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They're Armed, Dangerous And Next Door
St. Petersburg Times ^ | October 22, 2005 | Daniel Ruth

Posted on 10/22/2005 1:41:31 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife

Some years ago, long after a co-worker had left the Ministry of Truth, a number of us learned that, during this person's tenure among us, the individual frequently was armed and dangerous in the workplace.

If there is such a thing as a retroactive, post-traumatic, primal scream/crawling into a fetal position/whimpering with delayed fear syndrome -- the idea that many of us once worked alongside not only a complete crazy nut job, but a complete crazy nut job with a GUN certainly qualifies.

Or, put another way, if you ever needed a reason to install the mother of all panic rooms, consider this certifiably insane statistic: At the moment, across our fair beloved state, there are 354,552 Floridians with concealed weapons permits walking among us.

Let's face it, you just know at least a couple thousand of those folks running around with their hidden weapons are probably more unhinged than Edgar Allen Poe meets Rudolf Hess.

A Simple Test

Or perhaps they are directly behind you in traffic. Brrrrrrr.

Which brings us rather neatly to state Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Tea Cup Poodle, the legislative supernumerary of the National Rifle Association, who is the leading lotion boy on behalf of the gun lobby to deny employers the right to bar workers from keeping their weapons in their car while on company property.

How deranged is this?

Take this simple test.

Look around your workplace. Chances are there are one, or two, or three, or more co-workers you and your colleagues have often joked about as being the leading candidate to bring an AK-47 to the office someday.

Or maybe that Dilbert from Hell is -- you!

And now Dennis Baxley, R-You Talkin' To Me?, wants to make it just that much easier for your resident lunatic in the next cubicle to turn Amalgamated Widgets into a killing field.

We live in an imperfect world -- filled with very, very strange people who hear voices; who have issues; who really don't like you just ... because.

And many of these people are down the hall -- seething, fulminating, over in personnel -- filling out a job application.

Perfect World

Purely, as a general principle, can you make some kind of abstract Second Amendment argument that law-abiding citizens ought to be able to take their bazookas, their Uzis, their 50-caliber armor-piercing rocket launchers with them wherever they go, including onto the grounds of Acme Nose Tweezer International?

Well ... OK, whatever.

To be sure, in a perfect world where there was no workplace violence, where some employees weren't more unhinged than Son of Sam meets Lex Luthor, it would be fine if people drove into the company parking lot with their NRA-approved death ray, or their surface-to-air missile, or their Gatling Gun in the trunk. Who would care?

However, if the private sector can regulate other forms of employee behavior, such as smoking in the workplace, why can't employers also establish rules governing the presence of lethal weapons on private property?

There's no question the Florida Legislature, a subsidiary of the National Rifle Association, will pass Baxley's Fortune 500 meets "Six Feet Under" bill.

One question for Baxley, who does happen to have a conflict of interest in his legislation since he is an Ocala funeral director:

If as a result of the representative's legislative actions an act of workplace violence leads to the murders of workers, would Dennis Baxley also be willing to create a NRA-funded compensation account for the surviving families?

Didn't think so.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; bang; banglist; bigbrother; concealedweapon; confiscation; crime; disarmed; guncontrol; guns; nra; rkba; secondamendment
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Obviously, this pitiful writer has something to fear. He's the one in the office that everyone would like to kill.


41 posted on 10/22/2005 3:24:24 AM PDT by kittymyrib
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To: backhoe

An as a better-known writer once penned, "An armed society is a polite society"

Kudos to you, and all yours for your unstinting support of, and participation in the R2KBA - as an avid hunter, and the eldest son of a retired Deputy Sheriff, most especial thanks for the readiness to act in a support role for law enforcement.

My pop and his cohorts knew they often had straight-shooting citizen soldiers lurking quietly among the good folk, ready to take action in a tight spot, and help uphold the law.

A.A.C.

"The Final Crusade has commenced!"


42 posted on 10/22/2005 3:30:44 AM PDT by AmericanArchConservative (Armour on, Lances high, Swords out, Bows drawn, Shields front ... Eagles UP!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Read later bump. ;-)


43 posted on 10/22/2005 3:32:52 AM PDT by Tunehead54 (Nothing funny here ;-)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

If somebody is intending to kill everybody in his workplace, a faded, rusted sign at the entrance to the parking lot declaring it a "Gun Free Zone" is not going to stop him.

OTOH, when he's advancing through the hallways, shooting everyone in his path, another employee who ran to get his weapon from the trunk of his car just might...

Or they could wait until the cops get off break to come and count the bodies...


44 posted on 10/22/2005 3:37:16 AM PDT by gridlock (Nature started the fight for survival, and now she wants to quit because she's losing... Monty Burns)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Must be - although I no longer work.


45 posted on 10/22/2005 3:37:46 AM PDT by R. Scott (Humanity i love you because when you're hard up you pawn your Intelligence to buy a drink.)
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To: StAnDeliver

Tell me you couldn't have picked that dweeb's picture out of a line-up...


46 posted on 10/22/2005 3:39:34 AM PDT by gridlock (Nature started the fight for survival, and now she wants to quit because she's losing... Monty Burns)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

This is the St. Petersberg Times - one of the most liberal messes of a paper you can find. Their front page read like a liberal editorial page sometimes.

The very last time I bought them their main editorial was how come people arent't paying more property taxes.

There is one reason for buying them - coupons. They do have good coupons. Sometimes I need the 40% one off at Michaels. But after that ed, I swore I would NEVER give them another cent.

This column is standard fare. The paper is horrible. Even my kids noticed that their pictures of Bush make him look as weird as possible.


47 posted on 10/22/2005 3:47:28 AM PDT by I still care (America is not the problem - it is the solution..)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
I think - "....there are 354,552 Floridians with concealed weapons permits walking among us." - would make an excellent billboard.

Better yet: Imagine putting up street signs in your neighborhood (similar to those ubiquitous "Neighborhood Watch" signs) that say:

"There are 354,552 Floridians with concealed weapons permits - and 12 of them live in this neighborhood."

Wanna bet burglars and other lowlifes would go elsewhere?

48 posted on 10/22/2005 3:51:10 AM PDT by XR7
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
I've read Mr. Ruth's article at least three times, and I continue to be astounded at the stullifying stupidity of it.

Americans, collectively, used to know better- or if they didn't, had the grace to keep their mouths shut and not advertise it.

Every year in our area, somebody falls into the water, drowns, and the first thing friends & relatives tell the reporters is "ole so & so was so scared of the water, he never learned how to swim..."

We are surrounded by water here- ocean, lakes, ponds, rivers, borrow pits-- I cannot recall ever, not knowing how to swim-- my parents, rather than trying to make "the water safe around me," by scaring me about it, chose to "make me safe around the water"-- by teaching me to swim at such an early age, I can't remember doing it.

It was the same thing with guns-- when I was too little to handle them, they were locked away-- but as soon as I could pick one up- around age six- my Dad showed me what a .22 long rifle could do to a grapefruit, gave me my own little single-shot .22, and taught me how to shoot.

My point being that rather than trying to "make guns safe around me"-- whether by scaring me, loading them with "safety" devices ( like any machine, it is the operator who sets the level of "safety"-- they are all dangerous ) or hiding them, they chose to make me safe around firearms by proper training.

Knowing how to shoot is like knowing how to drive-- if you are ever in a situation where this knowledge could save your life, it's too late to start learning-- you need to know how beforehand.

If you never need the knowledge, fine- it's there in reserve.

49 posted on 10/22/2005 3:52:08 AM PDT by backhoe
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

"I hope when a nut job comes out of the woodwork, someone with a concealed weapon takes him/her out."

As I read this article, I became more paranoid of the writer than the subjects he was describing. Maybe it's just me. (right)


50 posted on 10/22/2005 3:53:57 AM PDT by poobear (Imagine a world of liberal silence!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
Daniel just needs something to talk about Saturday on his radio talk show. He thinks and positions himself a moderate on his show, but every once in a while his true liberal colors come out in full glory
51 posted on 10/22/2005 3:54:01 AM PDT by Popman (In politics, ideas are more important than individuals.)
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To: StAnDeliver
Oh, another 'girlyman' activist. Perhaps his housekeeper can rearrange his sock drawer to relieve his anxiety.
52 posted on 10/22/2005 3:56:37 AM PDT by poobear (Imagine a world of liberal silence!)
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

Boy, you had me scared for a minute, LOL.

I saw the link at the top to the SPTimes and thought they had hired Ruth (as if they don't already have enough libs on the staff, I hated the idea of them importing one from across the Bay.)


53 posted on 10/22/2005 4:02:50 AM PDT by dawn53
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To: Popman

On Sat AM we have the radio tuned to 970 for the early morning fishing show...and Ruth comes on right after the fishing show.

The man is irritating to listen to as he tries to "veil" his positions. Guess when you're on the station where most folks tune in to listen to Rush or Glenn Beck, you can't let your guard down too much, but all you have to do is read his columns and you know right where he stands.

I get a kick out of the fact that he's followed by Cigar Dave on Saturday...I'd love to see the ratings for those two shows.


54 posted on 10/22/2005 4:09:58 AM PDT by dawn53
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To: AmericanArchConservative
My pop and his cohorts knew they often had straight-shooting citizen soldiers lurking quietly among the good folk, ready to take action in a tight spot, and help uphold the law.

I can't quite recall the circumstances, but about a year ago, someone at work needed a pistol for something ( she works at a religious conference center, way out in the swamps of Georgia ) maybe to kill a rattlesnake...

Anyway, every woman on the site- even the cooks- hauled a pistol out of their purses.

The token "little liberal girly-man" they keep in the office nearly fainted at seeing all that ordnance pulled out into the light of day. Gave the Poor Dear a fit of the Vapours...

55 posted on 10/22/2005 4:10:12 AM PDT by backhoe
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To: Cincinatus' Wife
As I was reading this, I was certain it was some kind of parody from The Onion.

But as the absurdity grew and grew, it appeared that the writer had at least one year of journalism.

Journalism majors, as freshmen, have a DIN 25 plug pounded into the rear of their little heads, through which the Party Line of the Glorious Red Dawn is downloaded into their impressionable RAM.

Here is an answer I use, to which I have ever heard a good rebuttal:


From the 1990's to the present, tens of thousands of people have had their life savings erased by corporate scammers, embezzelers, and other lowlives. Millions of others have has their lives disrupted or ruined by downsizing.

Jack Welch is still alive and well. Name any of these scumbags who have been taken out by our supposedly armed and dangerous society.

This is a tribute to the decency and self-restraint of the American Gun Owner.

56 posted on 10/22/2005 4:11:09 AM PDT by Gorzaloon
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To: Cincinatus' Wife

nobody has the right to tell me what i can keep in my vehicle if it is legal-he sure as hell is not going to do a search-what is this guy doing that makes him scared of people with guns


57 posted on 10/22/2005 4:12:28 AM PDT by catmanblack. (he is the great I AM-)
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Comment #58 Removed by Moderator

To: staytrue
The 2nd amendment was meant to regulate the govt. not individual persons.

The 2nd amendment simply recognizes an inalienable right granted by God. The Bill of Rights does not grant rights, it simply recognizes them.

Part of a contract that is illegal is uneforceable, i.e. you cannot sell yourself into slavery. You cannot relinquish an inalienable right. You can fail to exercise it, but it still exists.

59 posted on 10/22/2005 4:17:37 AM PDT by THEUPMAN (#### comment deleted by moderator)
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To: dawn53
Ruth is O.K. he does actually once in a while make a decent point or two.

Last sat I tried to get on because he literally took two opposing position on the same subject in a five minute period.

I was going to nail him on it but never get though, of course he would have weaseled out of it, but I'd like to nail his self important ass on it

60 posted on 10/22/2005 4:21:30 AM PDT by Popman (In politics, ideas are more important than individuals.)
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