I posted the following yesterday to my friends and family on Facebook:
Yes, folks, I carry. I’m carrying 70% of the time I’m not showering, not sleeping, or not on the work campus. Do I care that others don’t know that I carry? No…that’s not what the 2nd Amendment is about. The 2A doesn’t say that I’ve the right to bear arms as long as other people know I’m carrying and that they’re comfortable with it. Why do I carry? Because I choose to. Basically, I’ve the constitutional right to carry. There’s nothing conditional about it. I do not have to let other citizens know. Yes, open carry is an option (it’s legal here), but not for me…why would I let potential bad guys know that I’m their first priority?
Those that see me occasionally…I was probably carrying when you last saw me. You probably never knew. You probably felt comfortable then. Will you feel as comfortable the next time we meet, now that you know? I hope so, because I wasn’t a nut then and I’m not a nut now.
Why advertise that I carry? You all already know I own guns…I’ve been posting pictures and articles the last 9 months. I’ve been a gun lover since 1986, when I enlisted. That’s the total of my adult life. You’re also my friends, which is why you’re seeing this now. The assumption is that you already suspected that I carry, so it’s not a big deal for me to keep this a secret amongst a certain group of people. Some people hide such facts. I don’t.
Again, this isn’t a big deal for me. YMMV.
Where’s this coming from? An opinion on 2A from someone that doesn’t exercise the right.
I got the reply, which I agree with:
Now more than ever, it’s an option that every law abiding American should exercise.
Someone then replied to him with the following:
I know enough law abiding Americans who are generally a danger to themselves and others to appreciate that not everyone should have a gun.
What does someone say to that? Well, the same can be said of anything. Some people have no business driving, for example, yet they’re never noticed until they’ve been in several nasty accidents. And, when this happens (it happens a LOT with chronic drunks driving home), is there overwhelming support to ban people from having easy access to cars? Nope.
As with anything, some people either require more training than others or need to not do that particular activity. The slope becomes slippery when additional criteria is added to basic rights…the rights are no longer really rights. The system doesn’t need to be tweaked every time someone gets emotional about an issue that, on the whole, isn’t all that much of a problem. If someone becomes problematic, deal with that particular person, not the whole group.
In VA, you’re required to pass a basic firearms handling course before you can carry concealed…if people still are considered to be a danger to themselves and others even after meeting the state requirements, then what do you do? Limiting the population as a whole isn’t a good answer, especially if those types of people are outliers. Until that person accidentally kills himself or someone else, there’s really nothing you can do. Regulating a whole population because a few are inept is bad, and there’s nothing that can be preemptively done that won’t affect the people that are carrying properly.