Brian Morrison, a Mountain Home resident and member of the pro-gun group Arkansas Carry, told a crowd of nearly 70 people how proud he was of his country, his freedoms and to be part of a significant moment in Twin Lakes Area history.
For the first time in Mountain Home, residents walked openly with firearms during a Celebration Walk through the city on Saturday.
Organized by Arkansas Carry, the march celebrated what the group calls the right of state residents to openly carry a firearm, an interpretation it believes is lawful through Act 746 legislation passed last April by Arkansas lawmakers.
The march began at the old Walmart location at approximately 10:50 a.m. and reached its midpoint along U.S. Highway 62 Business in the downtown square behind Baxter County Courthouse. Participants in the walk then retraced their steps, returning one mile to the parking lot where the event began.
“Uneventful” may be the best description of the march. There were no anti-gun protests, no police intervention; in fact, the long stretch of walkers received positive acknowledgement as the sounds of horns honking and words of encouragement were heard on occasion from passing motorists.
“The march went excellent, it was as peaceful as we expected it to be,” Morrison said. “The crowd was larger than I expected, so that was great. For this small of a community, it speaks volumes to how people feel about this issue.”
Earlier in the week, Mountain Home Police Chief Carry Manuel said participants in the walk would not face legal action, and that was the case, as only passing patrol cars were spotted along the march route.
“We’re going to follow suit with what’s happened at 10 or 11 other events that have occurred around the state,” Manuel said in Wednesday’s edition of The Bulletin. “There won’t be any police hindrance or arrests under state law for carrying a weapon.”
Prior to the walk, the pomp and circumstance was extraordinary, as speakers rattled off the names of “brave men” in United States history — names like Washington and Jefferson were commonly used — who constructed a constitution that gave American citizens centuries ago the right to do what the group exhibited Saturday.
Of course, that is the group’s interpretation, though it is not shared as the intent of Act 746 by Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel. Please download the attached documents that detail Act 746 legislation and the legal opinion of the law authored by McDaniel for further details on this complex subject that has drawn national attention.
Source: http://www.baxterbulletin.com/article/20140315/NEWS01/140315004/Pro-gun-group-attracts-nearly-70-participants-open-carry-march
Learn more about Arkansas Carry at http://www.arkansascarry.com/
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