A man open carried an AR-15 clone into a mall in January, freaking out a bunch of people. No, I’m not talking about the nimrod in Texas who managed to get himself arrested recently, but this guy in Riverdale, Utah, almost a year ago.

The man in the photo is apparently a known open carry advocate from Ogden, Utah, who wanted to “educate the public.”

He did a great job.

A new bill would define when someone could be charged with disorderly conduct when they are openly carrying a gun in Utah. Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, says it came after a picture surfaced last year of a man with a rifle across his back at a JC Penney in northern Utah.

Ray said his bill states guns have to be holstered.

“So if someone is carrying a gun around in their hand they can be cited,” he said. “This bill really clarifies things and gives them an outline to go by of in this situation you can write a ticket and in this situation you can’t.”

The same goes for people who openly display guns on their body. The man in JC Penney last year could have been charged with disorderly conduct, he said.

“If they strap a rifle onto their back and walk into JC Penney, you can be cited for disorderly, which you ought to be,” Ray said. “But if you have your handgun holstered then you are ok.”

This sort of calculated obnoxious behavior caused Starbucks to issue a letter asking people to stop open carrying in their stores, giving gun control groups a small victory. A smug open carry advocate in New Mexico alarmed lawmakers in New Mexico, which appears to be spurring legislation to restrict open carry there, and has also spurred calls to repeal repeal open carry in Wisconsin.

In one location after another, long gun open carry intentionally designed to evoke a response from the public is leading to more anti-gun laws.

Please tell me again how doing Bloomberg’s work for him is a winning strategy.