Drizzt
Member
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
February 27, 2003, Thursday
SECTION: STYLE; Pg. 37
LENGTH: 573 words
HEADLINE: OUR TOWN : Got a gun? Flaunt it
BYLINE: Richard Allin
BODY:
FUNNY HOW a difference of opinion can make people grumpy. I've been holding forth here about how stupid I think a legislative proposal is that would allow licensed gun-toters to carry guns into public restaurants that serve alcohol.
My e-mail has been running hostile: We need concealed guns in restaurants for all sorts of reasons: It's a "right" under the Constitution. These are dangerous times, and a lot of dangerous people are also armed. A person with a concealed weapon could forestall a shoot- 'em-up massacre like they had in a Texas restaurant where several were killed.
I'm not arguing they aren't right. The Second Amendment certainly allows for people to own guns. And maybe a good-guy gun-bearer could get the drop on a bad guy and plug him before he did any harm. We do have a right to self-protection. I don't deny that.
But I don't hold with the argument that we're safer in a restaurant where there are licensed concealed gun carriers, than in an eatery where nobody is armed.
But that's my opinion, and though it chafes the gun-lovers, I have a right to it. BUT NOW, I want those gun-lovers who get hostile at me for my opinions, and who start calling names, to get one thing straight!
A "liberal" I ain't!
I am not one of that "liberal ilk" that gun-toters like to charge me as being.
I confess to being liberally educated from a liberal arts college, but by that college I was stamped by a civilized conservatism that's a strong influence on the way I think, act and drink.
I have never registered as a member of any political party. I have always voted for the more conservative candidate for president of the United States. Mostly that's been easy, because of the milquetoasts and cotton candies that the Democrats have put up.
I hate politics as divisive. So did my heroes Joseph Addison and George Washington.
I have Tory leanings, and if I were qualified and smart enough I'd be a registered elitist. NOW I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't also slavering, raving left-wing liberals who aren't also registered to carry concealed weapons. So mingling with all those red-blooded, Constitution-defending gun-bearers in Miss Tilly's Bar and Grill may be a mincing posse of left-wing concealed pistol-toters ordering hamburger steaks too. WHY SHOULD guns be concealed anyway? Why carry your gat under your jacket?
I am herewith formulating the Allin Plan to Require All Personal Firearms to be Visible When Carried in Public (APTRAPFTBVWCIP.)
Under the plan, licensed gun carriers would have to wear guns in holsters where they may be seen. This would likely be on the hip or around the neck. Each carrier would be limited to one gun, as it would be unlikely that a typical firefight at Wendy's would require more than five or six shots. Extra bullets could be carried.
THE ALLIN PLAN, if passed, would be a boon to the fashion industry. An upscale Gucci model would set off an Armani suit. Bill Blass might offer an "Evening at Eight" model in black patent leather. Abercrombie and Fitch could outfit semi-nude boys with models that cover strategic parts.
Now please don't take issue with these suggestions. If we are going to carry guns in public, we might as well make it a class act.
Richard Allin's Our Town column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and alternate Sundays. E-mail him at: [email protected]
February 27, 2003, Thursday
SECTION: STYLE; Pg. 37
LENGTH: 573 words
HEADLINE: OUR TOWN : Got a gun? Flaunt it
BYLINE: Richard Allin
BODY:
FUNNY HOW a difference of opinion can make people grumpy. I've been holding forth here about how stupid I think a legislative proposal is that would allow licensed gun-toters to carry guns into public restaurants that serve alcohol.
My e-mail has been running hostile: We need concealed guns in restaurants for all sorts of reasons: It's a "right" under the Constitution. These are dangerous times, and a lot of dangerous people are also armed. A person with a concealed weapon could forestall a shoot- 'em-up massacre like they had in a Texas restaurant where several were killed.
I'm not arguing they aren't right. The Second Amendment certainly allows for people to own guns. And maybe a good-guy gun-bearer could get the drop on a bad guy and plug him before he did any harm. We do have a right to self-protection. I don't deny that.
But I don't hold with the argument that we're safer in a restaurant where there are licensed concealed gun carriers, than in an eatery where nobody is armed.
But that's my opinion, and though it chafes the gun-lovers, I have a right to it. BUT NOW, I want those gun-lovers who get hostile at me for my opinions, and who start calling names, to get one thing straight!
A "liberal" I ain't!
I am not one of that "liberal ilk" that gun-toters like to charge me as being.
I confess to being liberally educated from a liberal arts college, but by that college I was stamped by a civilized conservatism that's a strong influence on the way I think, act and drink.
I have never registered as a member of any political party. I have always voted for the more conservative candidate for president of the United States. Mostly that's been easy, because of the milquetoasts and cotton candies that the Democrats have put up.
I hate politics as divisive. So did my heroes Joseph Addison and George Washington.
I have Tory leanings, and if I were qualified and smart enough I'd be a registered elitist. NOW I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't also slavering, raving left-wing liberals who aren't also registered to carry concealed weapons. So mingling with all those red-blooded, Constitution-defending gun-bearers in Miss Tilly's Bar and Grill may be a mincing posse of left-wing concealed pistol-toters ordering hamburger steaks too. WHY SHOULD guns be concealed anyway? Why carry your gat under your jacket?
I am herewith formulating the Allin Plan to Require All Personal Firearms to be Visible When Carried in Public (APTRAPFTBVWCIP.)
Under the plan, licensed gun carriers would have to wear guns in holsters where they may be seen. This would likely be on the hip or around the neck. Each carrier would be limited to one gun, as it would be unlikely that a typical firefight at Wendy's would require more than five or six shots. Extra bullets could be carried.
THE ALLIN PLAN, if passed, would be a boon to the fashion industry. An upscale Gucci model would set off an Armani suit. Bill Blass might offer an "Evening at Eight" model in black patent leather. Abercrombie and Fitch could outfit semi-nude boys with models that cover strategic parts.
Now please don't take issue with these suggestions. If we are going to carry guns in public, we might as well make it a class act.
Richard Allin's Our Town column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and alternate Sundays. E-mail him at: [email protected]
