SG> No. Most crooks have no real guts. The only attempts to actually
 SG> snatch a gun on one's person that I know of are against cops.
 SG> Presumably crooks know that cops have to live by stricter rules than
 SG> the rest of us. That, and we might not let them close enough anyway.
 Plus those incidents generally are taking place where the bad guy is
 about to have his day ruined, so it's a desperation thing.
 SG> Either way, I was only considering cases where the criminal's access
 SG> was as good as yours or better - you're not around, or the gun is far
 SG> from you.
 
 Noted.  Same wavelenghth now.
 PN> And besides, being openly armed keeps folks from invading your
 PN> personal space, as in supermarket checkout and atm lines .
 
 SG> Might be nice, but it's still illegal here. Honestly I've never had
 SG> problems with either of the above, though.
 
 You and your buds need to be yammering at your elected poltroons...
 PN> I prolly need more space than most folks...
 SG> Then you just need to be more selective in where you go. The only ATMs
 SG> I use where there are any lines are drive-up machines. And I usually
 SG> shop during the times when the store isn't so busy.
 I refuse to be selective: I'll go where I damn well please.  If we're
 to take our society back from the heathens and vandals we _must_ refuse
 to give in to 'em.  They may take our lives, but they can only take our
 freedom if we allow 'em to.
 Which is not to say that there might not be some trepidation at the
 prospect of traveling or doing business in some parts of some towns --
 but I've worked in the South Bronx, I've sold insurance door-to-door
 (uh, no I ain't proud of it, but a guy's gotta live, right?) in South
 Tucson, and have had to visit some other pretty neat places, and I just
 refuse to be cowed by the predators.
 SG> No need to intimidate people - especially as we don't have that option
 SG> by law here.
 My intent has never been to intimidate folks.  But so long as the
 general population perceives legally armed individuals to other than
 "normal," and are thus intimidated by them, we've got more of a PR
 challenge to overcome than is warranted.  If we can educate them that
 it's nothing out of the ordinary then we have taken the first step
 toward converting them.
--- FMail 1.02
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