[mrhutch]

Nothing wrong with exercising your 2nd amendment rights while exercising your 1st.

However, if you're blocking traffic while holding a gun, you have just become a threat to all who wish to pass and you are now a public menace. Stand in front of my car in a protest line with a gun trying to tell me I can't go somewhere and you'll be getting shot, as i interpret your refusal to let me pass while you brandish a weapon to be a threat against my life.

 

[mrhutch]

And as the rest of your post states, being armed can make you seem like more of a threat to the other person you're confronting. THAT is where, in fact and in law, your GUN RIGHTS will serve to limit your FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS, or, at your option, you can have your full 100% set of gun rights, but then you better what what you say, and thus your 1st Amendment free speech rights have taken a hit.

If I'm not armed, I can come up to you and get in your face and insult you with much stronger language, even wishing that you would die, than I could legally get away with if I did the same thing while openly carrying a gun. Especially a long gun that I'm holding in my hands.
Hate + Insults + Threats + Weapon = reasonable fear of imminent mortal danger.

But first amendment rights are for peaceable assembly. Armed or not, you have no right to scream in someone's face or force your views down their throat. Both black panthers and patriot groups have gathered in opposition while armed and those protests were far more peaceful than unarmed protests. An Armed society is a polite society.

 

[mrhutch]

Holding a weapon does not necessarily equate with brandishing. Would you consider a slung or holstered weapon a threat to you? Many long guns aren't equipped with slings so the owners have to hold them in their hands. That's not brandishing.

If you are going to carry a rifle in public, it is no less irresponsible to not have a sling for it than it is to carry around a handgun in your hand instead of a holster. I agree, there is a big difference between someone with a rifle slung over their back or a holstered handgun and someone with the gun in their hands. If a weapon is in your hand, it shows intent to use it. Especially in a situation where you are part of a group intimidating or forcing others to comply with your demands.

 

[mrhutch]

Are you saying that it's not legal to carry a handgun in your hand, if you are not intentionally pointing it at or obviously threatening someone with it? Please cite the Georgia statutes that prohibit this method of carry in unrestricted areas. (Except on college campuses)

I said irresponsible, I didn't say illegal.
Having a gun in hand will get you in trouble regardless of whether you get sentenced or not. Go ahead, walk around Wal-Mart with a Glock in your hand. See what happens. If you are part of a crowd that is swarming a vehicle and you are holding a gun in your hand while pushing on the bumper with the other, you are threatening the driver of the car.