Open carry laws

Yeah, me weighing in on the topic of gun control again.

Still don't care that you have one at your house, still think you have the right to your little purse pistol even though I personally believe these are stupid decisions.  But hey, you don't need me spouting off the safety statistics about these decisions.  My friendly reminder of them won't change anyone's minds and it's not my place to change anyone's minds or insist that they make the decision I think they should make.

So I'm just going to talk about my decisions and how I'll react to various things.

My brother is a gun owner.  I believe he's a very responsible gun owner.  Always in a safe with the gun and ammunition in two different locations, etc etc etc.  I love my brother and enjoy the company of his family.  But my family will not enter his house.  It's nothing personal, I'm simply not comfortable with it.  I've lost my girls once to a million in one circumstance, I'm not going to knowingly put them in the path of another one.  If your children are friends with my children and I'm aware of the fact that you have a gun in your home, I'll offer to host all of our play dates at my house because I'm not comfortable with my girls going to your house.  You have every right to have whatever you want in your home, including a gun, and I have the right to opt to be elsewhere.

Now in some states there is a big push to allow people to openly carry firearms in public.  I can't figure out why one would need to do this.  If you want a firearm for your own protection, fine, but the only reason to open carry and advertise that you have one on you is to intimidate others.  To show off how big and bad you are and to walk around with a big sign saying "I can fuck you up".  I don't like that behavior with weapons, with attitude, with words, I simply don't enjoy being around someone who feels the need to advertise how strong they are.

Besides, my brain automatically wonders what you're compensating for if you feel the need to puff up your chest and show off like that.  Kind of like douchebros driving their fast little compensation machines.  I now get this song stuck in my head whenever I see guys with some sort of compensation affectation.

In college, in Seattle, there was an evening when I wanted to go to my favorite coffee shop across from my dorm.  But I couldn't go that evening because when I got there, the police were investigating a shooting that had happened within the previous hour.  Apparently some friends had gotten into an argument and some guy whipped out his gun and shot at his friend.  I don't recall if the friend was shot, but the simple fact is that had I been there an hour earlier, I would have had a bullet fly very near me, delivered by a supposed good guy out with his buddies.

Here is my message to every business owner - if I see a patron in your establishment with a firearm, my family and I are leaving.  Period.  I won't make a scene, I won't get into some sort of debate about their right to carry or whatever.  I will simply inform my server that I am no longer comfortable in that establishment and will pack up my family and leave.  If food has been prepared, they can deliver it to us in our car in the parking lot, we will pay, and we will eat it at home.  If purchases have not yet been made, I will abandon my shopping cart and leave.  If I can avoid the home of family because of my discomfort, I can sure as hell avoid your business.

If this becomes a society where only those brandishing guns feel comfortable going out in public because the rest of us are intimidated, so be it.  I trust that there are more of us who are uncomfortable around firearms than there are those who feel the constant need to brandish them.  Capitalism will eventually shut down this foolishness as the 1%er's find their profits dwindling in open carry areas because families like mine are buying via delivery.

I will never tell you what you can and can't do in regards to gun ownership.  I have my opinion and no right to insist you agree with that opinion.  But this is how I will react if you opt to display your gun ownership to me.