Cool Pro-Open Carry Article

Slowly but surely, the tide is turning and the drive-by media can't ignore or distort the truth like they used to do not too long ago: believe it or not, this is from the uber-liberal fishwrap Chicago Tribune.

Owners: Pistols nothing to hide

'Open carry' fans want them to be as common as iPods

PROVO, Utah — For years, Kevin Jensen carried a pistol everywhere he went, tucked in a shoulder holster beneath his clothes.

In hot weather the holster was almost unbearable. Pressed against his skin, the firearm was heavy and uncomfortable. Hiding the weapon made Jensen feel like a criminal.

Then one evening he stumbled across a site that urged gun owners to do something revolutionary: Carry your gun openly for the world to see as you go about your business.

In many states there's no law against that.

Jensen thought about it and decided to give it a try. A couple of days later, his gun was visible, dangling from a black holster strapped around his hip as he walked into a Costco. His heart raced as he ordered a Polish dog at the counter. No one called the police. No one stopped him.

Now Jensen carries his Glock 23 openly into his bank, restaurants and shopping centers. He wore the gun to a Ron Paul rally. He and his wife, Clachelle, drop off their 5-year-old at elementary school with pistols dangling from their hip holsters, and they have never received a complaint or a wary look.

He and others are part of a fledgling movement to make a firearm as common an accessory as an iPod. Called "open carry" by its supporters, the movement has attracted grandparents, graduate students and lifelong gun enthusiasts like Kevin and Clachelle Jensen.

'We're normal people'

"What we're trying to say is, 'Hey, we're normal people who carry guns,' " said Travis Devereaux, 36, of West Valley, a Salt Lake City suburb. He works for a credit card company and sometimes walks around wearing a cowboy hat and openly packing a pistol. "We want the public to understand it's not just cops who can carry guns." Police acknowledge the practice is legal, but some say it makes their lives tougher.

Police Chief Jon Greiner recalled that last year in Ogden, a man was openly carrying a shotgun on the street. When officers pulled up to ask him about the gun, he started firing. Police killed the man.

Greiner tells the story as a lesson for gun owners. "We've changed over the last 200 years from the days of the wild, wild West," Greiner said. "Most people don't openly carry. ... If [people] truly want to 'open carry,' they ought to expect they'll be challenged more until people become comfortable with it."

The article continues here