Video shows Indiana lawmaker showing holstered gun to students who were advocating for gun control

ZeroCool@slrpnk.net to politics @lemmy.world – 448 points –
Video shows Indiana lawmaker showing holstered gun to students who were advocating for gun control
abcnews.go.com
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Why was he showing it tp them, then?

From the article

In discussing places where firearms are banned, Lucas said people aren't “truly free” unless they can defend themselves. A student off camera asked Lucas if he means carrying a firearm. Just over six minutes into the 10-minute video, Lucas said, “I'm carrying right now," and holds open his suit jacket exposing a holstered handgun. It was not immediately clear what kind of gun Lucas was carrying.

To answer the students question. Like to say "I'm not just telling, I'm doing."

Ahh, so still an extremely stupid reason to flash your weapon.

But he probably thought he looked really cool doing it so was it really stupid? The answer is unsurprisingly still yes.

I don't know the rules of where he was, but my understanding is Indiana allows open-carry. Maybe its just who I grew up around, aka gun nerds and law enforcement- but I don't see showing someone your gun as anymore than that.

I don't get this. I was raised by a cop, and I'm very comfortable with firearms. Flashing your concealed weapon in public is immature at best. I can think of zero reason to flash a concealed weapon in public (unless you intend to defend yourself with it, right there in that moment), even if someone is asking to see it the answer is, "It's not a toy". It's an object designed to kill, the threat is inherent in revealing it.

Not calling out you specifically, but the irreverent attitude of the loud pro-gun group has pushed me way further left on gun control than I used to be. Actions like OP tell me the leaders advocating for it do not have a healthy or mature view of firearms.

People do a lot of things a lot of other people view as cringy or immature. Flashing implies threatening, which in this context this doesn't seem like to me.

The vast majority of gun rights supporters do not condone this kind of behavior. The loud minority you speak of mostly only exist in dark corners of the Internet, and you're unlikely to ever come across one in person in your lifetime. On the other hand, you probably interact with multiple responsible gun owners who are carrying a concealed firearm every day and don't know it.