Firearms visible, 60 walk for act

20 open carriers go to shops

NWA Media/JASON IVESTER --03-29-2014--
Jimmy Maxwell playfully lifts his daughter Faith Maxwell, 3, both of Romance, as they wait on Saturday, March 29, 2014, to march with the Northwest 746, a group that supports open carry of firearms, along Arkansas 23 into Eureka Springs.
NWA Media/JASON IVESTER --03-29-2014-- Jimmy Maxwell playfully lifts his daughter Faith Maxwell, 3, both of Romance, as they wait on Saturday, March 29, 2014, to march with the Northwest 746, a group that supports open carry of firearms, along Arkansas 23 into Eureka Springs.

EUREKA SPRINGS - A group of about 20 people - most with holstered handguns - walked through the retail center of this tourist town Saturday morning.

They stopped at Eureka Daily Roast for coffee. Some stood on the sidewalk, with pistols on their hips, slurping frozen drinks topped with whipped cream.

The sight upset some shopkeepers, who hurried to put signs in windows banning guns.

“As far as I’m concerned, they reneged on us,” said Alderman James DeVito, who watched the group from his restaurant on Main Street.

Northwest 746, which promotes openly carrying handguns, had planned the walk for weeks. Initially, itwas to begin at Basin Park, then members of the group were going to split up and walk around downtown with guns on hips.

But controversy arose on social media and at City Council meetings. Some downtown business owners said the sight of all those guns could affect tourism on the second Saturday in spring.

Organizers decided to have the walk on U.S. 62 instead, but couldn’t find a suitable place on the busy commercial highway, said Carl Martin of Farmington, an administrator with Northwest 746. So the walk began at the train depot on Arkansas 23 and went about a mile south into the center of town. About 60 people participated in the official walk.

When they got to Spring Street, Northwest 746’s “celebration walk” officially ended, and the group dispersed.

But about 20 members continued to walk north up Spring Street, along narrow sidewalks crowded with tourists.

That’s what bothered DeVito. He said posts from a Northwest 746 representative on Geekfest.com, a chat board for Eureka Springs residents, indicated there would be few if any guns displayed Saturday in downtown Eureka Springs.

“If I were a suspicious person, I’d say they blew a bunch of smoke and got away with what they intended to do in the first place, because this is exactly what they intended to do in the first place,” DeVito said.

DeVito said his wife, Teresa, was “visibly shaken” by the sight of the guns.

“That’s the reason it’s so messed up,” Teresa DeVito said. “I don’t get to be in my normal world. I have to be scared and shaken up.”

David Anderson, co-owner of The Town Shop, said his wife, Marjie Anderson, was also bothered by the guns.

“I told her you shouldn’t get upset over that,” David Anderson said. “They’re just pushing the envelope. Some people feel like we should be back in the 1800s.”

Anderson said one of the walkers stopped and handed him a card that read: “We have noticed your sign and will respect your wishes by doing business elsewhere. I only shop where my rights and safety are not compromised. You have chosen to ban firearms in your store. As such, I have chosen to take my gun, and my money, toyour competitors until such time as you choose to allow law-abiding armed citizens in your establishment.”

Jim Fyhrie, co-owner of Eureka Daily Roast, said he had no problem with customers carrying handguns in his shop. Fyhrie said he’s used to driving through Arizona, where he said he’s seen plenty of people carrying guns.

“It doesn’t bother me,” he said.

Tony Asher of Lincoln, an administrator with Northwest 746, stood outside Fyhrie’s shop drinking a frozen coffee beverage called a Snicker Doodle. On his belt was a .45-caliber Colt semi-automatic pistol.

“I want people to ask me questions,” Asher said. “That’s the reason I open carry.”

Todd Allen of Eureka Springs stopped and talked to the group.

“I don’t have a problem with it as long as they’re being responsible,” Allen said.

Allen said he believes people who carry guns openly should have some training in firearms safety.

Before Saturday’s walk began, Martin and Asher explained the rules to the group.

“I don’t expect any protesters out there, but if they do, do not challenge them,” Martin said.

“Don’t take your handgun out unless it’s in self-defense,” Asher added.

“I don’t see any problems,” continued Martin. “The emotions have died down quite a bit from what it was.”

If businesses put signs up saying no guns, “respect theirsigns,” Martin said.

Asher said the walk in Eureka Springs was “uneventful, like always.” By 3:30 p.m., almost all of the Northwest 746 group had gone home, he said.

Asher said about a dozen people had approached him to ask about the open-carry walk.

“They didn’t know what the law was, and I explained it to them,” he said. “Everybody I talked to was OK with it.”

The group is trying to call attention to Act 746, which the state Legislature passed last year. The legislation was meant as a technical correction to define “journey” in existing law, but open-carry advocates say a change in wording elsewhere in the act legalized openly carrying handguns, knives and clubs.Attorney General Dustin Mc-Daniel disagrees. The issue hasn’t been challenged in court.

Northwest 746 is a branch of Patriots of Act 746, a statewide group that has had about 30 open-carry walks, said Martin.

“I thought about leaving my gun at home because it’s all about the choice,” said Martin, who decided to conceal his weapon on Saturday instead.

The statewide g roup has 5,133 members, and the Northwest Arkansas branch has 311, according to organizers.

A dispatcher at the Eureka Springs Police Department said they had received no telephone calls from anyone complaining about the group or their guns Saturday.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 19 on 03/30/2014

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