Dick Doobey wrote:
h2o2 wrote:Great. So in your fairy tale situation we now have two people exchanging gunfire in a public place.
I hope that both of you would go in jail.
And my calling the police does not in any way violate the constitutional rights of anyone.
And nothing you say will change my mind, nor should it. A gun is a weapon used for killing and nothing more. I see you walk into a McD's with one on your hip and you'll be chatting with a cop by the time I finish my cheeseburger.
If you don't like that, don't carry it around. I don't know whether you're a psycho or ex-Delta force/psycho so I want someone to ensure you're not going to pull that out and wave it around if your french fries are cold.
If I have to deal with whackos carrying around killing machines, I'm going to deal with it by alerting the authorities.
I hope that you don't think you are irritating me with your nonsense. I also hope I'm not irritating you with my views. I suspect we'll have to agree to disagree at some point, else challenge the post count in the post nuptial shut-off thread.
In my state (Maine) the constitution (Article 1, section 16) is very clear and has been upheld many times. "Section 16. To keep and bear arms. Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned." There is also another section which says that political subdivisions (towns and cities) may not enact ordinances which infringe upon this. It's called supercedence or something like that.
You may call the police and they will respond, but in my town (where I am an elected official, btw) I can 100% guarantee you that they will engage me in a brief consensual stop where they try to gain enough clues to satisfy them that there is nothing illegal taking place and then leave. The only possible exception to this is the couple of recent hires from New Hampshire (I'm in a Maine border town) but that's doubtful because NH laws vary only very slightly and mostly with regards to the definition of concealed carry in motor vehicles.
So basically you would be calling the cops to report a legal activity and taking them away from their jobs. If that makes you feel good, fine. I shoot with most of the local cops on a regular basis and they know that my everyday carry piece is a Sig P226 except when I'm wearing a suit and want something smaller I'll go with a Walther PPK (a la 007).
By the way, those cheeseburgers are going to kill more people this year than guns. Eat more healthy, dude.
I find it mildly amusing that you consider it nonsense, yet you have absolutely no reason at all to walk around in public with a gun.
I won't call the cops to feel good, I will call them to feel safe. As far as I am concerned, THAT is their job so I want them to come question you.
You can't kill me with a cheeseburger, nor I you. But you can kill anyone around with a gun, so you are a potential hazard to society and should be dealt with as such.
If you're not, then fine. No skin off my back or the cops or yours. If you are, then I (by extension) might have just saved lives.