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.
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Comments (432)
bignugly
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:56pmIt is amazing to me all the publicity and uproar is raised by this LEGAL act but very little protest about a Arkansas mayor and police department in SWAT gear walk around town intimidating every citizen.
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Big Media Bias
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:56pmIsraeli 18 year olds carry their rifles and handguns with them out in public. No problem with their schools or frightened liberal women who fear everything except suicide and abortion.
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normbal
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:49pmThey’re simply applying the left’s favorite tool for changing public opinion. It’s called “social norming.” It’s how the left made homosexuality “normal.” It’s based on the Hegelian dialectic model of change. One step at a time. Progressive change. Long march. These guys are doing EXACTLY what we all should be doing and should have been doing. Pushing for OPEN CARRY rather than concealed. Make gun ownership, and the appearance of guns, NORMAL. Guns Save Life.
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tolerence
Jan. 10, 2013 at 3:05pmhear!hear!
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tolerence
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:47pmthese legal gun carriers have nothing to hide thats why they openly carry,EVIL COWARDS who want to committ mass murder hide their guns and have alot to hide,and these uninformed “sheep liberals” who live in fear, could not recite 1 sentence or 1 article in the bill of rights or the constitution,the only thing to fear is fear itself,there are mass murders committed with hammers and knives and more folks die from these objects than guns,the liberals have created a stigma towards guns,…when 9/11 occured President George Bush said to the American public to live their normal lives and dont let the ISLAMIC MUSLIM TERRORIST make you become a recluse, and even though some think is was in poor judgement for these men to publicy carry on the heels of the school shootings,I disagree,you cant live your life for every tragedy that is committed in this country or you would just board yourself up in your home and let fear consume you,these fearful folks are ignorant of their civil liberities therefore they should lose their citizenship because they have no apprecitation for freedom and our civil liberties and the bloodshed of our Arned troops who gave them their freedom and take them for granted,its occupiers,union thugs,gay violent activist,and muslims is what we should fear,you want to stop the violence,hate,division, and deaththreats with guns we should ban liberalism and the Democratic party the party of deathtreats…
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tolerence
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:55pmHAVING ISSUES TODAY, MEANT TO SAY ABOUT OUR BRAVE TROOPS “ARMED TROOPS” TO MAKE A POINT THAT anti-gun nuts ACTIVIST DONT BRING UP GUN CONTROL WHEN OUR SOLDIERS ARE BEING SHOT AND KILLED FOR THE FREEDOM THAT LIBS TAKE FOR GRANTED and are ignorant of…REMEBER TO PRAY FOR OUR SOLDIERS AND THEIR LOVED ONES EVERYDAY!
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Bill Wallace
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:45pmLOL. Portland…the land where anti-war protesters walked to a “Support Our Troops” rally and beat up on a couple senior citizens.
Where the “armpit” (commonly known) is a haven for all the leftist radicals you can imagine.
Where bicycle rallies go on almost weekly that close traffic out of downtown on a Friday afternoon…
The haven of terrorists such as the Portland 7…home of October Lewis and Jeffrey Battle…
Portland needs MORE of this to curb the leftist radicals.
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Ksera Sugarmail
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:43pmI smell a rat. This could be an Alinsky tactic wherebye two lefties pose as AR owners and parade around town to intentionally scare people. Their real goal is to frighten everyone and change public perception to the left’s side. They put plants at Tea Party rallies also. The plants pose as Tea Party members and hold up signs with disgusting things written on them to make it look like everyone at the rally is a kook. Read “Rules.” The techniques are all spelled out.
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Whiskey_Tango
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:45pmThank you! Exactly my point.
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GhostOfJefferson
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:48pmSo…when I open carry, which I do nearly daily, I’m actually against liberty?
How…convenient.
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GhostOfJefferson
Jan. 10, 2013 at 3:27pmI open carry sidearms. I’ve open carried a rifle before as well (non-hunting time).
You are not a gun owner, and you know nothing about gun laws, which is how we know you’re not a gun owner. You threaten to kill people, murder people (!), for peacefully carrying slung firearms. You are a menace to your community and to your fellow man at large. You are no more a veteran than Saddam Hussein was a member of the Catholic Church. You are a poser.
Begone, kid.
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alinskythis
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:39pmYeah, I’m sure the kids were real upset, but they’ll shake it off with a game of World of Warcraft, followed by a game of Call of Duty, then watching all the white people get wiped out in Django Unchained.
The best way to keep kids safe is to teach them how to maintain and use a weapon.
Educate the crap out them so there are no accidents.
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grampdad
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:37pmcan you imagine how much safer our streets would be if the criminals were constantly aware of an armed public?
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Whiskey_Tango
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:44pmYep. They’d know who to shoot first. Carry your crap on your back. I’ll stay concealed and have the element of surprise.
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GhostOfJefferson
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:52pmFalse. There have only been two known incidents of open carriers being targeted. Sorry, fear monger, go back to HuffPo, you’re not even a vaguely convincing troll.
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00100111
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:53pmIf someone thinks they can just take out the armed guy first, try and go disarm a cop, see how that works out. Criminals don’t think that far ahead.
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Whiskey_Tango
Jan. 10, 2013 at 3:19pm0010001: I didn’t say anything about disarming. I said targeting. Learn to read.
Ghost: How many CPL carriers were targeted? Zero. You know nothing of tactical shooting.
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GhostOfJefferson
Jan. 10, 2013 at 3:20pm@Whiskey
Non sequitur. I have a CHL, and I open carry. You have no CHL, you do not carry, and you clearly do not know guns or gun laws. Screaming about shooting men who are lawfully and peacefully carrying their firearms shows immediately that you are unfamiliar with the laws and topic at hand. You’re a leftist troll, come here to discredit and nothing else.
You’re a known quality, kid.
You are dismissed.
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toomuchgovt
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:36pmI hope we start seeing more of this in States it is still legal to do so. Maybe it would not be so stigmatized.
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grampdad
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:35pmWe would go hunting in the morning before school and would go to class with shells in our pockets and a hunting knife on our belt. I made a crossbow with a car spring as the bow in shop, it would put the bolt (arrow) through a 2×6. The most threatening incidences were when we took the bb’s out of the shotgun shells and lobbed them aginst the blackboard in study hall
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LemonCreek
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:31pmCall the NRA and tell them to start a new polticial party 1 877 NRA 2000, I did, every call counts.
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toomuchgovt
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:31pmWhen I attended H.S. it was not uncommon to see pickup trucks with guns and gun racks in them. I am not over 50 and this was in NY. When did we get so weak on guns?
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Whiskey_Tango
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:29pmIf you think this is a good idea, then you’re a ******* ****** d*****bag a**hole. In my neighborhood, two blocks from a school where my nine-year old goes, if I would have seen these two jokers walking around with AR’s, they would have been shot where they stood. No sane person who respects the second ammendment would ever do anything as wreckless as this. This is undisciplined, insensitive behavior. This isn’t the 18th and 19th century. There’s no reason to walk around with a rifle strapped to your back. Carry your weapon concealed like a decent human being, and stop scaring the **** out of people. You aren’t doing the cause any good. A**holes!
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GhostOfJefferson
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:49pmGo turn in your firearms, if you have any, and let history forget you were my countryman.
Keep your cowardice and your threats to shoot law abiding, peaceful citizens to yourself. You’re unhinged and a danger to your community.
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00100111
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:55pmSo after you posted this, you called Diane Feinstein and told her you agree with her bill, right? Afterall, no one “Needs these types of rifles” we only need what you say we need? Yes?
Oh, and after those two were shot in your neighborhood you’d go to prison on two counts of murder.
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tolerence
Jan. 10, 2013 at 3:04pmsounds like we should ban you,because you just made a death threat towards someone you dont even know,once again the hipocrisy of you violent liberals,when you consider the violent attacks from,occupiers,union goons,gay activist(or as I call them homosexuals) its liberlism that is the biggest threat towards our citizens therefore liberalism SHOULD BE BANNED!!!
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booger71
Jan. 10, 2013 at 3:06pmThe only difference in the 18th and 21st Century Whiskey, is technology.
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tolerence
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:23pmif these people are afraid of these legal gun carriers,thats on them,if someone uses a pipe,knife,hammer to committ mass murder will these people be afraid everytime they see a hammer or a knife,law abiding citizens openly carry because they have nothing to hide,but bad guys hide their guns before these EVIL COWARDS
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tolerence
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:50pmthis comment was posted before I finsh it,I meant to end the posting by saying “when these EVIL COWARDS KILL…
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moreteaplease
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:21pmguz75
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.
—————————————
The point I am trying to make is that any article containing the word “gun” in it is going to have a similarity- it doesn’t need to be blatantly pointed out at every turn, but the media is using S.H. as a scare tactic to try keep people fearful of anyone who owns a gun…it makes for good stories.
S.H. was a terrible tragedy and nobody is disputing that. I just get po’d when the media and politicians try to capitalize on it to push an agenda. It’s like they keep picking at the wound.
How can there be closure for the families of the victims if it’s being thrown up at them every day in print or broadcast?
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LemonCreek
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:19pmCall the NRA 1 877 NRA 2000 and tell them to start a whole new polticial party !!
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zeebee19
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:17pmThese parents wouldn’t be pissed if these two guys saved there children’s lives by lawfully using there weapons on a gunman who was trying to kill them
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bearfoot25
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:17pmI open carry here(Pistol) in Georgia every day. I mainly do it so If I ever do need to draw my weapon I dont have my clothes to fumble around with. The other reason is so that Hopefully I can change the mind of at least a few sheeple in my area. I have copnsidered going out with my rifles slung across my back but as of yet havent decided to do so.
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finky555
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:16pmDid nobody notice this bogus line in the article: “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.” It is not true at all, the killer used hand guns, the AR-15 was found in the trunk of the car. How did Madeleine let that little error get into her article?
BTW I am Canadian, we have no 2nd amendment rights, don’t give up yours. Americans must continue to exercise that right to hold it firm. The lies invented by media as in this case (surprised me to find it on the Blaze) must be exposed at every opportunity.
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hades3
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:01pmHolder’s plan is working. The media is being successful in “brainwashing” people into becoming paranoid if they see anyone with a weapon. Using tobacco is legal. Openly carrying a weapon is legal when if falls within the scope of local laws. On the other hand, when someone does something illegal, the government looks the other way.
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spudwhite
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:01pmSo did any criminal activity occur in the area while the men were walking?
No?, what a surprise–
Open carry is a GREAT way to keep the peace, deter crime and proudly support our God-given right to be armed.
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BruceHenry
Jan. 10, 2013 at 1:58pmHere in Texas it is legal to walk around with one also as long as you don’t display it menacingly. However, it easier to just go concealed and not show your piece. But these guys walking around with these thing slung to the back are asking to be robbed because they can’t react to an assault fast enough. Get’em out front guys where you can bring them into play quickly.
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GhostOfJefferson
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:51pmActually, no its not. You can only carried unconcealed in Texas if you’re hunting, or on your own property. Open carry is illegal in Texas, even if you have a “license”. Texas is not the bastion of freedom that Beck thinks it is.
Here in Ohio (except Cleveland) we have nearly the same gun laws as Wyoming, which is to say, open carry at will and without license, unless you get in/on a vehicle (no idea what that’s different legally) whereupon you’ll need a CHL.
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00100111
Jan. 10, 2013 at 2:58pmOddly enough, you can open carry a long gun in TX if it is slung. Open carry of a handgun, not so much. TX isn’t as free as people think it is.
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GhostOfJefferson
Jan. 10, 2013 at 3:08pmRight, should have specified sidearm, my mistake for being sloppy. :)
I’m always at a loss at those who think Texas is a bastion of freedom. One would have had to have lived in New York for most of one’s life to draw this conclusion, heh.
It’s not bad or evil, clearly, but a strong hold of liberty, not so much.
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gbarrel
Jan. 10, 2013 at 1:57pmWOW No protesters for these two in Oregon!. Maybe the occupy crowd will not bring a turd to throw at a gun fight?.
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John.Galt
Jan. 10, 2013 at 1:57pmI think I am going to try this…
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Tri-ox
Jan. 10, 2013 at 1:56pmFortes fortuna adiuvat!
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