I read something like this, and I’m struck all over again by the irony of one of the gun-grabbers’ favorite calumnies, that sane people want guns because they’re ‘cowards, filled with fear…’
A few weeks ago, my wife and I were shopping in Fort Gratiot, and we decided to stop at the Fort Gratiot McDonald’s to have some lunch, as we have done many times before. We pulled in a parking space, turned off the car, and then spotted something that caused us to decide to go somewhere else.
In the few seconds it took for me to restart the car, we saw several customers hurriedly rush out of the restaurant with panicked looks on their faces.
What was it that we spotted? A man carrying a gun into the restaurant.
Horror! Chaos and calamity!
And such sad, utter cluelessness…
How am I, just an average person, supposed to know if the person with the firearm is a “good guy” or a “bad guy?”
Suppose that I am armed, too. Should I fire preemptively at the other person with the gun just in case that person is a “bad guy,” and take the chance of killing a “good guy,” or should I hold my fire and take the chance that the other person will not be a “bad guy” or be a “good guy” and think I am a “bad guy” and fire at me first?
If you need to ask, you’ll never know. So your question is pointless, but I’ll give you a clue: It’s not about what he’s wearing. It’s about what he’s doing.
Is there a secret handshake that “good guys” use to identify each other?
Yes. Yes, there is. And you need have no fear that anyone will ever teach it to you, Snowflake, until you become a different, better person.
H/T to Unc, as if he needs hits from me.
One cannot help but wonder if the gun in question was an almost-concealed handgun peeking from under a garment or a fully-tacticalized AR type thrown over the shoulder of a camo-clad, bearded ninja warrior. Might make a difference in public reaction, particularly if the mass exodus described took place. Ya never know what panic might produce, even if unjustified.
That said, the writer sounds like a total dweeb.
I did kinda wonder the same thing, particularly assuming the writer didn’t make up the part about the horrified exodus.
My next question to this “how can you tell the good guys” thing is: Do you automatically trust the people in government costumes with badges to be the “good guys?” Why is that?
But ultimately, the short answer is the one you gave, Joel. Makes no difference what he/she is wearing, including the AK47 slung on the back. What makes a difference is what he/she is doing with it. And you might have to change your mind about the good/bad thing in a flash if they start doing something with it they weren’t doing earlier. But then it is time to ACT responsibly. The hysteria and pearl clutching doesn’t help.
Life is risky and there are no guarantees.
” seeing someone other than a police officer walking around with a firearm does not make me feel safe” I worry more when I see a cop then a non cop with a holstered gun.
“how can you tell the good guys” The simple thing to do is covered under Rule 20
– Be polite and be professional to everyone you meet but have a plan to kill them all.
Sorry ML, I couldn’t resist. :^)
The only folks that make me tense when I see them with guns are the police. One of the most comfortable places that I go to is the range I belong. The group that damages the tranquility usually are the police who come out to train. The simple fact is the ones I have dealt with at our range (and when I was working) had egos that were way to big and simply cannot be cautioned as to firearms safety. There have been a few times while doing my stint as an RO I have had to caution and even toss out a few cops for being stupid. Personally in a perfect world I would like to see the police gone or at the very least be reduced and those left all have to keep the guns in the trunk of their cruisers. Well one can hope…