This is NOT from an RTC rally planner or supporter, but simply from an “experienced open carry activist in Virginia” who has been made aware of our intentions. Check it out and take it for what it’s worth:
“I will be glad to give what advice I can for what it is worth.
I must note that as a law student, I am bound to disclaim that I am giving personal advice and not legal advice in any way, shape, or form.
Having said that, the things I would advise are:
1) Notify law enforcement of your rally well in advance. This is NOT to get their permission to exercise your right to open carry which you do not need but is to prevent both over-reaction on the day of the event AND to keep you from being evicted from your location by the fiction that you needed a permit or other approval to hold a “rally” at that location. By doing so, you disarm both potential impediments even if it does impose some burdens early in the process.
2) Adopt and publicize a “safety policy” for the event. See the one VCDL has at http://www.vcdl.org/static/safety.html as a place to start. And if anyone breaks the rules, then immediately expel them from the event so that their actions do not impart a liability upon you.
3) IF anyone is asked to leave by either the management of an area or law enforcement, note that you are doing so under protest (which reserves your rights in the matter) and then COMPLY! Arrest will do nothing positive for the movement or the individuals involved.
4) Encourage conservative dress and grooming. People DO judge us by the way we look. T-Shirts with inflammatory slogans should be discouraged. A single “vote from the rooftops” or militia t-shirt would destroy the entire message of the event.
These are just a few thoughts I had. As I think about it, I will let you know if anything else comes to mind.
Good luck!”
Although this person probably won’t be attending the event, this input does come from someone who’s done some pretty serious work with open carry/ gun rights activism in VA. I don’t agree with everything he’s said, but I definitely value the input. Come to think of it, the only thing I disagree with is the assumption that a “Militia” t-shirt would ruin the message. I personally don’t see this movement as something that needs to shy away from or discourage “the M-word.” Other than that, I’m pretty much on board with the advice above.
Interesting thoughts.
1.) I believe the permit/LE notiication angle is sage advice and already initiated.
2.)The “safety policy” is also excellent, and something that I was going to address here in the near future.
3.)I agree…make their lawyers earn their pay if they get antsy and want us gone. We REALLY need to have a handle on every possible agency that would have jurisdiction wherever we end up rallying.
4.)The more that I think of it, the more amused I am at the thought of showing up in formal wear with my rifle slung over my shoulder. It gives me a case of the giggles. Seriously.
OK, ok, I’ll probably be in either khakis or jeans and boots, depending on weather.
All in all, good advice. I just wish more from the immediate area would show up and man up instead of watching for us on the 6 o’clock news feed.
David, thank you for your reply to my question. I’m not trying to make trouble or anything like that. I just don’t like when people expect me to bow to their beliefs. It doesn’t matter to me if most of the founding fathers were believers or not. They were men of their time and did not know any other alternative, besides, they had every right to believe what they wanted to. I am glad you were not “offended by my overt Atheism”. I assure you, I am not offended by
your overt belief in a deity.
I don’t understand why people can’t just separate their politics from their religion. Why do they say that this country was founded on christian principles? Freedom, decency, patriotism, love of fellow man, sacrifice, courage, honor, putting others first, just to name a few. These things are only capable of being realized by christians? These are things ALL men are capable of and sought after by them, not just christians.
Let me leave you with a few words by a man I’m sure we both admire and respect;
” As the government of the United States is not in any way founded on the christian religion”…. John Adams- Treaty of Tripoli, article 11