For three years I was CEO of a large hospital physician's group (186 docs in 53 different locations) owned by the hospital with the doctors under contract. It was STRICKLY ILLEGAL for anyone to have a firearm on any hospital property including locked in your vehicle in the hospital parking lot. Every Monday morning during those three years I sat in the walnut panneled confence room on the top floor of the hospital and endured an "executive briefing" and in every one of those meetings my dang 1911 Colt Government was sticking me in the back when I leaned back in my chair. I do not let employers OR ANYBODY tell me that I do not have and cannot execrise the right to self defence NO MATTER where the hell I am or on whose property it is as long as it is within the USA because the Second Amendment CLEARLY SAYS I have that right and NO EMPLOYER has the right to over ride it. And even if they think they do, they can kiss my dam grits because no civilian job is worth my life and as long as my pants are on, my 1911 is stuck in my waist band, but I do not take it in the shower with me. That is the ONLY place it does not go with me ALL THE TIME 24/7/365. The FIRST RULE of gun fighting is that you must have a gun and the fastest draw is to have the gun already in your hand when the fight stars. I practice both of those rules because there is only one rule as far as I am concerned and that is TO WIN because they bury the looser in a gun fight. So your choice is to have a gun and fight, or be burried and that is an easy choice for me to make. You are on your own.
Hmm. Well since you quoted my post, I'm assuming your lecture, or rant rather, is directed at me.
If you choose to carry anywhere and everywhere, it's exactly that, your choice. Personally I think we should have exactly what you describe, a society where everyone legally able can carry a gun at all times.
The right to keep and bear arms does sound pretty clear cut. Unfortunately reality is not clear cut at all. There's that pesky right that people and businesses have that gives them the ability to dictate what can or can't occur in their house, business, or other privately owned property. So while you have the right to carry, they have the right to tell you that you can't carry on their property. They also have the right to tell you to leave if you aren't following their rules, and if you refuse, then you are trespassing. Their house, their rules, whether you like it or not.
I live and work in a small low crime town in one of the red states. I happen to be a federal employee also. No firearms postings are on every door, plain as day. It is against federal law for me to bring a gun to work. If I were to get caught, I wouldn't just loose my job, I could be prosecuted and possibly land in a federal prison for a bit. Some pretty bad stuff happens in prisons and I'm fairly certain confinement wouldn't agree with me. It's just not my thing.
So as I see it, based on what could happen if I don't carry at work, versus what could happen if I were caught carrying at work, to me the greater threat is facing prosecution and possibility being incarcerated with criminals and everything that comes with that.
Carrying a gun is a personal choice and one that everyone needs to think through. If you choose to break the law and carry where prohibited, that's your choice and I respect that. I don't agree with your rationale, but I understand it and respect your decision. I hope you're never caught. However I respect everyone's right to carry, not carry, or carry some of the time. It'd be nice if you showed others the same respect by not lecturing and pontificating at them.
Ive been carrying a gun for 9 years. I pay attention to what's going on around me. I've been threatened with a shotgun before and been in fear for my life. I carry anywhere I can legally, but I'm expected to uphold the law, especially given my employer.
Their house, their rules. I don't like it, but I respect it.