I wonder about people sometimes. Otherwise perfectly sane people can be so wrapped up in their own delusions that what seems completely obvious to you and me is as opaque to them as the thickest wall.
I haven’t followed any news about the recent mass-killing in Aurora. All I know is that some guy did it, and that the same old anti-gun blood-dancers came out in full costume before the last body hit the floor. We already knew what they were going to say. And yet they never seem to notice that by their standards all those people should have been perfectly safe. I gather there was a “no guns” sign on the theater door.
The best – and most obvious – thing to be said about it is already said.
Try as I might, I am unable to comprehend the thinking of people who put “gun-free zone” signs in theaters, or on homes, or anywhere. How do they not get that criminals and madmen will read this as “Get your tasty defenseless victims, right here?”
At least “gun-free” signs on homes generally only jeopardize people stupid enough to put them up. “Gun-free” signs and policies in public spaces are another matter; whatever gibbering moron at Cinemark studios mandated this one painted bull’s-eyes on a theater-full of innocents.
What else needs to be said? The same guy said that, too.
For myself, from now on I plan to willfully violate every “gun-free zone” policy I run across. If enough sane people do likewise, perhaps the next massacre can be prevented.
Yeah, that’s pretty much my policy. Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. Some are meant to be ignored. Or if you don’t ignore them, just take them to mean you’re not welcome there and keep walking.
Survival-wise, the most important life lesson is that bad stuff can happen here. The thing I fear most in life is that I’ll find myself in a situation like that – and yes it CAN happen – and that the only actions open to me will be unarmed suicide or helpless cringing, praying the bad man doesn’t see me. Not the way I want to go out, and not a memory I’d care to carry should I by luck survive.
My gun has a lot of wear marks on it, and I know how to use it. Some signs are beneath my notice. When I go down, I hope it isn’t quietly. And while in most matters I don’t hold myself up as some great example, I do genuinely believe the world would be a safer – or at least more polite – place on average if more people followed the same policies.
At least here, in Ohio-land, it’s merely “trespassing” if someone notices your heater and you don’t leave when asked. Except for…”official” buildings, of course, like schools, or other booberment places, then it’s a little more severe.
And some places aren’t exactly marked clearly. There was a UDF I used to see had it’s “no blaster” sign tucked way down in the corner with the “no shoes no shirt” and some merchant stickers and it was worn, so it was a chance thing I actually noticed it one day, leaving (it was about waist level and, well, there was a nice looking one right next to it that caught my eyes first.)
So, anyways, yeah, I don’t go many places where I’m likely to be the only one risking “official” contact with authorities by taking responsibility for myself, if I can help it.
I’ve always understood No Guns signs to mean the establishment does not want me or my business. I have no problems not taking my gun or money into those places. Every person that carries a gun for defense has to decide whether or not to abide by those signs, and the potential consequences of the decision.
I look at it this way: I will respect their rules in exact proportion to how they respect my personal sovereignty. “No guns”, you say? Well, I sure don’t see one either, so we must be good. (From there, it’s often good ironic fun to chat ’em up a bit and get ’em smiling and laughing, especially when you don’t have a viable alternative to patronize instead. Many of us live in places where choices are limited, and although I’ll always prefer the decent to the deluded, sometimes it’s just not practicable.)
It’s a “need to know” thing, and either nobody needs to know, or everyone does. If the day comes when I fail to avoid going from the nobody-scenario to the everyone, well, we can then discuss who first needed to know, and how badly. Until then–you know, since this is “all about safety”–I’ll go with the policy that actually makes safety possible: “Don’t start nothin’, won’t be nothin’.”
I would think being Arizona is now a constitutional carry state this is less an issue there. Here in PRK I can’t do shit. There is a no carry sign every damn where I go. And now the anti gun vampires are raging here once again. Sigh.