Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Okay, so I'm sure you've seen the jizzle about people openly carrying firearms to town hall meetings lately. And there's a lot of back and forth of "It's crazy" and "We're just exercising our rights" and "Decorum" and "Pansy" all being thrown about with abandon.

Well, I'm not a pansy. I passed my state's test for concealed carry (quite easily I might add). I'm not exactly a stranger to firearms. I believe in the second amendment as much as I believe in the first (and all the others, BTW).

There's something in me that immediately takes a dislike and distrust of someone who carries a firearm in public, and that does extend to safety forces (being Chairman of Safety doesn't help). Most of those I'm around on a weekly basis that do carry firearms I've come to trust (none of them are "civilians" when carrying though, they carry their firearms as a part of their job), but it doesn't stop that part of my brain from being very conscious of the weapon they carry. I suspect I'm not alone.

And that's what these people want, IMHO. They want attention they feel they don't get without the gun. The want the "respect" they get with it.

My attention isn't respect. My brain is functioning on the level, "If I have to disarm this person, what is the best way to go about it?" And it's constantly re-evaluating those options (I typed "firing-solutions" at first). And I feel an almost irresistible urge to disarm the person and safety the weapon. That's the part that's very conscious, I have to stop myself from doing so. Not because you (as the person carrying the gun) could really stop me (no, really, you couldn't, by the time you realized what I was doing your gun would be in my hands - I know people who could stop me, you ain't one of them, trust me on that point and I doubt very much your nylon holster would prevent an overangle draw) but because it's not polite.

But I have two questions for all those who are carrying them to the rallies. Do you really think it's such a good idea? And why didn't you carry them to President Bush's or McCain/Palin rallies and Tea Parties then?