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Here’s a frivolous aside: In the distant past, when wearing swords in public was common among gentlemen, if not the bourgeoisie and laborers, as much as not, swords were a symbol of class and rank. A gentleman just wore a sword, to identify himself as a gentleman, and that was that.

It was somewhat different in the old West, as guns were most frequently worn by the laboring class, and less common among the middle class and wealthy in most situations. And far from being fashionable, guns were seen as a useful and practical tools. If you were working out in the wilderness, you just had to have a gun for all sorts of reasons.

But in either case (and I’m sure that someone could point out great flaws in either of these examples), weapons had a dual purpose which made them almost a uniform need among the people who carried them.

So my aside is, today, carried openly or concealed, what other social reason can you imagine that would make guns “the thing to have” for the typical man on the street? Just like men all used to wear hats, what do you think might be the trendy reason to sport a gun today, besides its purpose as a weapon?

In past, I’ve thought that a business could encourage its employees to be armed, not for any great reason, except to both improve morale and esprit. Of course, if the business was either in a bad neighborhood or its employees were at some risk, it would be a good idea as well, and would demonstrate that the business cared for its employees.

But what would make a gun “the thing to have” for the typical man on the street, beyond its use as a weapon?

Perhaps as a tool, perhaps as a fashion statement, perhaps as a symbol of affiliation or adulthood. And not just for men, but women as well. I wonder.

But what would make a gun “the thing to have” for the typical man on the street, beyond its use as a weapon?

How about as a symbol of citizenship and freedom?

"The sword and sovereignty ever walk hand-in-hand together." - Aristotle.

"Those who possess and can wield arms are in a position to decide whether the constitution is to continue or not." - Aristotle.