Open Carry In AZ Rest Areas Socially Acceptable

By Dean Weingarten

On my recent vacation to Meteor Crater and environs, I stopped at the rest areas along the way to check and see if the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) had done its job. They needed to replace old signs that illegally banned guns in the rest areas. When other travellers were available, I had them take my picture for use in this and future articles. After the pretty young woman holding the child took my picture, I asked if I could take hers. She was happy to pose for me . . .

Here is the picture she took of me at Painted Cliffs. I asked her to be sure that the GLOCK was prominently displayed.

No one had any problem taking my picture with my openly carried pistol. I asked men, women, white and black, and no one blinked. They smiled and happily helped out. The idea that the public is terrified of openly carried weapons is a media-produced myth that has been promoted by Bloomberg and his various paid groups. If openly carried weapons don’t terrify the population, then most of their emotional arguments collapse.