Men armed with assault rifles walk through Portland to 'educate' public on gun rights

Men armed with assault rifles walk through Portland to 'educate' public on gun rights

Two men seen walking down a Portland street armed with assault rifles told police they were exercising their Second Amendment rights and hoping to educate the public on gun rights.

Several calls were made to 911 on Wednesday afternoon, with alarmed residents reporting two men with guns strapped to their backs walking through the area of Southeast Seventh Avenue and Spokane Street in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood.

When police arrived on the scene, they found two 22-year-old men carrying rifles openly on their backs. The two were also holding valid concealed handgun licenses in Oregon, according to Fox affiliate KPTV.

The men reportedly told officers that they were seeking to educate onlookers about their Second Amendment rights.

"Exercising my rights with a rifle to try to decrease the demonizing of peacefully exercising your rights in public," one of the men, who declined to release his full name, told the station.

Portland authorities later identified the men as Warren Drouin and Steven Boyce. Officers said carrying firearms openly is legal in Oregon and carrying a concealed gun is legal with a valid license, according to the station. But doing one or both may generate 911 calls and possibly tie up resources that are needed for a real emergency.

One of the men told the station that he hoped people would approach him and talk to him, instead of calling police.

"What they really should do is observe the person to determine if the person is aggressive," he said of seeing someone with a gun in public. "We're not doing anything threatening to anyone."

The Portland Police Bureau, however, asks anyone who sees someone armed with guns to immediately call 911.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/01/10/men-armed-with-assault-rifles-walk-through-portland-to-educate-public-on-gun/#ixzz2ZH7P5gH8

Really? You mean to tell me that walking around town with a rifle strapped to your back isn't a good way of starting a dialog? That it makes people afraid for their safety? Who'd have thought! Fucking idiots...

Rifle toting activist in Portland area is well known to Medford police
One of the men who walked with assaultrifles through downtown Gresham and Southeast Portland Wednesday has an extensive history with Medford police over his practice of openly carrying a rifle in parks, in businesses and other public places.

Medford police have received at least 67 complaints about Warren R. Drouin openly carrying a semi-auto rifle or handgun in a wide range of public settings between June 2011 and December 2012, according to agency records. One episode generated more than two dozens calls to police. At least one Medford business barred him from the property because of his behavior.

The 22-year-old Medford man is so familiar to police in the southern Oregon city that top officials in the 103-member police force refer to him simply as "Warren" when describing their interactions with him. Officers receive training specifically on how to approach Drouin and others in the so-called open carry movement, which promotes the ability to openly carry guns.

Tim Doney, Medford's deputy police chief, said department officials have emphasized to officers that not everyone openly carrying a weapon will be as benign as Drouin.

"We go out on every one of these calls," Doney said. "And who knows? The next one may be the one that is an active shooter."

On one occasion, Drouin was briefly detained and handcuffed when he showed up armed at the Medford City Hall complex. He's also had contact with police in Ashland, Talent, and Central Point, as well as the Jackson County Sheriff's Office and the Oregon State Police, Doney said.

"Law enforcement has to and does respond to these," Medford police Chief Tim George wrote in an email to The Oregonian. "It eats up valuable police resource time. That alone is disturbing."

Added George: "Being legal does not mean it is a wise thing to do. Responsible firearms owners would not and don't do this."

No charges were filed in Wednesday’s public display of firearms. But people were worried.

Drouin and Steven M. Boyce, 22, of Gresham, were spotted with assault rifles over their shoulders in Gresham and Sellwood Wednesday, prompting 10 calls to 9-1-1 dispatchers, according to Portland Bureau of Emergency Communications.

The first sighting came at North Main Avenue and Northwest 8th Street in Gresham at 11:59 a.m.

The men were soon spotted parading down East Powell Boulevard in front of Jazzy Bagels.

"They freaked out the customers," said Meghan Browne, 22, who works at the shop.
She was scared too.

"My heart started racing right away," Browne said. "We didn't know what they were doing."

She said there were about a dozen people in the popular lunchtime spot, with four or five young children. One of the mothers went out and questioned the men, asking them if their weapons were nonlethal.

The two were later seen in Portland's Sellwood neighborhood at 1:49 p.m., according to 9-1-1 reports.

Portland police spotted the pair near Southeast Seventh Avenue and Spokane Street, triggering a lockdown at a daycare center.

One shop owner in Sellwood, clearly distraught, told dispatchers she and another employee hid in a backroom after locking the front door.

While she waited as a dispatcher checked for more information, the shop owner could be heard whispering to someone who was with her about ways to barricade the door: "This is just a plan, it's not going to happen," she said.

Attempts to reach Boyce and Drouin for comment early Thursday were unsuccessful. A search of Oregon court records showed no criminal cases against either man.

Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman, said one of the long guns was an AR-15. The second weapon was a similar long gun. One of the men also carried a handgun on his belt.

Both men had concealed handgun licenses and videotaped their interaction with Portland police, Simpson said. The rifles remained slung over their shoulders. Police did not check serial numbers on the guns because the men's permits were in order.

"Every situation is kind of different," said Simpson. "If we have information that somebody has committed a crime, we're gonna have our guns out.

"Had they been threatening or menacing anybody that would have trumped their right to open carry. We would have investigated that as a crime."

Drouin broadcasts his experiences with toting guns in public.

In a video posted on Drouin's YouTube channel, where he goes by the username "Marked Guardian," he documents his interactions with police.

"I'm actually a gun right activist," he tells one Medford officer, in a video uploaded on Aug. 25, 2011. "I believe in our rights, and I want to educate every person about our rights."

Drouin, on his Facebook page, says he was home schooled and offers the following description, which contains spelling errors: "I am a full flesh libertarian and a gun right extremest. We the people should control our government and bring us back to when we had and own our Life, Liberty, and Property. I hate socialist, dictators, and corrupt Government. We are losing are rights every day while not knowing it and then it become to late."

Boyce and Drouin became Facebook friends Dec. 24, according to Boyce's Facebook page.

OpenCarry.org, which promotes the ability to "openly carry properly holstered handguns in daily American life," does not allow discussion of publicly carrying long guns in the group's online forum.

The forum's Rule No. 14 states, in part: "This web site is focused on the right to openly carry properly holstered handguns in daily American life. We do NOT promote the carry of long guns."

But John Pierce, a co-founder of the Virginia-based group, said he does not oppose the actions of Boyce and Drouin.

"We don't condemn him for taking what is clearly a legal act," he said. "He is exercising his rights in a way that is making people uncomfortable. So in that regard, the police are having to respond. It sounds like the police are responding very professional, which I find very encouraging to hear."

But the incident disturbed those gathered at Jazzy Bagels in Gresham.

Browne said the shop's business slowed for about an hour while the men marched up and down Powell Boulevard, passing West Gresham Grade School, the post office and other stores several times.

At one point, Browne went out to talk to them, snapping their picture and asking them about their weapons.

"They were very proud to say they were real and that they were exercising their Second Amendment rights," Browne said.

But she said the incident was disturbing.

"I cannot believe it's legal to carry an assault rifle like that outside," she said. "I'm for the right to bear arms but walking around with an assault rifle takes it to another level. They're not meant for hunting. They're for warfare. They should be kept locked at home. "

-- Noelle Crombie
-- Kimberly A.C. Wilson
-- Lynne Terry

The tip of the iceberg is this asshat, who confuses the right to own a firearm with the non-existent right to trespass with one. The point of these posts isn't to say responsible gun owners are evil or any other such nonsense, but rather to highlight a problem with idiots with small dicks and big guns running around the pacific north west in the last couple weeks. Just cause you own a cool rifle doesn't mean you should run around the city scaring the shit out of everyone.

Open carry debate: Man arrested after causing panic in Vancouver
By Dan Tilkin, KATU News and KATU.com Staff

VANCOUVER, Wash. – A man accused of causing a panic at a family fun center by carrying a semi-automatic rifle while walking nearby says he’s on a second amendment mission to educate the public about gun rights.

Mack Worley was arrested Saturday night in Southeast Vancouver. Police said he crossed the line when he decided to openly carry his gun on private property.

“I was breaking no law and I was arrested for trespassing on a public sidewalk,” said Worley. “Whether or not you agree with open carry of a firearm or not, it’s not illegal.”

Tuesday morning, Worley pleaded not guilty to a charge of trespassing with a weapon capable of producing bodily harm. Police said he first went to a Burgerville restaurant with a rifle slung over his shoulder. An employee called 911.

Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said a security guard told Worley to leave and called police when he didn’t.

By the time police arrived, Kapp said Worley had walked to a fireworks stand in the Big Al’s parking lot. Employees closed the stand because they were worried about what Worley was up to. An employee at Big Al’s called 911 while the business went into lockdown.

Coffee barista Dominick Harris watched as panicked parents grabbed their children and ran into the restaurant while police officers swarmed around Worley.

“I saw this guy underneath this tree over there with hands up,” Harris said.

Officers took Worley's rifle but returned it after they determined it was not stolen. Police said Worley was on private property, and when they stopped him they told him Big Al’s has a no-weapons policy unless the gun owner has a concealed weapons permit.

Worley refused to leave, according to police.

“If the public is afraid, that’s not my fault. I don’t control their point of view,” Worley said. “In fact, I welcome it. I welcome and encourage a debate on the subject. I am not responsible for their fear.”

Legal gun owners in Washington and Oregon can carry a rifle on their shoulder or a pistol in a visible holster without a special permit on public property. If you’re on private property, the owner makes the rules and can ask you to leave.

It is against the law to point the gun at someone or threaten someone in any way.

“People are concerned about weapons right now and people are afraid, and that’s understandable,” Worley said. “I’m trying to show people that it is not illegal and that it’s OK to carry a gun.”

Beaverton open carry case

In a separate incident Monday night, Beaverton police officers detained Ryan Davis along Scholls Ferry Road after they said he was holding a pump-action shotgun.

Beaverton police spokesman Jim Shumway said Davis was wearing full camouflage gear and carrying the gun in the “low ready position.” When police officers arrived at the scene, Davis put a round in the chamber, Shumway said.

As officers detained him, Davis said he was “practicing his second amendment rights.” He was eventually released.

In an email to KATU, Davis said “They placed me in hand cuffs and took my weapon and then took my ID without my consent and threatened to arrest me for disorderly conduct.”

“What are we supposed to do if we see a guy walking down the street with a gun?” Shumway said. “This is an officer-involved shooting waiting to happen.”

In a later email, Davis said after he had time to think the situation over, he concluded the police did the right thing.

"The members of the Beaverton Police Department approached the situation with care and consideration for both my safety as well as the safety of the public," he wrote. "I did not take into account, given recent events across the country, that this could cause public concern and require the Beaverton Police Department to investigate."

Open carry, while legal, should be excercised with a grain of salt. I can understand someone wanting to educate the public, but please do so in a controlled situation. Get a permit, or whatever it is one needs, for a booth or table on a street corner. I wouldn't advise walking through a major city. Don't make a scene and scare the public who may already be on edge after the high profile mass murders of last year. The last thing we need are asshats making a scene. Be responsible and well mannered. Show the people that we are not nuts, but just regular people like everyone else. Have documentation on firearm safety, history of firearms in tUSA......maybe even some crime study results. Don't push the issue to hard and never fail to obey the owners of private property.

Open carry, in my mind, should be allowed, but times have changed. It is not prudent to carry openly most of the time. If one is packing, he is packing for protection. Openly doing so will cause predators to change gameplans. I can see ruffians(yeah I said ruffians) to shoot immediately and make off with money and a firearm. There is no tactical advantage to open carry. I still agree with it because we still see tons of people open carry while they are traveling to and from outdoor adventures. I open carry my conceal carry .44 special when I fish, hunt, or hike. It makes a perfect snake charmer when loaded with pellet shot rounds. 5 yards is effective range, but that is all I need for taking care of moccasins and rattlers. Many times I wilp strap it on before I leave the house so I will have it if I stop at the store for eats and drinks(or the cafe on the way home) Open carry also covers carrying rifles on the rack in my truck when I am going hunting/camping. 'Course I live in small town USA so firearms are seen often.

Yeah, that open carry thing...I'm not crazy about it. Its legal there, but maybe the people of Oregon ought to rethink this. These activists might be an accident waiting to happen.

To me this is a case of American citizens exercising the legal rights, but doing so in an irresponsible manner.

Sorry for expressing my displeasure at these individuals displeasure so vulgarly, I may or may not have been a little inebriated at the time.

Bryant wrote:Sorry for expressing my displeasure at these individuals displeasure so vulgarly, I may or may not have been a little inebriated at the time.

Please do not apologize. There is no need. Say what you feel, how you feel. All of us have known each other for far too long to allow tiptoeing. I have very, very thick skin and am not offended easily, if ever.

Many times I may speak ruffly, but when I do, 99.9% of the time I am not speaking to anyone here.......just venting. That is what places like this are for.

To me, this looks like a case of "too many people know their rights and not enough people know their responsibilities". Yes, you have the right to openly carry your guns around, but you also have the responsibility to not do it in a way that is going to make people jumpy, waste police time or cause trouble. So what happens in this situation of someone with concealed carry sees these guys walking along, thinks "shit, it's some nutjobs on the way to take out a school or a cinema" and draws on them? They see some guy drawing a gun on them and go "shit, some nutjob is trying to take us out", and you've got gunfight at the OK Corral part II....

And then you have the "cry wolf" aspect of it, they're trying to "decrease the demonizing of peacefully exercising your rights in public", so say it works, and next time someone decides to do a Columbine or Sandy Hook, they're walking down the street looking like Rambo and no-one bothers to call the cops as they'll think "ah, it's just one of those guys doing the 2nd amendment exercise walkabout again".....

Think theres too many scared ppl out there. If more people carried ARs on their backs, them this type of thing wouldnt get such a response. What good are your rights if you cant express them peacefully, and any such peaceful exercise is percieved as threatening anyway? Defacto gun control.

Bryant wrote:Sorry for expressing my displeasure at these individuals displeasure so vulgarly, I may or may not have been a little inebriated at the time.

    Man, you funny.

Miles1 wrote:To me, this looks like a case of "too many people know their rights and not enough people know their responsibilities".  Yes, you have the right to openly carry your guns around, but you also have the responsibility to not do it in a way that is going to make people jumpy, waste police time or cause trouble. So what happens in this situation of someone with concealed carry sees these guys walking along, thinks "shit, it's some nutjobs on the way to take out a school or a cinema" and draws on them? They see some guy drawing a gun on them and go "shit, some nutjob is trying to take us out", and you've got gunfight at the OK Corral part II....

And then you have the "cry wolf" aspect of it, they're trying to "decrease the demonizing of peacefully exercising your rights in public", so say it works, and next time someone decides to do a Columbine or Sandy Hook, they're walking down the street looking like Rambo and no-one bothers to call the cops as they'll think "ah, it's just one of those guys doing the 2nd amendment exercise walkabout again".....

 
 We have open carry in my state too.  I've never seen anyone walking down the middle of downtown carrying a pistol or rifle though.  Like the Hank Jr song goes "We's them ol boys raised on shotgun".  We grew up with firearms, and its just a part of a good ol boy's life (good ol boys, not to be confused with an ignorant redneck).    Most of us respect firearms and also respect the fears many would have if we abused our rights.  (Of course, there are nuts everywhere, so...).

 
The Yellow means permissive open carry state.  A state has passed full preemption of all firearms laws.
Red = Non permissive open carry.  In these states, open carry of a handgun is not lawful.
Gold = Anomalous Open Carry State.  In these states, open carry of a handgun is generally lawful, but the state may lack preemption or there may be other significant restrictions.
Green = Licensed open carry.   They permit open carry of a handgun to all non-prohibited citizens once they have been issued a permit or license. Open carry of a handgun is lawful on foot and in a motor vehicle.
 
I was surprised at Arkansas, South Carolina, Texas and Florida!  Well, not Florida, not so much.  Lotta snowbirds who have moved there.  But I know there are a lot of good ol boys in Florida and hunting and whatnot is huge down there.
 
I agree with ya about responsibility.  I've always said with rights comes responsibility.  Apparently however, looking at this map, the right to open carry is more of a privilege nowadays.  I suppose that's just a  part of State's Rights.  Makes me wonder about idea of the right to keep and bear arms.  Maybe you can bear arms if you sign the paperwork and purchase the license?
 
Also looking at the map again, I daresay the states of California, NY and Illinois have probably more shootings that the Gulf states.  And they are in Red!  Chicago has a huge number of killings  mostly black on black.  I would expect LA and NYC too and they have tough gun laws.  Out here in the country either we just respect one another too much to draw our weapons (coz we know that other guy may be packing heat), or we're hiding the bodies in the swamp.  Lol!
 
Miles, what is the law regarding guns and gun ownership in Ireland?  I see your pic with a Thompson.  Is it fully automatic?  Does Ireland allow ownership and use of fully automatic or semi automatic weapons?
 

Sir Pun wrote:Think theres too many scared ppl out there. If more people carried ARs on their backs, them this type of thing wouldnt get such a response. What good are your rights if you cant express them peacefully, and any such peaceful exercise is percieved as threatening anyway? Defacto gun control.

 I know I'd be more likely to say yes sir and no sir to em. 

Btw, were these rifles even loaded?

Dennis324 wrote:
Miles, what is the law regarding guns and gun ownership in Ireland?  I see your pic with a Thompson.  Is it fully automatic?  Does Ireland allow ownership and use of fully automatic or semi automatic weapons?

Gun are pretty much mostly illegal here. To get a gun, you have to get a license, and you have to renew the license every 3 years or you lose it. You're also restricted on what kind of guns you can get: shotguns for hunting and rifles for sport shooting are pretty much all that's allowed, and handguns of any kind over a .22 caliber are illegal. As for open carry, you're not even allowed carry air rifles or realistic imitation handguns in the street here. Then again, we have good reason for those sort of restrictions, what with the slight unpleasantness we had in the north of our little island for around 20 years or so there....

My pic was taken on holidays in Estonia last month, where I went to a shooting range. I wasn't using the tommy gun, that was for display only, but I did get to shoot an AR-15 and an AK-47 (semi-auto, fully auto is illegal over there too).

Miles1 wrote:

Dennis324 wrote:
Miles, what is the law regarding guns and gun ownership in Ireland?  I see your pic with a Thompson.  Is it fully automatic?  Does Ireland allow ownership and use of fully automatic or semi automatic weapons?

Gun are pretty much mostly illegal here. To get a gun, you have to get a license, and you have to renew the license every 3 years or you lose it. You're also restricted on what kind of guns you can get: shotguns for hunting and rifles for sport shooting are pretty much all that's allowed, and handguns of any kind over a .22 caliber are illegal. As for open carry, you're not even allowed carry air rifles or realistic imitation handguns in the street here. Then again, we have good reason for those sort of restrictions, what with the slight unpleasantness we had in the north of our little island for around 20 years or so there....  

My pic was taken on holidays in Estonia last month, where I went to a shooting range. I wasn't using the tommy gun, that was for display only, but I did get to shoot an AR-15 and an AK-47 (semi-auto, fully auto is illegal over there too).

I see your point.  But wow, you will lose your weapon if you let your license expire?     Can you imagine letting your car tag expire and the feds taking your car or truck away.  Geez.  Looks like the people would protest with marches or something.  Also do you have to purchase a separate license for each weapon?

Yeah miles has to go to another country to play with guns.

Dennis324 wrote:
I see your point.  But wow, you will lose your weapon if you let your license expire?     Can you imagine letting your car tag expire and the feds taking your car or truck away.  Geez.  Looks like the people would protest with marches or something.  Also do you have to purchase a separate license for each weapon?

Yup, and yup.... Is no protests over it though because we don't have the whole gun culture thing you guys have - we've never had guns so we don't miss them or even want them, really. Hell, even our cops don't have guns here, apart from a few specialist units (which is a good thing - I know some cops, and while they're nice guys, they're not the sharpest tools in the shed).