Wednesday, June 4, 2014

The NRA Made a Point I Agreed With, For Awhile

Deep down, I lack the will to be a good gun-grabber. I do. I went to high school with a little knife that I guess wouldn't make it through the metal detectors they now have. I don't even know why I had it. Well, besides death threats and bullying. But in a way, I get the rationale behind the yen for self-defense. Your skin is precious to you. You just want to keep it intact.

But on an intellectual level, I just tend to distinguish between concealed carry and open carry in a whole different way. If someone just has a handgun in their glove box or a shoulder-holster, it kind of says to me, this is a law-abiding person prepared to defend themselves and property if they have to. On the other hand, if someone has a sniper-rifle festooned about their person, I kind of feel like they are going out of their way to signify being one bad motor-scooter and are inviting folks to step the hell back. And that bugs me.


See, I know there is this saying that "An Armed Society is a Polite Society", but when I see hammerheads carting AR-15's, I'm all like "This isn't freaking Somalia--you do not need that shit at the food court in the mall! Just have your Jamba Juice without intimidating passersby, m'kay?" And also, as in the case of some Open Carry TX folks who kind of were being ever-present about their gun-having with a handful of "concerned moms" --they weren't really even being polite themselves, were they?

So when the NRA recently referred to Open-Carry demonstrations as "weird", I was kind of heartened that maybe they were coming around to the idea that people find weapons threatening because they are threatening, because they said this:

“Let's not mince words,” the NRA said, “not only is it rare, it's downright weird and certainly not a practical way to go normally about your business while being prepared to defend yourself. To those who are not acquainted with the dubious practice of using public displays of firearms as a means to draw attention to oneself or one's cause, it can be downright scary.”

True, that. But they reversed themselves.  At gunpoint, I guess. Anyway, no one ever asked me, but I kind of think guns are a little like tampons. Really, have them close by if you think you might need the protection, but would you really wear them like earrings?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Vixen,
I'm an NRA member, and I am in agreement with you. The first statement makes a lot more sense than the second. This is a little unusual. The NRA rarely gets put into a small political SNAFU.

I guess these guys were just trying to assert some statement. I think it does more harm to open carry possibilities than good.

Some states do have open carry, and it comes in handy. You decide to go hiking someplace. You have to do something in a bad neighborhood. You've got some ex-husband or threatening personalities after you.

There are a lot of venues in which open carry is a good thing, including the fact that if something bad comes up you don't have to jump through legal hoops to carry a pistol.

Being around a bunch of guys with semi-automatic weapons doesn't bother me. I see it for what it is: political theater and nothing more. I worry more about the gangbanger with a 9 millimeter in his pocket.

If you're shopping for something to put in that glittering purse while you are in the little black dress, here's
one to consider.

--Formerly Amherst

Steve Vandenberg said...

I don't have a problem with open carry but if you want to exercise that right with a public demonstration don't do it at a Chucky Cheese where there are kids and concerned parents. If I saw a group of guys coming through the front door I'd be haulin out the back with my kids in tow and I'm packing a couple .45s. Do that shit outside in a park. Let people eat and shop w/o having to worry.

Anonymous said...

Hi Vixen,
I share your perspective. Ironically, most members of the NRA would agree with us. In any event, it backfired as some merchants who previously allowed concealed carry in their establishments revoked that permission.

--Formerly Amherst

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