For anyone out there whose initial reaction to seeing someone with a gun is "ZOMG! That person has a HANDGUN!!!1eleventy!, here's a handy guide to help you tell the good guys from the bad guys.
Is the weapon properly holstered or not?
If the answer is yes, he or she is most likely a good guy. It really is that simple.
I'm not saying an unholstered gun is unsafe, I'm saying that will cause me to reevaluate the situation. Unsafe gun handling is guaranteed to get my attention and I will react accordingly.
Sweet Daughter has even been taught that, in an emergency, a grown-up using a gun responsibly is a pretty good bet to keep her safe and get her help.
So, if you see me out and about with my tactical Tupperware and all those extra magazines to keep the darn rig somewhat balanced, I'm doing it to keep my family safe. I'm not doing it to draw attention to myself, or to get in your face. I just want to get my errands done and go home. And remember that if you're a good guy, I'm on your side.
"And remember that if you're a good guy, I'm on your side."
ReplyDelete...and I'm damned glad that's the case!
Funny, that's what I thought of when that whole kerfluffle started in Philly.
ReplyDeleteCop sees a guy walking down the street with a properly holstered gun in plain sight; that's a really dopey way to be a BG.
I'd throw an addendum:
ReplyDelete-Is the weapon properly holstered or not?
-Is the person minding their own business and carrying on their normal day-to-day?
people seem to see potentials, and only potentials that are relevant to their belief system. Somebody driving a car isn't looking for a good place to jump the curb and mow down pedestrians. Somebody filling up a gas can at the station isn't on their way to an arson. Somebody buying a chef knife at Bed Bath and Beyond isn't planning on a stabbing. Somebody with a violin case isn't on the way to a mob hit.
But somebody packing a pistol and buying groceries, or watching a movie, or eating at a picnic is somehow looking for somebody to shoot.
Those who oppose us are without logic.
Every single time I've carried in public, it's been in a real holster. It may be a cheap-ass Uncle Mikes soft IWB, but it's a real holster.
ReplyDeleteAt home, if I'm just running out to grab the dog or give the goats a bucket of water, I stick a gun in my belt sans holster. May.
"Is the weapon properly holstered or not? . . If the answer is yes, he or she is most likely a good guy."
ReplyDeleteThis might be a bit simplistic.
For one thing, making a responsible choice to carry means both having determined that a weapon is a reasonable tool to have on hand, and that you have made a reasoned choice not just to have a weapon handy, but that you have considered whether there are circumstances when using that weapon might be necessary.
Anti-gun advocates, many of them, deny that there are ever circumstances when using a weapon is justified. Which means that your weapon is a loud and blatant message, contradicting their ethics and morals.
Then, too, there are those with "situational" ethics, with no more morals than is convenient at the moment. To such a person, having a weapon would vastly increase the times when they could intervene in a situation that was frustrating or opportunistic -- and they recognize that momentary "temptations" to an impulsive shooting would be more trouble than it is worth. Many of such people are the "bad guys" that make the news, but not all of them. Such people would likely prefer others not be armed, so they aren't tempted, and so that others aren't tempted.
I am not disagreeing with anything said here, just pointing out that discussing what the Constitution, the laws, or police procedures state may not be participating in the same discussion as the other party. Discussing why an individual, armed, is in position to defend the community, the family, and those that might need defending skips ahead to details, when the other person might have already stopped considering you moral or responsible. Which is what I think happened in Philly.
Actually, you're spot on. Criminals' guns are 1. usually in really bad shape and 2. are just stuffed into a waistband/pocket. Really, a proper holster is a strong indicator that the armed individual knows what he's doing and is not a threat. Foresight, planning, and lack of impulsivity are not common attributes among the criminal classes.
ReplyDeleteA person with a pen is obviously preparing to commit libel. I think we should outlaw pens.
ReplyDelete