From the wise gray solons at NYT…
My brother-in-law is a police officer. He carries a gun, even off duty. He comes to visit us once a year. I told my sister I do not feel comfortable having a gun in the house. (I have a small child.) She said she would talk to her husband, but I doubt she has. What should I do?
ANONYMOUS
Follow up. Ask, “How did Jim feel about leaving his gun at home?” In the event of pushback (or noncommittal dithering), add: “We know that Jim is a responsible gun owner. We just don’t want guns in our home.” If you continue to believe she’s shining you on, install a metal detector at the front door. Happy Thanksgiving!
Or alternately, you might meditate on the truth behind an old L. Neil Smith speech…
Civilised folk go armed to say, “I’m self-sufficient; I’ll never burden others — if you need my help, I’m ready.” No state controls those who have the machinery — and the will — to resist. No mob can take their liberty or property. No 220-pound thug can threaten the dignity of a 110-pound woman with two pounds of iron to even things up.
Is that evil? Is it wrong? People who object to weapons are begging for rule by brute force, when the biggest, strongest animals among men are always ‘right’…
Wear a gun to someone’s house, you’re saying, “I’ll defend this home as if it were my own.” When your guests see you carry a weapon, you’re saying, “I’ll defend you as if you were my own family.” Anyone who objects levels the deadliest insult possible: “I won’t trust you until you render yourself harmless.”
Whenever personal arms fall out of fashion, society becomes something not worth defending. Individuals start to rot away, too. Disdaining to lift a finger in their own defence because it’s ‘beneath them’. They’re no longer fit to live and simply proving they know it.
Incidentally I spent a part of Thanksgiving evening at D&L’s house enjoying turkey pot pie. And everybody was armed, and nobody freaked out about it – or even found it worth mentioning.
Really, I don’t think I could go back to living among the Eloi. They are silly people.
Geese some people simply don’t have a clue when it comes to real world risk management. As for this fool, he needs to get a testosterone shot to counter all the estrogen in his system.
Very few people realize that I’m always armed so there’s no silly pushback about guns in their space. Concealed carry has it’s advantages.
I always wonder if those of that mindset would stick by their gun free principles if somebody was breaking in to their house and they called 911. Would they say “send an officer, but only if he is unarmed”?
Arm myself as part of getting dressed each day. Traversed the Northern Ohio flat-lands from the hills of southern West Central Ohio to spend the holiday with my siblings & 88yr old Mother.
I left my double stack Sig locked in the truck so as not to upset them. I kept the single stack concealed, what they don’t know won’t hurt them.
Supposed to pick up my Father’s (and Grandfather’s) Winchester model ’97 tomorrow from Mom’s. We discussed that at the dinner table so it’s not as if they aren’t aware of firearms.
f1watch – all too often these days if you call 911 and mention “gun”, you are very likely to be on the deadly, uncontrolled, and unaccountable end of one.
“I kept the single stack concealed, what they don’t know won’t hurt them.”
My elderly Illinois mom may be puzzled as to why I wear a loose over-shirt in her overly-warm house in a state that doesn’t allow me to carry outside my Wisconsin car. She hasn’t said anything; she may be smarter than I think.