Open carry means that you may legally carry a loaded weapon visibly on your person. The top photo is over fifty years old, depicting the "Black Panthers"; the bottom picture from last week depicting citizens protesting continued stay-in-place orders.
In 1967 openly armed protesters entered the capital in Sacramento, California. It resulted in a law, supported by the NRA to ban the "open carry" of firearms in that state.
Last week, openly armed protestors entered the capital in Lansing, Michigan. Almost three years earlier than this most recent photograph, in response to the shootings in Las Vegas, the NRA stated,
“To that end, on behalf of our five million members across the country, we urge Congress to pass National Right-to-Carry reciprocity, which will allow law-abiding Americans to defend themselves and their families from acts of violence."
They continue to support open carry to this day. What caused the change in the NRA's view? To understand how 1967 and the Black Panthers were different than today’s NRA view on open carry, consider this longer story from RadioLab, on the NRA and the second amendment.
