Press Kit
OpenCarry.org was founded in 2004 by Virginia gun-rights activists John Pierce and Mike Stollenwerk and has served to ignite the "Open Carry Movement" that is sweeping the country.
In addition to being an invaluable legal resource for gun owners, the site has quickly grown to be a social networking portal for thousands of American gun owners.
And these gun owners have made a difference in their communities! Over the last 4 years, the open carry of handguns has become much more common and less controversial as their friends, neighbors and local law enforcement discover that open carry is legal and wholesome. In fact a recent FBI report essentially concludes that "criminals don't open carry handguns."
Anthropologist Charles Springwood sums it up nicely when he commented that open carriers are trying to "naturalize the presence of guns, which means that guns become ordinary, omnipresent, and expected. Over time, the gun becomes a symbol of ordinary personhood."
OpenCarry.org believes that "a right unexercised, is a right lost," and increasingly gun owners are agreeing - it's time gun carry comes out of the closet in America!
Bios & Press Contact
John Pierce lives in Southwestern Virginia where he owns a horse ranch and runs his software consulting business. He is also an incoming first year student at Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, MN.
Email: john@OpenCarry.org
Mike Stollenwerk retired from the United States Army with the rank of Lt Colonel. He lives in Northern Virginia where he is a third year student at Georgetown University Law Center and is the President and founder of the pro-gun law student group called the Georgetown Law-Militia.
Email: mike@OpenCarry.org
