It's legal, fine - but it's intimidating and they know it. They're just being assholes, which given that it's Virginia is probably par for the course.
I was very disappointed when Texas went to conceal-carry. If you're going to carry, no need to hide it.
Part of the problem is, in many parts of the state openly carrying a pistol wouldn't alarm people. In Fairfax County, where they filed the story, it certainly would. Also, they serve alcohol at Champps. I think it's illegal to be armed in an establishment that serves alcohol.
Checking old daily show clips on their website yesterday was a great correspondent interview in Arizona(?) where some state senator tried to get rid of the "no guns in bars" law. The interviewer talked to the owner of a biker bar about it. Bar Owner "well, how would you feel if I smashed a bottle over your head, or would you rather me shoot you between the eyes?" Interviewer "well, if you hit me with a bottle I'd call you a **********" the segment ended with a guy on a Harley chasing the interviewer down the street. Great comedy - definitely worth watching.
2002: 9,369 murders by firearm in the USA. 2002: 96 murders by firearm in the UK. "But there's no connection; and you'd be a fool and a Communist to make one. There's no connection between having a gun and shooting someone with it, and NOT having a gun and NOT shooting someone..." - Bill Hicks
From the CIA World Fact Book: UK = 60,270,708 (July 2004 est.) US = 293,027,571 (July 2004 est.) Making the population of the US appx 4.87X as big.
From the CIA World Factbook.... USA 293,027,571 UK 60,270,708 2002: 9,369 murders by firearm in the USA. .00320% 2002: 96 murders by firearm in the UK. .00016% So your point is still valid - there are 20 times more murders using guns in the US than the UK on a per capita basis. But your numbers are misleading by themselves.
I have a few comments: First of all, knowing this, I'll try to avoid traveling to Virginia from now on. Call it a personal boycott, if you will. I'm not sure what creeps me out more: concealed weapons or out in the open. Second comment is WRT Bowling For Columbine. If folks - pro- and anti-hand gun want to debate gun murders, lets not forget Canada. Apparently (according to MM), Canadians are armed to the teeth - just like Americans. Yet Canadians don't go around killing each other with guns. Discuss, please. Third, of all the things that get me fired up most about guns. semi-automatic weapon regulations are probably at the top of the list. Bush has flip-flopped on this issue proving that he is firmly in the pocket of the NRA and bolstering his conservative street cred immensely. However, for a guy who LOST the popular vote and promised to be a 'uniter, not a divider,' Bush sure has taken a hard right turn since 2000. Finally, I wish that SCOTUS would finally and once and for all issue a ruling on the 2nd Amendment, and puts the pro-gun nutheads back in their place (under rocks where they belong). And before you commie positatus-types start shooting verbal rounds at me, please provide references to major court decisions that affirm an individual's right to carry, oh say, machine guns. Or hand guns, if you will.
Maybe. But, you can certainly be a much bigger pu$$y with a gun. I'm guessing that if John Lee Malvo couldn't hide in a trunk with a rifle, he probably isn't walking up to strangers to battle them nose to nose. Also, if a little kid finds his dad's hunting knife, the chances are pretty low that the knife will go off and kill his little sister across the room. And of course, this won't happen: http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=oddlyEnoughNews&storyID=5658692 LONDON (Reuters) - A British man who accidentally shot himself in the testicles after drinking 15 pints of beer was jailed for five years on Tuesday for possessing an illegal firearm, a court spokesman said. David Walker, 28, was arguing with a friend at a pub in South Yorkshire, northern England, when he went home to get his sawed-off shotgun, which he jammed into his trousers. But as he walked back to the pub, the gun went off, blasting pellets into his testicles. Doctors later removed what remained of his testicles during emergency surgery. Walker admitted possessing a prohibited weapon at a hearing in June at the court in Sheffield.
FWIW, the Bigsoccer/bigsoccer login didn't work for me with the post. Does anyone know if it's changed?
In rural areas where gun ownership are the highest, gun crime rates are the lowest. Outlaw guns in the city and leave responsible people alone.
Yes, what is the number of killings by injuns with pointed sticks these days? It's probably lower in the UK, their injuns are more docile
I'm pretty sure it doesn't make the figure a lot better. I dunno what they've been smoking at the UN but you gotta be real damned high to believe that!!! The figures might be correct, but the it would probably have more to do with the fact that people in certain countries (South Africa, Russia) don't bother going to the police anymore. Anyway, murder rates in South African cities and the city of Moscow are absolutely dazzling. Except for some South American slums I don't think you'll find an equal anywhere. The easier guns are available the sooner they'll be used. Simple statistics. There's a lot of factors that decide how, what, etc... but it doesn't change the fact that less guns around = less people get shot.
My main point was the first one. Would you consider randomly assassinating people from the trunk of a car with a rifle murder? The second point was thrown in because I find it gut wrenching everytime a kid accidentally kills him or herself or another kid, regardless of whether it is a hand gun or shotgun/rifle. You are correct that it is more commen with hand guns, but frankly, I wasn't concerned with stats as one is a tragedy. The third part of the post was for humor purposes, just in case you missed. You see, the dub@ss blew off his own testies with a shotgun tucked in his pants.
England has the highest among "first world" countries. I agree. But banning guns in the US won't lower gun possession rates. Gun violence, as with any crime, goes hand in hand with poverty and social breakdown. It's a sympton- not the disease.