I carry a gun. Usually when I'm out in public I carry concealed, and around home I have a semi-automatic on my side. It's not that I feel inadequate without a gun, I know full well that against a couple of armed thugs I am inadequate without a gun. Where we live we could not count on less than a half hour response to a 911 call, so I take the responsibility of being the cop on this beat. Yesterday I had to make a run in town for some stuff though, and decided just to leave the gun visable on my side. I was curious about the response I might get, because there are some people just deathly afraid of a gun (though I've never been able to understand that). I was proud of our little town. I went to two different stores, did my shopping, and just watched the other people in the stores for any reaction. There was none. At the check-out line for one store a little old lady was next in line behind me, so had a good view of the holstered gun. She didn't bat an eye. If any discussion on gun laws included the number of crimes that are stopped or prevented in this country each year by an honest person with a gun, maybe a lot of people would look differently about open carry in public. There are areas of this country that would get you arrested just for that, but the greatest deterent to criminals is and has always been an armed citizenry. Oh, the number of crimes that are stopped or prevented each year? About two million.
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