Posted on 05/05/2007 9:38:24 AM PDT by kiriath_jearim
Not ten minutes after the nation heard the news about the massacre at Virginia Tech, we began to hear the roar of the anti-gun people. While I know it’s true that many things can and will be done about new gun laws, the Second Amendment and who is permitted to carry what, I ask you to please not lecture me about giving up my concealed weapon. Unless you’ve actually looked down the barrel of a gun in the hand of a threatening person, don’t waste your words on me. I don’t want to hear what you have to say.
Many years ago I used to joke about what I did for a living. When asked, I would respond with “I sell drugs.”
Although it was a bit humorous, my answer wasn’t far from the truth. I was (and still am) a licensed pharmacist working in my own retail pharmacy. Along with hundreds of other items I actually did sell drugs…. legally, of course. With loads of controlled substances on the premises and lots of cash, I began to feel that retail was becoming the dangerous part of the profession. Not wanting to push my luck, I decided to apply for a pistol license.
The division of the New York City Police Department that handled the permits did everything they could to discourage me from getting one. If I forgot to cross a T on the application, the examiner refused to let me do it right then and there. He told me to go home, cross my T, and make a new appointment to return six weeks later. After all my T’s were crossed and all my I’s were dotted properly, I was instructed to return another six weeks later with the most current six months of my deposit slips showing how much cash I physically carried to the bank. Again, another six weeks, then another six weeks for something else, and another six weeks for all the papers to be filed, checked and whatever else they do. Then there were interviews and more interviews and ….gee. I don’t even remember how many times I was interviewed. Many of the gun control people of today are talking about a two-week cooling off hiatus before the actual licensing. Persistent me spent more than eleven months before I was legally permitted to buy and carry a firearm.
Some time later, while working behind the counter, a gun-toting thug approached me shouting some very bad words about what he was insisting I get for him. To this day, I still recall hearing the F and MF words many times along with the names of some narcotics and, of course, “WHERE THE BLANK DO YOU HIDE THE MONEY?” I didn’t even think about the possible consequences. Instantly I drew my Smith and Wesson .38 and fired. Without going into the rest of the story, let me just say that I’m here to tell you about it…..me and my .38 that I still carry and will carry till the day I die. So please -- please – please – Unless you’ve stood there as I did, don’t lecture me about the Second Amendment.
I’ve lived most of my life as a cockeyed optimist and no matter how bad the tragedy, I try to find some good in the results. Besides being responsible for one of the worst tragedies ever to occur in these United States, Cho Seung-Hui will be the poster boy for the passing and enforcement of some new gun legislation. Cho is also responsible for taking Don Imus off the front pages. Can you imagine? The war in Iraq, the possibility of global warming, another outrageous increase in gas prices, the deadline for paying income tax…. All very important matters. Yet, for more than a week, the big story was about a few stupid words uttered by a radio host.
In the news business, a story that sticks around for a long time and is milked by the media is known as a story with legs. Don Imus quipped a dumb line about a women’s basketball team and that story with legs stayed with us for days and days. In fact, it took the horrific catastrophe in Virginia to push Imus to pages 7, 8 and further back. But before that, every newspaper, newscast and talk show went on endlessly about Imus and his language. For thirty years he has insulted Jews, Italians, blacks, Mexicans, Irish, Arabs, gays, and lesbians. You name the group, for sure he has spewed out offensive comments about it. To me it’s never been what you say. It’s more about what you do and hardly anybody spoke about Don Imus’s accomplishments… the actions that spoke a lot louder than his words. There’s his camp for youngsters with cancer and siblings of SIDs victims. There are the fundraising efforts on behalf of men and women in the military that are in need of rehabilitation.
Hey. Before you write to accuse me of saying that doing benevolent work allows you to have a big stupid mouth. No. That’s not true. What I am saying is that before activists like Al Sharpton put ammunition into their bazookas and ready their forces to destroy an ‘enemy,’ they might take a few minutes out to place the bad on one side of the scale and measure it up against the good on the other. In this particular case, I would not blame Don Imus if he took his charitable efforts and went into seclusion for a few years. But he won’t.
He starts off great, and then meanders into Imus...
If he'd cut this by two paragraphs it would've been just fine.
L
I saw on FOX where Mr. Imus is suing his employers for the full 40 million of the contract because in it he is required to be impudent and controversial. I would not be very surprised to see him win it and would be even less surprised to see him put that money into his charities.
If he’d cut this by three paragraphs it would’ve been damn neer perfect.
Not sure what the 2 stories (2nd Amendment and Imus) have to do with each other, but he’s right on both counts.
With regard to his pistol license, he is indeed lucky to be here telling his story. Had Bumberg been mayor at the time, who knows?
Check out an IDPA match in your area. They can give you some pointers.
I own a .38 Spl, but I carry a .45 ACP.
If, 30 years ago, every law abiding gun owner in this nation would have made a simple statement, “out of my cold, dead hands”, and meant it, we would not still be mucking around with the issue.
Never say “maybe”, just say no, and mean it.
Same here.
There aren’t any in southern Miss.
I love my .38, it’s enough power but doesn’t kick back heavy like some .45’s.
I read a lot about concealed carry permits.
I hear absolutely nothing about OPEN CARRY, such as in a holster.
IMHO, we should be able to carry arms openly. What is yours?
IMHO any law restricting citizens carrying any way they desire is unconstitutional.
In an ideal world we should carry openly. Each state is different, however, and in some you have to carry openly and in others you have to conceal.
The ones that want you to conceal claim it’s because some people get scared when they see a gun and they could charge you with assault. BS if you ask me, but few gun laws make any sense.
Yup! We used to have the phrase, 'shall not be infringed in any way' in a previous edition of our state constitution. Not so strangely, the words, 'in any way' disappeared somehow without even an amendment. I might be wrong, but I can't find it anymore. Any New Mexico folks here remember that?
BTTT
“IMHO, we should be able to carry arms openly. What is yours?”
****
I live in Arizona. Open-carry is legal, but one doesn’t see much of it.
I'm thinking of emigrating to the US.
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