Last weekend in Charlottesville, the dangers of our nation’s lax gun laws – specifically open carry – were on display yet again. We saw how the most hateful among us can take advantage of our weak gun laws to use guns to intimidate and silence free speech and marginalized communities. Open carry laws, combined with racism and anti-Semitism, are a toxic and terrifying mix.

After the crowds dispersed, we heard from public officials like Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe and public safety secretary Brian Moran, both of whom noted that the presence of protesters openly carrying firearms made the job of law enforcement even more difficult at a time when the stakes were already high.

The presence of armed extremists at protests and rallies – including the white supremacists in Charlottesville – highlights a loophole in the laws of most states. This loophole allows people to openly carry guns in public without a background check, permitting or training. In nearly every state, including Virginia, open carry is typically legal by default; there is no law forbidding it, but also no law permitting it.

Now is the time to editorialize against the open carry loophole. Time and again, Americans openly carrying guns have posed a threat to public safety. Last summer in Dallas, when five police officers were shot and killed, police said that they couldn’t tell which gunman was firing at them because protesters were openly carrying firearms. The Dallas Police Chief David Brown said: “The presumption is that a good guy with a gun is the best way to solve some of these [shootings], but we don’t know who the good guy is versus the bad guy.”

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https://everytown.org/press/white-supremacists-are-exploiting-our-lax-gun-laws-to-intimidate-marginalized-communities/