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Oregon Men Openly Carry Rifles Around Portland Neighborhood to Make Point — Good Idea? (Poll)

Jan. 10, 2013 12:41pm Madeleine Morgenstern

Men Openly Carry Rifles Around Portland Neighborhood, Scare Neighbors | Oregon Open Carry Gun Laws

Image source: KATU-TV

Two Oregon men carrying semiautomatic rifles on their backs caused alarm and even prompted a learning center to go into lockdown on Wednesday, but the men said they were just exercising their Second Amendment right to bear arms in public.

Warren Drouin and Steven Boyce, both 22, were spotted walking around a Portland neighborhood around 2 p.m., their weapons in full view, KATU-TV reported. Police were called, but because Oregon state law permits the open carrying of firearms, the men weren’t breaking any laws.

Drouin and Boyce said they were just trying to normalize the image of legally carrying weapons in public.

“I just want to educate people that it’s OK however you want to carry or not at all,” Boyce told KATU.

But parents and others in the neighborhood were disturbed and upset by the display, which came less than a month after a gunman used a semiautomatic rifle to massacre 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn.

“That’s not the purpose of the Second Amendment, to frighten citizens, to frighten women and children,” Susan Anglada Bartley, the mother of a 9-month-old girl, told the station. “And I don’t think there’s anyone who can argue, especially after the tragedy where so many children were killed – nobody can argue that it’s not scary to have people marauding around Sellwood with guns.”

It also happened the same day Vice President Joe Biden suggested President Barack Obama could take “executive action” to crack down on guns.

“It’s completely ridiculous,” Bob Cronk said of Drouin and Boyce’s actions. “I think our right to a peaceful quiet school day comes before their right to brandish their rifles in a family-oriented neighborhood.”

Image source: YouTube

Drouin’s YouTube account, under the username “Markedguardian,” contains dozens of videos of him walking around with his AR-15 strapped to his back and his encounters with law enforcement. He describes himself as a “constitutional guardian and activist…trying to normalize firearms in public.”

“I believe that carry [sic] a rifle daily will bring a strong culture in my area,” he says.

Watch one of Drouin’s videos and take our Blaze poll below. Content warning — some strong language:

In CONTROL, Glenn Beck presents a passionate, fact-based case for guns that reveals why gun control isn’t really about controlling guns at all; it’s about controlling us. Find out more HERE.

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Comments (432)

Gamaliel
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:51pm
This is so good if you know Sellwood (PC haven of People’s Republic of Portland.)

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WillG
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:49pm
Great idea. I see nothing wrong here. Personally I relish in seeing the Left squirm.

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Blazen420
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:47pm
Where I live, only a small percentage would panic. That small percentage believes everything they see on TV.

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americanexile
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:45pm
Cool cop in the beginning. Too bad the two guys carrying sound like total morons. “Anomylous”?! F-bombs? Come on…

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- crazyrightwingmom
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 4:17pm
  They don’t sound very great, do they? A more distinguished person would send a better message. We tend to do things the wrong way always.
  
  Report this comment
thegreatcarnac
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:42pm
If every man in a neighborhood carried a gun openly when he was off work and going around doing chores or whatever, the whole neighborhood would be safer and people would get used to seeing them. Kids would be shown that guns are not alive and or not evil if carried by good people. There would be an air of safety and security if done right by mature fathers.

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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 2:45pm
  Hence, why I open carry all the time.
  
  Report this comment
crazyrightwingmom
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:41pm
People need to get used to guns and to using them!! For Pete’s sake. These are the same people that think their steak comes from a steer who butchered himself while smiling! And wrapped it in plastic with a label.

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- Gamaliel
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 2:03pm
  They also think the baby tips his hat & waves good-bye while getting sucked into a tube during an abortion, (to quote repented abortionist Bernard Nathanson.)
  
  Report this comment
- crazyrightwingmom
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 3:10pm
  Very good, Gamailel. We need to ridicule all the silly ideas they are imposing upon us.
  
  Report this comment
hauschild
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:40pm
One thing is for sure; I’d rather have to walk amongst traditional Americans with firearms than amongst thugs and slugs; actuarially speaking.

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Richard Davies
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:38pm
“A right unexercised is a right lost.”

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Bobert
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:35pm
If just carrying it by their side or strapped to their hip – I’m fine with that, but if they are “brandishing” their weapon, I’m probably pulling mine out as well (and then there is little room for “miscommunication”). If my two kids run in the house and say “Dad, two guys with guns are walking down our street” – I’m going to prepare for the worst until I confirm otherwise.

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strawberry411a
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:34pm
Yea and the cops get stuck in the middle.

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- hauschild
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:41pm
  Yeah – not that that’s their job, or anything.
  
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- 00100111
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 2:46pm
  That’s their job. Though really, the call to 911 should have gone like this:
  
  Dispatcher: “911 what’s your emergency?”
  Squealing hippie: “ZOMG! Theres a big ole scary ASSAULT WEAPON running around!”
  D: “Ma’am/Sir (Because the dispatcher can’t tell if the squealing hippie is a guy or girl) are you sure? Is someone carrying it?”
  S: “Yes! It’s scary and black and it’s growling at me! He’s brandishing it!”
  D: “What do you mean brandishing? Is it in his hands or slung on his back?”
  S: “Well, it’s on his back. And it looks soooooo scary.”
  D: “Ma’am/Sir, that is legal. That is called Open Carry. Please do not call us about this again. Go home, suck your thumb, and do some research before you panic again, you little baby.”
  *click*
  
  Report this comment
- strawberry411a
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 4:24pm
  Yea it’s the cops job to decipher all your political ******** for the agenda you choose. This was not a police issue. It’s a panic stricken populace that is confused by political rhetoric and holier than thou clowns like you…and haus you are one of them
  
  Report this comment
mcsledge
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:31pm
The problem is that you say guns and the liberal progressives say fear. You can’t even mention the name without fear amongst those who have succomb to the state as subjects.

America the cowardly.

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- woodyee
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:35pm
  It’s how the schools, the media and the government have CONDITIONED the people to respond.
  
  Most are aware that here in California, the drawing of a firearm on paper with crayon by a first-grader, is grounds for suspension – yes it’s happened – TOO often. I wrote at length earlier.
  
  Report this comment
LB
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:30pm
The progressive public school system is to blame for the dumbing down of America. “They” are trying to teach their views as being right and to fear the freedom view. We should feel safer knowing the “people” are armed, I do. There are more normal non violent than there are crazies that shoot up innocents. If a crazy person starts to unload and others are armed he could be taken down by many. The many will win the one is gone. We need to stop listening to the government telling us what is best for us. That’s the problem we stop thinking for ourselves thus we are not pro-active in life.

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Schteveo
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:28pm
Um, methinks that lady needs a Dictionary!

Marauding
present participle of ma·raud (Verb)
Verb

1. Roam in search of things to steal or people to attack: “marauding gangs of looters”.
2. Raid and plunder (a place).

But she knew that when she said it, don’t you think?

___________________________________________________________________-

Here in NC the ‘preferred’ method of carry is open carry. That’s for pistols, long guns can NEVER be concealed. I’m betting it’s the same in OR.

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Metallicat
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:21pm
these same people would be just as hysterical against people with concealed carry permits. How does the government guarantee ones right to a quiet peaceful school day? the fact that death is a possibility everday we wake up,government cannot guarantee anyone a quiet peaceful day. If you could magically make guns disappear tomorrow,its still would still not guarantee everyone a peaceful quiet day anywhere. There will always be someone who can potentially ruin your quiet peaceful day,to think taking guns away from law abiding citizens will end that is delusional.

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let4570
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:21pm
The Liberals want us to believe they care about the murdered children at Sandy Hook!
20 innocent children die in one day massacre! TRAGIC INDEED!
Solution to stop mentally ill shooter by liberals is an attack on guns!
TAKE THE GUNS AWAY FROM THOSE WHO STAYED WITHIN THE LAW THAT DAY WITH THIER GUNS!
PUNISH THE INNOCENT!
Why don’t we apply this thinking accross the board!
Lets start blaming cars and trucks etc. for the deaths caused by Drunk Drivers!
Lets not focus on the individual responsible or punish them! Punish the vehicles instead! ATTACK VEHICLES!
Lets put a seven day waiting period on vehicle purchases!
Lets take the vehicles away from all the non drinkers because they are pontiential drinkers! May drink in the near future!
Lets require background checks to see if that buyer is a partier who may drink and drive!
Lets limit the size of a vehicle you can buy the way they want to limit gun magazine size!
You see a drunk driver in a little smart car will not be as deadly as one in a large 4×4 truck or SUV!
Lets ban outright large vehicles like Semi-Trailer Rigs since they can take out a host of folks at one time with a drunk behind the wheel!
This attack on our Gun Rights is not about saving lives! It is about taking guns period! Another stepping stone toward confiscation!

YOU CANNOT CONVINCE ME THAT THE LIBERALS GIVE A TINKERS DAMN ABOUT THE 20 CHILDREN WHO DIED AT SANDY HOOK WHEN THE LIBERALS SUPPORT/PROTECT ABORTION THAT MURDERS 3,500 INNOCENT CHILDRE

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Banditmaker
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:21pm
If more people openly carried weapons, less criminals would act openly.

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- mcsledge
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:33pm
  Well said. Criminals tend to be cowards that pick on the weak.
  
  Welcome to the new America. Welcome to the weak.
  
  Report this comment
BlackCrow
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:18pm
Portland is an extension of San Fransisco overrun with liberals who will p on themselves at the sight of a gun.

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megaman
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:17pm
If i saw these two walking around with guns exposed I admit I would fell scared because Im not used to seeing anyone other than police carrying guns and I don’t know what their intentions are like if their good people. But of course I support their right to bear arms

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- woodyee
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:31pm
  Because you’ve been conditioned to respond that way. We live in a near police state, we’re conditioned with a siege mentality, and most of the average folk don’t see the trees for the forest.
  
  As I wrote at length earlier on this thread,
  
  You have peaceable armed men in uniform in a Portland town – no problem.
  
  You have peaceable armed men NOT in uniform in a Portland town – near panic.
  
  Report this comment
Female
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:17pm
The guy has been doing this since @011 at least here’s one of his 1st videos, shows a good explanation of his purpose and how nervous he made them at the beginning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz2Og5F9lvg&NR=1&feature=endscreen

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OniKaze
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:15pm
“It’s completely ridiculous,” Bob Cronk said of Drouin and Boyce’s actions. “I think our right to a peaceful quiet school day comes before their right to brandish their rifles in a family-oriented neighborhood.”

-Sorry Buddy, but YOU’RE WRONG… “A Safe School” or a “safe Feeling” is NOT guaranteed in the constitution… the 2nd Amendment IS…

You are NOT entitled to a violence free existence… Nor an education, Nor a Car, Nor a House, Nor Friends, Nor safety, nor a loving family… You ARE entitled to have the chance at such things, but no guarantees that they will happen.

I like these guys…

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nonofmybiznez
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:15pm
I’ve openly carried in Tucson where its legal especially in rural area and when out ATVing, but stopped in our neighborhood when we had more neighbors move in. I felt safer and I didn’t want to attract attention. I’d prefer conceiled carry. Never know when a rogue javelina or pittbull will attack you when walking the dogs.

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ArmedAndReallyPissed
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:14pm
I’m as much for 2nd Amendment rights as anyone here, but this is not a smart move. I wouldn’t want to see a Farmer come at me on the street with a Pitch Fork just because he can legally do so.
But having said that, LOCK-N-LOAD.

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- miboso
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:48pm
  When I read “come at me” I envision the pitchfork in both hands with the tines pointed in my direction. Whereas “walking towards me” with a pitchfork, I would envision the pitchfork to likely be carried over his shoulder. The second, I would be aware of, the first I would be prepared for.
  
  Report this comment
moreteaplease
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:13pm
But parents and others in the neighborhood were disturbed and upset by the display, which came less than a month after a gunman used a semiautomatic rifle to massacre 20 children and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn
———————————–
A lot of things have happened since Sandy Hook. Do they really need to keep attaching it to EVERY firearms article they run? I think everyone is well aware of it by now. What’s next….
“Man Cleans Rifle On Front Porch One Year After Sandy Hook Massacre” ? Pure media bull.

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- OniKaze
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:16pm
  NICE….. I like that observation.
  
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- guz75
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:56pm
  2 men, both only a couple of years older than Adam Lanza, walking around with weapons identical to the one he used to kill 20 children and 6 adults and you ask why they mention Sandy hook.
  
  Having a right to do something, doesn’t excuse having absolutely no consideration for how others might feel about it given the similarities.
  
  It’s this sort of narcissistic attitude that gives other pro-second amendment types a bad name.
  
  Report this comment
- woodyee
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 2:27pm
  GUZ75 – “Having a right to do something, doesn’t excuse having absolutely no consideration for how others might feel about it given the similarities.”
  
  That’s exactly what they said about smokers.
  
  Hmm? What’s that you ask? Oh – you know SMOKERS – those are folks who used to take a roll of tobacco and light it and put it between their lips, you might find some video of people “smoking” on youtube; they’re almost extinct now…
  
  Report this comment
- 00100111
  Posted on January 10, 2013 at 2:51pm
  GUZ, my rights don’t depend on the fuzzy feeling of others. I don’t relinquish freedom because someone might feel a little uneasy. If they feel bad, that is a personal problem they need to deal with.
  
  Report this comment
dosdelgados
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:11pm
Anyone who lives in an open carry state should do this! Let’s party like it’s 1776.

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omgfolks
Posted on January 10, 2013 at 1:09pm
AWESOME! I think if more people had the B***s to do this we would be better off. All of this hoopla about gun control is like the War on Drugs, been fought for years and the only thing it has done is waste tax payer money and inflated the Paramilitary Units we call police. At least the Officer had some Professionalism and didn’t try and go all rambo on this citizen… Now if the rest of the Paramilitary Units (Police) out there would take notice of his actions and EMPLOYEE THEM in there time on duty we would all be better off.

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