Disarming
December 10, 2007
5:56 AM CST
I missed this sad little tale while I was behind enemy lines, and it follows a familiar line: Loser decides to end it all, but to make his sorry ass famous before he snuffs himself, he goes on a shooting spree and kills a few folks.
My addendum: “...in a place where he knows that nobody else is going to be armed.”
Via circuitous means comes this chilling eyewitness account from someone who escaped the shooting. I note with interest the following few quotes from the escapee:
- “I do not have a Concealed Handgun Permit. I have completed the training class, but I keep putting off applying for the permit because I think it is useless. In the places I would need a gun most, I am not allowed to have it. I will not be a person living in fear and not go to Van Maur [the store/mall] because they don’t allow guns.”
- “If I had my gun deeply concealed, I wouldn’t have been able to draw it very fast. However, If I had open carried, I could of drawn instantly. Either way though, I could have drawn and taken a clean shot. However, in both cases, regardless of the laws, I am not allowed to carry a gun at all in Westroads Mall. If the laws did not oppress my rights, I would carry a gun most places (except work). I would certainly have had it in the mall as mall shootings have been on my mind since the incident at a mall involving a shotgun back in February.”
- “I am very angry at the city of Omaha and the mall for their stupid laws that nearly cost me my life. The laws protected no one, and in my opinion, caused people to die.”
- “My wife is somewhat cautious about guns as is my sister-in-law. After this event, both are now pro-guns.”
- “It took FOREVER for the cops to get there, I estimated the time as 10 minutes but the news says 6.” [The well-known statistic: if seconds count, the cops will be there in minutes.—K.]
- “I will never again be caught without a gun.”
The rest is all very illuminating, too. Please read the whole account.
There are a couple of malls in our area (Grapevine Mills comes to mind) which display the big “thirty-ought six” sign (the sign which the law—TX §30.06—mandates that businesses must put up for people to be legally denied the right to carry concealed weapons, even if a CHL holder). Generally, I obey their wishes (and the law) and disarm myself before I go inside.
No longer. From now on, my choices will be clear: either I will not consider shopping in such a place, and refuse to go there; or, if I have no choice but to go inside the place, I’ll ignore the sign even though by doing so, I’d be breaking the law. ("No choice”, of course, means that there’s a compelling reason to go inside, like seeking shelter during a tornado or whatever.)
Mostly, of course, I just won’t go inside the place at all and give them my business, if they’re that intent on taking away my right to self-defense.
Love my dollars, respect my CHL—or FOAD.
I will never allow myself to be a victim when I could have prevented it. As much as caution demands that I should avoid areas which are known to be dangerous, that same caution tells me that businesses which display the 30.06 sign should henceforth be considered as dangerous.
End of statement.
