Assault Rifle Owners In Portland Walk The Streets For Gun Rights

The shooting in Connecticut, as well as several others nationwide over the holiday season, has sparked debate among the higher-ups over a topic that has a lot of gun owners outraged. Our government wants to put stricter laws on our usage of guns (in particular, assault rifles).

Two men were seen walking down a Portland street armed with assault rifles, causing quite an outcry among passerby. They told police they were exercising their rights given by the Second Amendment and hoping to educate the public on gun rights. Several calls were made to 911 on Wednesday afternoon, with reports of two men weatring assault rifles on their backs walking through Portland’s Sellwood neighborhood.

The two 22-year-old men, when confronted by police, openly told them that they each possess a valid concealed handgun license in Oregon, according to FOX News.

One of the men, who declined to release his full name, stated:

“Exercising my rights with a rifle to try to decrease the demonizing of peacefully exercising your rights in public.”

The men were identified as Warren Drouin and Steven Boyce Portland in a followup by authorities. Officers informed them that carrying a gun openly is legal in Oregon, as is carrying a concealed gun with a valid license. But doing one or both may generate 911 calls and trigger situations that literally waste police time. They were not arrested due to the passive nature of their display of the weapons, says Oregon Live.

Drouin and Boyce said they were hoping someone would approach them instead of calling the police. One of the men suggested:

“What they really should do is observe the person to determine if the person is aggressive. We’re not doing anything threatening to anyone.”

The Portland Police Bureau still urges anyone to call 911 immediately if they see any suspicious activity involving a gun.