Stu Bykofsky: Openly carrying a gun is legal ... and irresponsible

LEGALLY, gun-toting Montgomery County information technology guy Mark Fiorino was right.

Sensibly, he was wrong and could have been dead wrong.

Like the Philly cop who stopped him, I didn't know you could openly carry a handgun in Philadelphia - and I've had a carry permit for more than a decade.

I would never openly display my weapon.

Why?

* It is provocative - as it was with Philly cops. I have seen people open-carry in places as different as Tucson and Tel Aviv, but their culture is different. Nobody looks twice. Here, people might react in bad ways, deadly ways.

* It is frightening to others. Civilians are used to seeing armed police or military, but an armed civilian raises fears. Is the gunslinger some freaked-out college student ready for a rampage, a loser loner looking for revenge against society, a racist Christian Identity skinhead bent on murder or an Islamist jihadi on a terror tear?

* It is dangerous. Someone could snatch the gun out of the holster and start blasting. Some holsters - such as the one for my Sig Sauer .45 - have locking mechanisms, but most don't. It's also dangerous to the gun owner because cops' nervous systems electrify - out of self-preservation - at the sight of a gun.

The 25-year-old Fiorino is a law-abiding citizen who knows the law, but we live in a city with too many non-law-abiding citizens packing heat. That his digital recorder was locked and loaded, and that he calmly called police "sir" and "gentlemen," suggests that Fiorino wanted this confrontation.

Sgt. Michael Dougherty, who stopped Fiorino, used rough language, and that's wrong, even if understandable. Fiorino was packing and not immediately responding to commands. As a result of this incident, Philly cops have been briefed that open-carry is (amazingly) legal here. The Police Department owes an apology to Fiorino, who is now - surprise, surprise - thinking about suing.

Since the cops were wrong, the D.A. ought to drop his retributive idea of prosecuting Fiorino for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct.

By tempting police into confronting him, Fiorino made a statement about his rights.

He made a second statement: He's irresponsible.

Not everything "legal" is right. Burning the U.S. flag is "legal," but sensible Americans know it's wrong.

Not to sound like a sheriff, but if you're coming into my town armed, use common sense and cover up.