Article: Armed and Dangerous (but not in the usual way)

So it's now cool to show up at political events armed to the teeth and showing it off to the world. Can I say something about that? My parents gave me a shotgun at the age of ten. A rifle at twelve. I went through high school with my own revolver (Ruger Single-Six) hanging in a Buscadero Holster and Belt on the wall of my room in the family home in Marin County, California. Taking it to school never entered my mind. I've been a Life Member of the National Rifle Association since 1956 (yes, I was 15) and required to be armed for most of the work I've done in my 68 years. I have not only carried, but used firearms in the course of my professional responsibilities and can provide details if necessary, to prove it. I carry 24-7,even in my own home, but if you ask my wife, she'll tell you she never sees a gun.

So I ask myself, why do these people pack heat openly at these events? Their defenders say it is their right. OK, but that doesn't answer my question. They say for their self defense. Really? Having been involved tactically in Presidential Security going back as far as Truman (a speaking engagement at William Jewell College in the 60's) I can assure you there is nowhere on earth that a law-abiding citizen is protected by more State,Local and Federal Officers than within a mile of a sitting President. That argument just does not hold water.

So why do they do it? Hasn't been done before. Happening with some regularity and in some numbers now. Must be an organized effort; but still, why?

Well, the right would just love to tar Obama with the Second Amendment Question. Lets face it, in BushWorld if you showed up within a mile of him with the wrong T-shirt or bumper sticker you had a good chance of being introduced to Mr. Handcuffs. I don't even want to think what would happen to some poor shmuck who tried to get near a Bush appearance with a gun. By the Right's reasoning: Obama's Secret Service would disarm and arrest these jaggoffs and the Right could then set off the ANTI-GUN sirens for penalizing law-abiding citizens who were simply acting within their State and Local Laws. So far, Obama's peeps, wisely, haven't taken the bait.

The other reason, by my estimation, is more sinister: God, Guns and the Flag stir people up. The Right, having no specific policy goals, wants to keep their base as stirred up as possible. Images of heavily armed people hit a chord among some people like nothing else can, or should. Self-identifying with heavily armed men at a peaceful political event lends a strange flavor to the American Scene.

The pawns who show up with guns just need to be avoided. Guns are dangerous and these folk are no doubt untrained amateurs, otherwise they would not participate in such theater. Amateurs and puppies bear watching. A gun can go off accidentally in untrained hands, an untrained puppy can get excited and pee on your shoe. So, there's that to consider.

In closing, a word of advice: next time you see one of these clowns, either on TV or in person, just think of the gun as a sign that says "I'm with Stupid", and act accordingly.