Packing heat

PALMER — Kenneth Murdock was just one of the crowd Sunday at the fall Alaska Gun Collectors Association gun show.

A member of the group’s board of directors, Murdock — as he’s know to everyone, “even my mother” — volunteers at the show and is in his element talking firearms. Outside the show, he often finds himself still talking about firearms.

Like many in Alaska, Murdock openly carries a pistol in a holster on his chest. It’s a right he’s exercised for more than 20 years, he said, and is an important responsibility. Along with promoting this past weekend’s show, which had a record turnout on Saturday, Murdock answered questions about firearms, the Second Amendment and his choice to carry a gun.

Frontiersman: What is the purpose of the show for your club?

Murdock: As far as the Alaska Gun Collectors Association is concerned, the primary motivating factor for us doing a show is education. If we don’t do the shows, people tend to forget we have guns, we have rights, why we have guns, why we have rights.

F: What’s your favorite display at the show this year?

M: I love all of them, but I’m kind-of partial to the British firearms. One of them that particularly tickles me is a lend-lease firearm. The British got involved in the war (World War II), but because of the gun laws in their country at the time, they didn’t have any guns to fight the war with, so they wound up borrowing guns from us and fighting the war.

F: How important is it to protect the Second Amendment?

M: That’s a loaded question. Speaking as an individual, I would have to say protecting the Second Amendment and those rights are the single-most important right you will ever protect — or not, as you choose. … No Second Amendment rights and the rest of your rights are pretty much irrelevant.

F: How do you respond to the stereotype that gun enthusiasts are the crazy guys sitting in bunkers surrounded by hand grenades?

M: Most people I know would point to me as the classic example of that. Seriously, my response would be these people don’t know any people who are responsible gun owners.

F: What are the keys to being a responsible gun owner?

M: Well, I think the first key is the first word in that, “responsible.” Exercising the right to own and carry firearms carries certain responsibilities. The responsible gun owners take those seriously.

F: What are some of the biggest challenges to the Second Amendment right now?

M: The biggest challenge to the Second Amendment isn’t politics. The biggest challenge is a lack of education. Too many people in today’s society have no idea that the Second Amendment doesn’t give you any rights. All it does is acknowledge you already have a right that predates the Second Amendment.

F: Why do you wear a gun?

M: I carry a gun at all times. It’s right here on my chest. It’s obvious. There is no doubt about it. It’s my gun, I take responsibility for my gun, I don’t leave it laying around for people to handle indiscriminately. It’s in my control at all times. … I’ve been carrying for 20-some-odd years, I was a bodyguard for two years, and I have never encountered a situation of personal defense where I had to use a firearm. Never.

F: How do you respond when people say that by wearing a gun you’re just asking for trouble?

M: Well, how about if I go this way. A couple weeks ago I was at (a local store) selling raffle tickets. A woman spent about six hours at the store that day, walked past me many times, and when she was getting ready to leave she confronted me and wanted to know what gave me the right to “brandish” my firearm. I asked her to define “brandish” and she said it was because I was wearing it on my chest. So I said, “Well, you must be brandishing your shirt,” and she said, “No, I’m wearing it.” And that’s all I’m doing. To people who have a hard time with me wearing a firearm, it’s a free country. You have a right to be upset I’m wearing a gun, but I have a right to wear one.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.