Another level headed Op-Ed in my paper. I really need to move to Texas.
Guns were where he least expected them
Sunday, January 20,2013
There’s a critical moment in the acclaimed literary work, “Ren & Stimpy: Space Madness,” in which Ren the irritable Chihuahua orders Stimpy the overgrown, not very intelligent cat to guard a red button that, if pushed, will erase all of history. This assignment vexes Stimpy.
What happens, asks Stimpy, if the button is pushed? Ren’s answer: Ma-a-a-a-ybe something good, ma-a-a-ybe something bad, but we’ll never know, will we? Because you’re not going to push it, ar-r-r-r-e you?
Stimpy, predictably, finds the temptation to push the button unbearable.
Many people familiar with “Ren & Stimpy” mistake it for a mere cartoon. It’s much more. This episode, for example, is an animated allegory for why I don’t carry a concealed handgun.
I am not opposed to the concealed-carry rights of those who exercise those rights safely and competently. Actually, I’m more than not opposed. I’m in favor, which, at the risk of stereotyping, probably classifies me as a minority among people who do what I do for a living.
Those who carry a concealed handgun have accepted a huge responsibility not unlike Stimpy’s. The presence of people who have made that choice — those I know are armed and those I don’t — makes me feel safer.
A lot of columnists and commentators, in the aftermath of Newtown, Conn., have claimed that an armed citizen confronted with a similar situation would make it worse. Their fount of expertise is a mystery to me. I have no idea whether an armed citizen in a crowd accosted by a shooting madman would make the situation better or worse. I suppose the outcome would vary from armed citizen to armed citizen. But the risk that a law-abiding someone in a crowd might be armed is, I suspect, more deterrent than accelerant.
I’ve avoided the responsibility to be one of those people. Too many times, I’ve been in situations that, afterward, I was glad I didn’t have a gun — especially when I was a bicycle commuter. Many friends and acquaintances urged me to carry a gun while bicycling, for my safety. But after that egg incident, I thought otherwise. Ditto the beer-bottle incident. I was sideswiped on purpose 20 years ago by a speeding driver. I still feel a rage that I would describe as murderous, and a desire to settle accounts. Of course, I know enough about myself to know that if I became a licensed gun carrier, I’d exercise better judgment than I do unarmed. The presence of the gun would be sobering. I’d avoid disagreements, be less disagreeable, forgo shouted critiques of reckless drivers while walking the dog.
A couple of years ago, I discovered that most of my friends and acquaintances carry concealed guns. This came as a shock — that these responsible members of society regularly hid deadly force on their persons and were willing to use it, and that I was surrounded by them. Their adeptness at concealing was part of the surprise — no jackets outdoors in July. They all wore shorts no baggier than mine.
All believed strongly in not only their right but their duty to take personal responsibility to protect themselves and their friends and families. All were willing to fill the crucial, unforeseeable gap in police response time. And I sensed among them a hint of reproach that I didn’t also accept this responsibility.
On one level, it was kind of scary, being surrounded by guns I couldn’t see. But everyone I know who conceals and carries is someone whose good judgment I trust. The people I wouldn’t trust, or should fear, don’t bother with the license, or aren’t eligible.
My gun-carrying friends and acquaintances are nurses, lawyers, owners and operators of small businesses — people the rest of us wouldn’t suspect. One of them, a prominent physician whose liberal political views would offend opponents of “Obamacare,” told me the other day that he’s always armed and that no one — NO ONE — will take his AR-15 rifle from him.
That’s what a lot of people would call crazy talk. And that’s the problem with the current discourse about gun rights and gun control — people on either side dismiss each other as crazy. The good doctor is a respected member of the community and there is nothing crazy about him. He deserves to be heard with all the dignity and respect that the initials after his name imply.
My world is more full of guns than I once thought. Most of them belong to people like the good doctor, who make our world safer.
Tom Whitehurst Jr. is Viewpoints-Opinion Page Editor of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
eugend66 says:
Or, something like this:
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22nd January 2013 at 8:28 am
card802 says:
This could get interesting as a battle for the Constitution. 1st Amendment, 2nd Amendment, and now the new legislation being pushed by House republicans “No Budget, No Pay” is being fought by democrats as being unconstitutional per the 27th Amendment.
Seems both sides want to cherry pick the Constitution, until they just throw the thing out, as if they haven’t already….
Michigan has also introduced this legislation.
Firearms Freedom Act: http://firearmsfreedomact.com/state-by-state/
“Originally introduced and passed in Montana, the FFA declares that any firearms made and retained in-state are beyond the authority of Congress under its constitutional power to regulate commerce among the states.
Following initial Montana enactment, clones of the Firearms Freedom Act have subsequently been enacted in Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming and South Dakota, and other clones have been introduced in the legislatures of twenty-some other states.
The FFA is primarily a Tenth Amendment challenge to the powers of Congress under the “commerce clause,” with firearms as the object – it is a state’s rights exercise.”
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22nd January 2013 at 8:45 am
AKAnon says:
OP’s point is right on the money-CC is critical. It does not matter that EVERY person IS armed to reduce crime, it is essential that every potential victim MIGHT BE armed that changes the dynamic. Which may be why “gun free zones” are such a common killing ground for the mass shooters.
In AK, anyone who can legally own a handgun can also legally carry concealed w/o a permit. That is a lot of “might be” armed folks. Of course, you can get a permit if you choose (simplifies purchases and reciprocity in most states). We also have a “made in retained in AK exempt from Feds” legislation (not sure it’s been signed yet, though). Also, recently introduced legislation to allow CCW permitted and specially trained school employees to carry on school grounds.
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22nd January 2013 at 10:26 am
Eddie says:
Sheriffs who want to be re-elected are going on record.
http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Collin-County-Sheriff-Wont-Enforce-Gun-Laws-That-Violate-Constitution-187816921.html
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22nd January 2013 at 11:06 am
Hope@ZeroKelvin says:
@Eddie: Those articles are all well and good – for the Sheriff’s reelection. But most of these Sheriffs are more than happy to take all kinds of FEDERAL money for “The War On Drugs”. A “War” that violates all kinds of constitutional protections willy nilly.
And once you suck on the federal tit – THEY HAVE YOU. The feds will just withhold their high tech goodies to the Sheriffs that refuse to enforce federal gun laws. We will see how long these so-called 2A lovers last then.
http://freedominourtime.blogspot.com/2013/01/put-not-your-trust-in-federalized.html
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22nd January 2013 at 11:25 am
flash says:
Saw this over at KD’s…Utah is the place for me…
http://www.utahsheriffs.org/USA-Home_files/2nd%20Amendment%20Letter.pdf
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22nd January 2013 at 11:28 am
flash says:
The rhetoric heats up in NY.This is were the 2nd Amendment test will be held.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/hit_us_with_your_best_shot_andy_5rxZg0gYBJJhkLBtiTPMfJ
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22nd January 2013 at 11:31 am
TeresaE says:
@Flash, a state law should have ZERO bearing on the Bill of Rights.
I could be wrong, but this EXACT issue is what made us the most uniquely governed place on earth.
If New York, and those that continue to choose to live there and put up with this shit, want to be mommy & daddy’d to death, then they (technically) have that right.
There are already a few hundred reasons I wouldn’t want to live in New York, this is yet one more.
But, we should not allow the federal government to make a federal case out of it. Because contrary to “protecting” our Constitutional rights, this fight would just further solidify the omnipotence of the federal government.
Thomas Jefferson is barfing somewhere right about now.
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22nd January 2013 at 11:38 am
ecliptix543 says:
Excellent point Teresa. The whole point of States’ Rights is that the States are free to make and pass whatever laws they can get the votes to pass. It doesn’t matter if the law is a great defender of citizens’ rights or if it’s as retarded as Admin’s cat – they are free to make that law. In the exact same dynamic, people are free to leave that state for another that better suits their interests if the environment becomes hostile to the way they wish to live their lives.
Our problem is that the Feddies refuse to back the fuck off on issues that should, by law, be a States matter. Like health care. Or gun laws. Or recreational amateur pharmaceuticals. Or any of the thousand other abuses inflicted upon us via the infernal Commerce Clause excuse.
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22nd January 2013 at 12:23 pm
Ron says:
A lot of things are about freedom, I see all kinds of armed people and it dosent bother me that they open carry.All the elk hunters wearing camo clothes at the grocery store is kind of funny.
The list of things that you want to do or feel that people should be left alone to do.
Drinking and using drugs.Prostitution. and guns.many more.
If you start thinking on it,your only so free.
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22nd January 2013 at 2:36 pm
hollow man says:
Watching baseball practice. Carring a sig at the moment. Concealed. Texas. At the littld leuage field.
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22nd January 2013 at 7:41 pm
hollow man says:
Practice is over. Headed to get gas go home. Still got sig. Texas.
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22nd January 2013 at 8:44 pm
Dorkus Maximus says:
Hollow man: Excellent. The kids at baseball practice were safe.
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22nd January 2013 at 9:52 am
Concealed Carry Pro says:
Choosing to carry a gun is personal. Not everyone is suited for doing it, and with it comes a big responsibility, as the article.mentioned.
You also have the responsibility to take people’s sensibilities into account. Some people are downright afraid of guns. It’s our job to not only carry responsibly, but to educate the public regarding concealed carry. It lowers crime rates and this has been proven over and over again.
Once people realize that a majority of concealed carry people are responsible citizens, that practice with their weapons and for different types of danger, they might be less afraid and more thankful that they are people like us, willing to handle the responsibility that concealed carry brings along with it.
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22nd January 2013 at 12:35 pm