From Curtis Tucker, Enid Buzz:
 | ENID, Okla. — Enid Police Department officers arrested a 35-year-old man from Hunter, Oklahoma, Tuesday; after receiving nearly a dozen calls reporting him walking down the road carrying a military-style rifle. Six 911 calls were made to police about 11:25 a.m., and five non-emergency calls, reporting a man wearing a camouflage jacket with a rifle beneath it. One caller told police it could a have been an AK-47 or a BB gun. Two schools, Prairie View Elementary School and Glenwood Elementary School, were placed on lockdown following the sighting. Officers Mike Atchley and Brett Moore stopped the man in the area of Willow and Cleveland and identified him as Russell Andrew Anderson. Anderson told officers he had left a relative's house in the Willow Lake Addition and was "going for a walk," said Capt. Jack Morris. Anderson told the officers he did this all the time in the outlying community of Hunter, OK; and it was his constitutional right to carry his guns. Witnesses said Anderson was carrying the AR-15 against his chest, but when officers found him he was carrying the rifle by its top handle. Anderson's rifle was magazine-loaded but not chamber-loaded at the time police made contact with him, according to an EPD news release. |
| Oklahoma's Self-Defense Act allows those with permits to carry handguns, which Anderson had two, but does not allow for carrying an assault rifle. The law makes few exceptions for carrying a rifle, such as when hunting or carrying a rifle from a home to a vehicle. Anderson was taken into custody without incident and was found with three knives, two handguns, the rifle, 11 loaded magazines and hundreds of rounds of ammunition in .223 and .22 calibers. He was arrested on a complaint of unlawful carrying of a weapon, which is a misdemeanor. Anderson had a conceal carry license for the handguns. Morris said detectives interviewed Anderson Tuesday afternoon, and Anderson said he was not out to harm anyone. He told police if he violated the law he was willing to face the consequences. Morris said officers alo were sent to the home where Anderson said he had visited, and the occupants were unharmed. |  Enid Buzz posted this eye witness photo of Anderson's walk in his relatives' Enid neighborhood. |
| This case seems to be a clear constitutional test of US constitutional rights. The man showed no signs of malice or mental instability. He showed more patience and calmness than the community leaders who panicked and put schools in lockdown. He didn't appear to stalk anyone or trespass private property. He clearly was not hunting game or searching for any individual. His right to self defense does not require him to devulge whom he fears. Nor does the cop have to approve that the individual's fear is a reasonable threat. Sadly, a growing mass of the nation is willing to see the rights of others curtailed for the sake of their own sense of security. Especially when that crackdown on rights will only impact the lifestyles of others. "Rights for me, but not for thee". The case needs to be studied by constitutional law advocates and a loss of liberty in this case can lead to a massive blow to all citizens' constitutional liberties. One would naively think that the American Civil Liberties Union would jump at this case. But the ACLU is showing themselves to only go after laws that impact liberal causes. Anderson is a long time resident of the outlying community of Hunter, OK. He's a registered and active Republican voter, according to records. He seems to enjoy gardening. Here are some of the glaring questions; | "Anderson said he was 'not out to harm anyone', that he 'was just going for a walk' and felt he 'was being lawful' and if he violated the law, then he 'would have to face the consequences'," according to a news release.  The home Russell Anderson lists on his voter registration. He is a Republican and has been voting since 2008, as a resident of Hunter, OK. |
| Thomas Jefferson said; “The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. It does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.” "...whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government...," |
