Saturday, March 6, 2010

The "Open Carry" Question



Yesterday I went to the local grocery store. Nothing unusual about that. But as I'm standing in the checkout line, I notice that the man in front of me is openly wearing a large revolver (looked like a Colt, but I didn't ask) on his side. Which is perfectly legal here in Arizona. But is it sensible? I mean, this is Flagstaff, the epitome of "safe". And the guy with the sidearm appeared to be young, solid, and healthy (and very white, not that it matters); not a likely victim of violence.

"Open Carry" laws have been getting a little more notice lately, with NRA members wearing their guns into Starbucks, and 'Tea Party Patriots' taking their sidearms to political rallies. There are many 2nd amendment advocates circulating the (baseless) paranoia that Obama wants to 'take their guns away', leading to a boom in gun sales.

I find that I have mixed feelings about "Open Carry" in action. I'm a gun owner myself, but I have no inclination to carry my pistol around in public. I don't feel threatened in my life, but I could see how that could change if it became common that almost everyone around me were openly armed. Put simply, for self-defense I'm used to relying on my physical size and ugliness, and the fact that I live in a low crime city. I become more nervous about the uncertainty of the mental stability of someone if I see that they are armed, especially when there's no logical reason for them to be. Heinlien's old adage that "an armed society is a polite society" neglects to point out that it is also a very nervous society. The more armed people around, the more likely that one of those armed people is unstable. That is what I'm uncomfortable with.

I grew up with guns around, and was taught strict gun safety. Only carry a gun if you're planning on using it, and only point it at something you intend to shoot. Those rules work fine for hunting and target practice. I'm assuming that the people who carry guns in public feel that they "might need it" for self defense, no matter how incredibly unlikely that is. Hell, the gun is the most likely thing to be stolen from them.

I realize that there could be individual situations that leave a person feeling threatened, such as domestic violence issues. For all I know, the shopper in front of me might be worried that his lover's husband was after him. But I'm not convinced that this is the common motivation. Fear is frequently an irrational emotion. There's a very real difference between a specific threat and a vague unspecific (and usually unreal) threat. It would be nice to be able to ask each person carrying a gun what exactly they are defending themselves against, because I doubt that it's a 'specific' for most of them.

Again, I find that my feeling are mixed: I do believe in the right to keep and bear arms, but I have doubts about the sensibility of guns in mainstream public life. I may be wrong, but it strikes me that more weapons make violence more likely, not less.

And totally aside: the gentleman at the grocery store was buying about a dozen boxes of "pop tarts" and a head of celery. I shouldn't question another person's dietary choices, but really?

9 comments:

Southern Quebec said...

I live in the Great White North. Quebec specifically. Home of the pacifist. If you want a hand gun, you must fill in an application, explaining, in mind numbing detail, why you need a hand gun. Then they reject it. I personally like this system. It makes me feel safer knowing that every Jean-Guy, Serge and Harry does not have a weapon.

I would never go into a Starbucks, or any coffee shop, that allowed people with guns.

This really is a uniquely American issue...

Anonymous said...

Funny... I would never go into a place that prevented people from exercising their rights to self-defense, under the law.

The difference may be that in the US, it is the people that have given the government its limited power... not the other way around.

Demeur said...

I'm up in the air on this. Either arm everybody or limit it. The problem is gun safety. We had a guy at a concert up here who tripped, his gun went off hitting an innocent bystander. Most gun accidents involve kids or relatives. Then there's one city that's going to let people carry their guns into bars. Can you say "invitation to disaster"?

pygalgia said...

Demeur- guns are legal in bars here unless the bar posts a specific "no firearms" sign at the door. Luckily, my favorite pub prohibits them.
Anon- you're certainly free to patronize whoever you choose. I just wonder why you would want to go someplace so dangerous that you felt you needed to be carrying a gun for your own protection.
S.Q.- we're Americans. We're still mentally in the 1800's.

Woody (Tokin Librul/Rogue Scholar/ Helluvafella!) said...

My solution?
Arm EVERYBODY, w/out exception, with the instruction that, if any citizen sees another citizen with an unholstered hand-gun, that person MUST draw their own weapon and point it at the first person with a drawn gun. And if that person fires their weapon, everyone in the vicinity must also fire.

Circular firing squad for everyone!

ellroon said...

Woody has the right idea. What is going to happen when someone overcaffineates at Starbucks and shrieks,"He's got a gun!"?... after everybody shoots everybody, nobody wins....

Southern Quebec said...

I live at the Que/NY border so I am in the States on a regular basis - once a week usually. What I find weird, and this is strictly from a Cdn view, is that people are allowed to carry a gun in their pick-up truck -- in full view!

Anonymous, your argument is not valid. You are not allowed a Uzi are you? please say no...

BadTux said...

What is most hilarious to me is where these brave defenders of gun rights yada yada yada decide to carry their six-irons. Do they carry it strapped down in The Quarter, where all the Mexican drug dealers have armed lookouts on every streetcorner? Well, no -- they would get shot as a trespasser on the dealer's street, they wouldn't even see the dude who done'em in. Do they carry it to Biker Bob's Bar and Strip Club, where all the Hell's Angels hang out? Hell no, they'd end up with the gun taken away from them and rammed up their butts right before they were picked up bodily and tossed out onto the street!

So where do they carry, instead? Well... Starbucks. Yes, Starbucks. Which is such a violent place, what with all those latte-sippin' liberals sitting around and all...

Manliness fail. Just sayin', yo!

- Badtux the Snarky Penguin

Justin said...

ive seen this before, always made me wonder, is it showing off? look at me and my powerful bold display of my rights! does this guy really think he's likely to get into a gun fight at any moment in Flagstaff? Does he think he's the lone ranger? Is he irrationally frightened out of his mind, thinking if he wasnt packing he would be devoured by wolves and vampires? i understand a pocket knife, but revolver on display? strange.