Our friend, Rick Ector (aka Detroit CCW), is a gun rights advocate in Michigan, and is launching a blog to encourage people to Open Carry a handgun within the boundaries of Detroit, Michigan. Here is the press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRLog (Press Release) – May 17, 2011 – Rick Ector, a Detroit native and a nationally accredited Firearms Instructor, has launched a blog on the Internet to encourage citizens to openly carry handguns. The blog is entitled “Detroit Open Carry.”
According to Ector, the time has arrived for city of Detroit to break ties with the racist roots of gun control. Ector stated, “Gun laws have always been most strict in cities with large numbers of black people. Detroit is no different in that regard. In 1925, Dr. Ossian Sweet was acquitted of defending his home from a mob of people who were upset with the gall of a black man who dared to integrate a white neighborhood.”
Ector, was referring to the Michigan court case which many have credited as being the genesis of the 1927 Michigan Firearms Act. This law created County Gun Boards, required the licensing of handguns, and made acquiring Concealed Pistol Licenses (CPLs) and handguns difficult for most black people.
Also, Ector concedes that there is another reason for pushing open carry in Detroit. He added, “Crime here is out of control and the local police department can’t be everywhere. A citizen wearing a firearm in a holster will serve as a visual deterrent to bad guys looking to rape, rob, and murder.”
In general, it is legal in the state of Michigan for a person 18 years of age to display his own registered pistol in a completely visible holster without a special permit, as long as he does not venture into a state designated pistol-free zone.
Rick Ector is a Detroit based grassroots gun rights advocate and a National Rifle Association (NRA) credentialed Firearms and Personal Protection Trainer, who provides Michigan CCW Classes training in Detroit for students at his firearms school – Rick’s Firearm Academy of Detroit.
Ector is a recognized expert in firearm safety and has been featured extensively in the national and local media: Associated Press, UPI, NRAnews, Gun Digest, The Politics Daily, Fox News Detroit, WDIV News, WXYZ News, WWJ Radio, WJR Radio, The Detroit News, WJLB, WGPR, and the UrbanShooterPodcast.
For more info about Open Carry in Detroit and Detroit Michigan CCW Classes, please contact:
Rick’s Firearm Academy of Detroit
Web: http://www.detroitccw.com
Email: info@detroitccw.com
Phone: 313.733.7404
“Open Carry Being Encouraged in Detroit”
Thank you (“Rick Ector”) for having the courage to go public with the idea of open carry. I also open carry in Indiana and I also think that more people should do it. There are so many out there on the other side who have tried to make owning, shooting and carrying a handgun out to be an evil thing. I think a lot of folks would be shocked to find out how many people that they encounter in there day to day activity’s are carrying a handgun for protection.
If people were aware of the fact that so many others are carrying guns I feel as though it could only serve to educate them. They could then see the rhetoric and propaganda that is repeatedly distributed by the press for what it is, “lies”. And Americas cities are where we need are gun rights the most. These areas (like Chicago, DC, and New York) have become “fear free zones” for criminals with guns because they know there victim will be unarmed. These “gun free zones” that our local governments have put together have the worst amount of gun crime. Leaving citizens with no way of defending themselves only serves to encourage those who are criminals to use guns against their victims.
I think there are many among us who would be surprised to learn that their grocer or dentist, mechanic, banker or insurance agent are carrying a handgun for protection.
As a Law Enforcement officer for over 34 years, who has lived and worked in Detroit, my entire career, I strongly recommend that a person who is considering carrying a firearm, obtain a concealed pistol’s license for several reasons. Open carry does not guarantee that a person carrying the weapon has at lease some kind of training in the use and safety of the firearm. Secondly, although open carry may deter some people from committing a crime against you, the element of surprise is lost. When a person robs a store, the first person attacked is the security guard who is carrying a gun. Now the bad guys have another gun. Finally, unless you plan on walking everywhere you go, you cannot “open carry” a firearm in a vehicle unless you have a CPL permit. This includes busses and taxis. If you do not qualify for a CPL permit, (with the exception of the age requirement 18-21) then I wouldn’t want you carrying a gun.
Nice article, I also open carry in AZ, and have a Concealed weapons permit there (last 10yrs) Im Usually in CA where they have recently banned open unloaded carry. Can’t have those pesky citizens exercising their rights! Best of luck on your campaign, lord knows we need more upstanding citizens exercising their rights lest they erode further. I encourage open carry over concealed when both options are available. I believe it desensitizes the public to their irrational fear of a “lowly” civilian having a firearm. As to it being more dangerous…I’ll take my chances thank you very much. LEOs frequently site the claim you will be more likely to be attacked first. I think this claim is less of them careing about your well being and more about them just not liking regular citizens exercising their god given rights of self defense in an “open and notorious” manner, (real estate term). I have family that are LEOs and much respect for what they deal with, but there is a serious us versus them mentality to many law enforcement officers, especially in very large liberal cities like Chicago and Boston.
A good article supporting open carry. Another pont is that criminal almost never open carry.
http://www.examiner.com/gun-rights-in-atlanta/open-carry-deters-armed-robbery-kennesaw
I have a cpl License, Can I open Carry ??? where The gun is showing in my Holster??? I live in the Detroit, Mich. area