This would be a good one for that:
Posted on 02/12/2003 7:17:47 AM PST by boris
If you have just the slightest notion how L.A.'s homicidal gang wars may affect peace-loving noncombatants, consider this: -
My plumber now carries a gun.
He's no sharpshooter. No Wyatt Earp. He lives and works far from inner-city battlefields. He's never fought over a parking space and isn't, known to explode when the world doesn't turn his way. Nonetheless, he is packing. He's heeled. Strapped. This middle-age, bespectacled soul keeps some sort of automatic pistol - I didn't ask make and model - in his toolbox or glove compartment. Always.
Now, the plumber is not a stupid man. He knows the odds of some thug carjacking his aging truck are about impossible to none. He reads. He has some college. He was smart enough to get into a recession-proof business.
But these days he gives off a decidedly wacky vibe.
As if dangerous possibilities follow him around the city.
As if stray bullets might rocket from the headlines through the walls of his home.
As if he has decided, once and for all, that push has come to shove in our golden town and it may soon be open season on tradesmen.
And there is no talking to him. For I know my plumber all too well. I know his cholesterol problem. I know his golf handicap. This is a result of having bought a home with antique pipes. Recently, he came clean about the weapon.
"I just sense I need it," the plumber said. "I don't want to have to plead with some gangbanger to let me live."
Never mind that he's breaking gun laws every day. Never mind that his customers are mostly solvent and sane. If he's working for felons, they are probably white-collar crooks. The plumber says he doesn't feel safe without that pistol. Worse, the longer he carries it, the more horrifying urban scenarios he imagines.
He fears drive-bys while lounging at Starbucks. He believes crack-starved triggermen could mistake his truck for an undercover police unit. He worries about a major earthquake, dreaming that hordes of havenots may storm his gated community.
Luckily, the plumber is unconcerned about curious children getting close to his gun. He divorced years ago and lives alone. Getting caught with the firearm fazes him even less.
"Look," he told me, "this is California. I have no record. You ever hear of a rap star spending more than a few hours in jail for a gun in his Range Rover? Maybe in New York. But not here."
This from a man whose brother is a cop in some sleepy Southwestern town where they arrest speeders for fun.
This from a troubled, anxious, ordinary working stiff who watches television and believes the terrible body count on ghetto sidewalks could easily spread to Encino or Brentwood. Pure nonsense to anyone who knows anything about gang murder.
Still, there is something terribly disturbing about the plumber's decision: A mild-mannered guy who's never been the victim of violent crime wants to be Rambo with a wrench. In his warm, splendid city he sees terror.
Meanwhile, life goes on, commerce persists and an otherwise quiet, unassuming 45-year-old man doesn't realize he's armed and dangerous.
Even though he is.
Joseph Honig writes for television in Los Angeles.
--Boris
Evidently not.
But the author of this tripe sure is. Every citizen who carries for self defense is armed and dangerous? Funny, the statistics about CCW holders don't seem to support this notion...
This would be a good one for that:
What an ass this Hornig is. Mr. Hornig is the one who doesn't have a very clear view of reality. What's he going to do if he is attacked by some remorseless thug? Throw his cell phone and Starbucks latte at him? Or plead for his life, by appealing to the (nonoexistent) better side of Mr. Thug. Uh huh. That'll work.
He is a full time propogandist for the left-wing.
Who let this moron write stuff for public consumption? It's obvious that you don't have to pass an intelligence test to write for Los Angeles daily News.
Or to not rape my wife and daughter.
Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives. Period.
I refuse to be just another statistic or a footnote in a newspaper:
"A Bridgeport man was killed today, and his daughter abducted when several teens surrounded their car as it came to a stop at an intersection..."
It happens, I read it all the time, but it won't happen to this man.
If I had a hobby of committing home invasion robbery, I would know that Mr Joseph Honig is unarmed and defenseless. I could get his address from the phone book or city directory. Nothing like a disarmed and defenseless victim to make for a happy and successful robbery (at least from the robber's point of view :-) Honig should enjoy it too since he would have a chance to plead for his life or maybe submit to a little rape - after all these are a lot better than allowing citizens to be (horrors) armed.
I worked in South Central for 3 years and packed my Glock 17 everywhere I went. I know a number of people who did the same thing.
If he's quiet and unassuming what makes the writer believe he is dangerous? Armed, yes. Smart, yes. But dangerous? Dangerous only to those who would attempt him harm.
The story also has an incredibly weak line of reasoning. If the guy really valued his plumber, he would have never written this story. I just think he was bitter about some guy with a tool box who can earn $200 per hour. I hope the author does not find an armed proctologist, a dentist with brass knuckles, or a urologist with an uzi. I really don't want to hear about that.
Last month it was the cable guy. Before that it was the electrician. Those damn trades-people! They can steal you poor!
Oh yeah, they can read too....
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