In Support of Portantino's Open Carry Rifle Ban

What do I find scary in Altadena?  Fast traffic on dark roads, power lines in a windstorm, the cello-packed seafood at Ralph’s.  Hot dry days when the mountains are full of brown and brittle brush -- yes, fire scares me.

But I’m not afraid of people; neighbors or strangers with whom I share the streets, parks, shops, gas stations.  Whatever personal safety questions cross my mind, owning a gun, much less carrying a gun, doesn’t offer much of an answer. I suppose I could shoot the Ralph’s salmon, but for heaven’s sakes, it’s been dead far too long already.

Anthony Portantino has to ban the open-carry of rifles in public. This seems like such a reasonable bill, such a no-brainer, I’ve been nonplussed by the sturm and drang emanating from the gun advocate corner.  I wonder about all these folks who are afraid to leave the house unescorted, without a lethal weapon by their side. I wonder what extra baggage, besides that rifle and ammo clip, they might be carrying.  Murder doesn’t even make the top 10 causes of death in the US. In fact, murder at the hand of another doesn’t even beat suicide, and neither comes close to death by accident and death by disease.

With all the noise and obfuscation, it might have escaped notice that the proposed bill has absolutely no impact on one’s ability to keep a firearm in the privacy of one’s own home. 

Correct me if I’m wrong (just don’t do it in all caps), but it’s pretty darned easy to buy a firearm for the home.  You don’t have to prove much of anything, other than citizenship or thereabouts, and enough good sense or good luck to have kept your nose clean, legally speaking.  Other than that, you don’t need any special training, just the ability to cool your heels for a brief period until the permit arrives in the mail.

As far as I can tell, there’s not even a minimum vision requirement.

But some gun advocates feel their rights are in danger if they’re not able to flash their guns and ammo in public. Well, this member of the public feels her rights are very much in danger if they’re able to do so. And not just because of the intimidation factor. There is no guarantee that whoever carries a gun has any sense of aim, any sense of how of when to use a lethal weapon, or any sense, period.

Much as some folks would like to believe we’re all still living on the OK Corral, we’re not.  Things have changed, and the hands on the clock are no longer stuck at high noon.

I was about to say I’d continue to fight against concealed weapons and open carry, but then, I haven’t really been fighting it. I just do what takes the least amount of effort and cast a vote for any politician who agrees with me; who agrees it’s for the greater good if Trigger stays home at the stable.

If you’re really concerned about personal safety, stop smoking and texting while driving. And here’s a cheap fix: buy some plastic appliqués. In the U.S., the odds of death by an accidental fall are far, far greater than the odds of losing your life at the hands of another human being. So keep an eye on that most slippery of characters--your bathtub, as you step in and step out. Don't trust it for a second.