I don't know if there was a subliminal message, but I'd like to know how many sheriffs in the south went around unarmed. There are very small towns like Mayberry up north where I live, but rest assured, all the law enforcement people are armed. I realize it was a comedy show and there were times when Sheriff Taylor used a gun to guard a criminal. But the fact that he went unarmed while his deputy was armed and also that there were no black people in a southern town always amused me.
Not many black people in the mountainous areas of the South. That’s why they were pro-union during the civil war.