Wisconsin Man Attempts To 'Educate' Public About Open Carry By Walking Around With Firearms

By Chuck Sudo in News on Mar 18, 2014 2:30PM

While many Illinois gun owners are eagerly registering for concealed carry permits folks in America’s Dairyland continue to propose openly carrying firearms by ... openly carrying firearms and scaring the shit out of some people.

William Polster of Germantown, Wisc. took a leisurely 45-minute walk around town with an AR rifle strapped to his back and a Glock on his hip. It must be stressed that what Polster did is not against the law in Germantown but the passive-aggressive manner of his advocacy can be seen as a belligerent stance. Polster said he’s merely exercising his Second Amendment right and trying to educate people on their rights but that seems hard to do when he’s openly walking the streets armed and the people who notice are more inclined to call 911 than approach him.

Polster said the reaction to his ~~stunt~~ advocacy has been mixed.

“I’ve had people come up and talk,” says Polster. “I’ve had people just go on about their business. Obviously people called and complained.”

Germantown Police Chief Peter Hoell said Polster’s approach will only “build up walls” and lead to more resistance. Germantown Police quickly recognized that Polster, who would not identify himself to them, was merely using his walk as an open-carry test case and Hoell kept Germantown residents abreast of the situation on the Police Department’s Facebook page which prompted another open-carry advocate to drive 90 minutes from Appleton, Wisc. to Germantown to walk around town with his guns on full display.

Reactions like that are why Hoell lobbied Polster and others to try a more common-sense approach to educating the public about their open-carry rights. [sic’d]

I understand some of you may disagree with me, but this type of insensitive behavior to cause alarm with so many people just because it is your right to do so is senseless. As a society, shouldn’t we act accordingly out of sensitivity for others. We say good morning, we waive as a kind act, we hold the door open for a lady, we say please and thank you. What is the purpose of slinging a long gun over your shoulder and walking down Mequon Rd. The purpose is to test and record a police response, post it on YouTube, to get attention, and to cause fear with those who are not comfortable with guns.
I simply do not understand why some people feel the need to shock and scare others just because it is there right to do so.

This isn't the first time someone in Wisconsin decided to air out his guns by walking around in public. Two men were briefly detained by police in Appleton last September for walking around the downtown area with AR-15 assault rifles near the town's farmers market.

Here is Polster recapping his brisk armed walk.