Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Op-ed: We need more than luck to protect us from gun violence
The Salt Lake Tribune ^ | Nov 14 2015 | Rachel Borup

Posted on 11/15/2015 1:10:53 PM PST by ForYourChildren

Last weekend I took my 9-year-old on a mother-daughter date to Fashion Place Mall. As we sat in the crowded food court enjoying an ice cream, two white men in their early 20s walked by our table, each wearing jeans, a tucked-in T-shirts and a prominently displayed gun in its holster. The men walked slowly and seemed to enjoy the fact that people in the food court were visibly alarmed by their conspicuous exhibition of weapons.

My immediate response was fear for my and my daughter's lives. We have all seen the tragedies in the news. We've heard how these incidents play out; a man calmly walks into a crowded public space with a gun and begins shooting innocent people at random. These acts of unconscionable violence are so common and numerous in the U.S. that we refer to them in shorthand by their location: Columbine, Fort Hood, Newtown, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Charleston, Isla Vista, Trolley Square.

Heart pounding, I took my daughter's hand and quickly walked away from the area fearing that today our photos would be the ones in the news, and people would say of us, "They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Upset at leaving her ice cream, my daughter resisted and asked where we were going. When I told her that some men in the food court had guns and it wasn't safe to stay there, her eyes got big with fear, she squeezed my hand and hastened her steps. As soon as we got out of the area, I called mall security and reported the situation.

(Excerpt) Read more at sltrib.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; constitution; guncontrol; guns
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last
To: FourPeas

Totally agree. Forget the silly ice cream and teach the kid to shoot. I was hunting at her age. You remind me of the mothers who scream at their children “Don’t go near the water. You might drown.” They instill FEAR, the biggest killer, instead of teaching the child to swim. Same Difference.


21 posted on 11/15/2015 1:28:39 PM PST by Mollypitcher1 (I have not yet begun to fight....John Paul Jones)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren
She is a fool.

A hysterical fool.

If she had a brain, she would worry about all of the hidden guns in the place, carried by felons and wannabe gang members.

The guys she saw would be of immense help to her had she needed help.

Gang members, not so much.

22 posted on 11/15/2015 1:32:15 PM PST by old curmudgeon
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Mollypitcher1

Correction: SHE REMINDS ME (the author) of the mothers who scream at their children.........


23 posted on 11/15/2015 1:33:05 PM PST by Mollypitcher1 (I have not yet begun to fight....John Paul Jones)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

Add #10
A virtuous society with citizens who respect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
(The Pursuit of Happiness means respect for personal property.)


24 posted on 11/15/2015 1:33:23 PM PST by griswold3 (Just another unlicensed nonconformist in am dangerous Liberal world.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

There IS gun control—the owner evicted the villains.


25 posted on 11/15/2015 1:41:16 PM PST by Misterioso (Altruism is a sin.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MSF BU

She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, with her husband and two daughters, and still can’t resist a bookshop with a cat in the window.”

So much for the California nonsense! She’s employed at the University of Utah.


26 posted on 11/15/2015 1:42:35 PM PST by vette6387
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

Rachel its called exercising your right to open carry.


27 posted on 11/15/2015 1:45:02 PM PST by Georgia Girl 2 (The only purpose of a pistol is to fight your way back to the rifle you should never have dropped)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SnuffaBolshevik

“What is the point of mentioning that they were “white” men?”

Good catch!!!

I missed that one!


28 posted on 11/15/2015 1:48:48 PM PST by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - Classical Christian Approach to Homeschool ])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

Just about every day we hear about muslims committing terrorist acts, yet the leftists approve of bringing Muslim “refugees” to the US. Rarely we hear about open carriers committing a crime but the sight of them eating lunch is enough for the author to wet herself.


29 posted on 11/15/2015 1:51:24 PM PST by Brooklyn Attitude (It's the apocalypse, lets have some fun!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SnuffaBolshevik
What is the point of mentioning that they were "white" men?

She had to point out that they were white so none of her friends would think she is racist.

30 posted on 11/15/2015 1:53:58 PM PST by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

Writer needs to familiarize themselves w/the word “brandishing” so as to know when to really worry.

After all, what if someone had a gun they couldn’t see? Going to stay indoors from here on it?


31 posted on 11/15/2015 1:54:56 PM PST by fruser1
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

Ha, and I can’t count...


32 posted on 11/15/2015 1:56:37 PM PST by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - Classical Christian Approach to Homeschool ])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

There were probably a dozen concealed carry people sitting around you. You should probably hide inside your house and never come out again.


33 posted on 11/15/2015 2:00:07 PM PST by Starstruck (I'm usually sarcastic. Deal with it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: vette6387

***and still can’t resist a bookshop with a cat in the window.”***

MADCATS? I haven’t been in Madcat’s bookstore since 1969!


34 posted on 11/15/2015 2:02:11 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

Sorry but there is very little truth in this article. It’s
so bad that I doubt the broad even has a daughter or was
even at the food court. She is probably telling a story
that she heard at group therapy or just flat made up.


35 posted on 11/15/2015 2:18:02 PM PST by Slambat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

Some liberal bed-wetter just doesn’t get it.

Firearms in the hands of law-abiding Americans are his best hope of safety.


36 posted on 11/15/2015 2:41:41 PM PST by Jack Hammer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

What a moronic article.


37 posted on 11/15/2015 2:46:58 PM PST by jospehm20
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

Yep, and never once does the author consider that maybe the guys were just plain clothes police officers, or any one of dozens of government employees who carry firearms. Is she afraid of them too?


38 posted on 11/15/2015 2:53:57 PM PST by freeandfreezing
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: jospehm20

“What a moronic article.”

LOL - that was my initial reaction.

I first saw the article a couple of days ago, it was posted from yahoo.com and it just kinda stuck in my craw; and I couldn’t get it outta my mind.

So I saw it again today, and figured I would post it here. Maybe so others could get sick to their stomach also. You know, kinda like misery likes company.

But I tried to put a good spin on it, by presenting it in such a way that others will recognize this as a form of continual propaganda piece that they can watch out for.


39 posted on 11/15/2015 2:58:26 PM PST by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - Classical Christian Approach to Homeschool ])
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: ForYourChildren

So a good guy with a gun was in a mall and no one got shot. What’s her point? Someone hurt her pweciois fweelings?


40 posted on 11/15/2015 3:01:09 PM PST by matt04
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-63 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson