hard of understanding (Brit)?