My wife and I went out to eat with our visiting relatives and I saw this guy with a gun....

[kentuck]

...in a hip holster. After we had finished our pizzas and salads and beer, we were sitting in the lobby of this pizzaria - which is very popular for tourists and their children - waiting for the rain shower to slow down so we could make a dash for the car.

He had his arm straight down by his right side as he and couple of other people walked by us, so you could not see the gun from the front. But, as he passed, I noticed a handgun, perhaps a .38, on his right side in a holster. I noticed that it was strapped in the holster. It was not un-buttoned.

My first thought was, is it a bit out of the ordinary to be carrying a gun into such a non-threatening place as the family pizzaria?

I determined that I did not feel threatened by him and I did not feel that he meant any harm? He may have been working for the government? He may have been part of a militia, I don't know? But, I did not feel that he was a threat to anyone? Maybe other people might consider him a threat? We do not know. We do not know.

But the bigger question is: Have we already lost our freedom?

And on second thought? Should I have been carrying a gun, also??

[KamaAina]

1. Well, you can't be too careful at pizzerias. They have been known to forget the extra cheese.

[pinboy3niner]

14. Ya never know when the meat will be too rare and you have to finish it off

[Bonx]

2. Bigger question: How many concealed firearms have you NOT seen ?

[kentuck]

5. Realistically speaking, I would say...

...probably quite a few.

[pipoman]

3. If we had lost our freedom nobody could have guns.

Oh,and almost every mass shooting happens at a "non-threatening place".

[Hoyt]

4. He could be a cowboy that grabs his gun and starts shooting if some kid pops a paper bag.

Whenever I see someone with a gun on their hip, I know it's just a chicken ____ pissant. A professional policeman, not in uniform, doesn't need to show off his gun. A pissant does.

Never think a silly fool who needs a gun to go to Chuck E Cheeze is harmless. At a minimum, they have esteem issues.

[kentuck]

7. Not a lot to disagree with...

I think most people would agree with you.

[NaturalHigh]

17. You don't know what you're talking about.

I know several police officers who work in plain clothes and carry their weapons.

[Hoyt]

19. I remember while my father-in-law was dying, we went to a restaurant and some local

Dick was wearing a dual shoulder holster. My FIL -- dying, 20+ years a policeman and 20+ in Air Force and held up by a physical therapy belt -- called him a "Silly Fool" to his face. I loved it. Like I said, a PROFESSIONAL policeperson is not going to strut around with his gun showing, except maybe at a crime scene. A Dick might.

Carrying a weapon and flashing it to "impress" are two different things.

[NaturalHigh]

21. And like I said, you don't know what you're talking about.

Just because you father in law chose to be rude doesn't make him right.

[Hoyt]

23. Depends on what you call rude. A Dick walking around in a family restaurant with dual shoulder

holsters is a pissant. Sorry.

[NaturalHigh]

35. Says the guy who doesn't like guns or cops.

[Hoyt]

37. Police are pretty much OK with me unless they are like Darren Wilson, are racist, intimidating or

like your buddies who like to flash their weapons.

[MillennialDem]

20. Maybe it's where I live or I just don't notice, but I have never seen someone open carrying (well

besides police/soldiers).

If I saw a plain clothes person carrying a gun, I'd call the police and let them sort it out.

[Lizzie Poppet]

30. It's illegal here in Portland.

Oregon has open carry, but allows local jurisdictions to prohibit it, the sole exception to our state-level preemption for gun laws. I have no problem with this at all. Open carry for civilians is silly.

[brush]

32. Yep! That need to show it off most likely comes from some feeling of inadequacy.

[ManiacJoe]

52. Your addiction to Hollywood movies

does lead to some entertaining posts!

[Hoyt]

55. Well, it happens in real life like the cowboy who thought he'd be a hero when a clerk was being

robbed. Unfortunately, he hit her in the head. The gunners' favorite -- george zimmerman -- would have stayed in his car without a gun. The Bundy ranch militia guys would have stayed home guzzling cheap beer and smoking meth without gunz.

But, I get gunz are very important to you.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. Whether I felt threatened or not, at that point I would have requested my bill, informed the manager

that I was leaving the establishment because of the gun toting customer and never returned unless/until they instituted a policy of no firearms on the premises.

I am unable ascertain the intent of an armed person in a public place. If he feels so threatened that he has to carry a weapon at all times, I don't know what it might take to cause him to draw that weapon and start firing.

[enough]

15. I agree. (nt)

[pandr32]

16. Agreed!

[Vinca]

29. That's exactly how I feel.

There's no way to definitely sort the non-crazies from the crazies and I come down on the side of caution.

[Maru Kitteh]

57. I actually did that very thing in a pizza joint in a town near to us (relatively).

Mr. Maru and I were eating pizza the next day after a football game and heading home and a big plaid-and-camo guy with a huge dunlap came in wearing a sidearm.

I asked the waitress for a to-go box and the check and spoke to the manager on the way out, told them we would be back when we saw a "no firearms" sign on the door, and not before.

Fuck that shit.

[Nay]

62. My exact take on it, too. nt

[JoePhilly]

65. Its the same as "defensive driving".

Sure, you could assume that all of the other drivers know what they are doing and they will follow the law.

And then, when you die in an accident that's not your fault, ooops.

So ... as a defensive driver, you start with the assumption that most of the people driving around you have no idea what they are doing and are about to do crazy and illegal maneuvers.

And you prepare for them to do so ... and you avoid them the instant they give you cause.

Unknown person with a gun ... I'm not assuming he/she is sane. I'm not assuming that they know how to use that weapon safely.

I remove myself from the situation. If they feel so threatened that they brought a gun. I'm not staying.

[Seeinghope]

72. The only thing about that is that crazies walk in and start shooting right away. They usually don't

Just walk in and go order food.

I don't like people being able to carry guns period. It is not necessary. Our gun laws need to be enforced and toughened. This is such bullshit that groups like the NRA control the votes.

The 2nd Amendment is such a shitty reason. If you want to fall back on the 2nd Amendment then pass out the guns that were used when the 2nd existed.

[Arkansas Granny]

73. And then there's Dylann Roof who sat through a church study class before he opened fire.

[Seeinghope]

74. There are exceptions to everything. Most don't sit thru Bible class though.

[kentuck]

8. edited :

[randr]

9. Call 911 and report a possible robbery

[kentuck]

10. We never thought much else about it at that time...

But, after this latest massacre, it has changed the way that I look at the issue. Maybe it is just me?

[gratuitous]

42. Massacres will do that

Seeing someone strapped in a public place without law enforcement insignia, I don't know that I would bet my life on the vibe the fellow was giving off. Maybe he's the calm type just before he explodes in murderous rage, and he's carrying just the tool for the job.

[kentuck]

47. You may be right.

It is legal here but, after the massacre, I have a different perspective on it.

[hack89]

11. That would be a crime

Last edited Tue Jun 14, 2016, 03:17 PM - Edit history (1)

You also might get an innocent person killed by the cops.

[MillennialDem]

22. I'd never report it as a robbery, just say there is a person with a gun at John's Pizzeria and

hang up.

[hack89]

25. And if the cops end up killing the guy?

I suspect you think it would be his fault not yours

[MillennialDem]

27. I don't know if he's a dangerous nutcase or a non-dangerous nutcase. And yes, it would be

his fault.

[hack89]

31. That is a very callous attitude

But then you always find an authoritarian when you look closely at a gun grabber.

[MillennialDem]

70. I'm as unauthoratarian as they come... would love to have anarchy... I realized I need to work

within our crappy system though.

[randr]

58. That would be the risk the guy took when he went out in public with his rod showing

[brush]

34. NO, NO, NO! That's what go the black guy at Walmart killed 2 years ago. And he just had pellet gun.

He was just trying it out and some busybody called it in and got him killed.

I don't like to see armed people in public places either. You have to make a decision whether to stay or leave. You can also mention to the manager as you leave why you're leaving.

[MillennialDem]

71. Well that case was likely because the dude was racist and knew it was a toy gun - but if I saw

a guy with a toy gun and didn't know it was a toy I would call it in too. If I knew it was a toy, I wouldn't.

[Lizzie Poppet]

24. ...and risk arrest.

Don't get me wrong: open carry is for idiots, at least in most circumstances. But you might have a hard time convincing a police officer (and district attorney/judge) that you really did think a robbery was about to unfold...and you call wasn't what it actually was: SWAT'ing someone.

[Alex4Martinez]

28. That would be against the law, a crime in and of itself.

Dispatchers don't need that kind of bullshit, people calling in to report crimes that are not happening.

[randr]

60. I would have no idea a crime is in progress

I would not be reporting on a crime in progress; just the suspicion that one may be about to take place. That is the risk taken by the person with the exposed weapon in public, someone may think they are up to no good and usually they are. People are shot in the work place each and every day.

[Orrex]

12. Can you visually distinguish a soon-to-be-active shooter from any ol' schlub with a gun?

Nope, and neither can anyone else.

And on second thought? Should I have been carrying a gun, also??

Two guns, at least. Probably seven or eight. Otherwise, how can you possibly feel safe?

[liberal N proud]

13. More guns makes you safer

[Crunchy Frog]

18. Compensating for certain inadequacies, I'd guess.

[kentuck]

48. That is my assumption...

but I can understand why people think differently.

[cwydro]

26. I spend time in a big city, where I rarely see guns.

I work in a rural county where it's not unusual to see men (and women) openly carrying.

My favorite was when I saw a guy mowing his lawn with a holster on his hip. I mean, wtf?

That being said, the crime rate is much higher in the big city. Very low in the rural county.

[leveymg]

38. I've felt like shooting my lawnmower many times.

Thing is, I don't see the point of people carrying weapons to do everyday things. Seems to invite immediate escalation in any social conflict and may deter most all social interaction as well.

That poor lawnmower would have died long ago if I packed heat to do yard work.

[cwydro]

40. Now I like my lawnmower, but the weedwhacker?

I'd like to shoot it first and then drown it.

Usually I just throw it...

[MineralMan]

43. I sold my gas weedwacker at a garage sale,

and bought an electric one. It starts up fine every time. I dislike tiny 2-stroke engines more than I can say. Nasty little things that sit in your garage and wait for you to need them. Then, they refuse to start. Hate 'em.

Noisy, too, when you can get them to run. Now, they always start right up when you first get them, but a year later? Good luck.

"Go ahead...just try to start me. I know what you want and I'm not going to cooperate!"

[cwydro]

46. I have an electric one too, and it's so much easier to use.

But I live on a large rural property and have to use the gas engine one for a lot of the property.

But god, I HATE it!

[bunnies]

39. Hey. You never know when a dandelion might might need to be shown whos boss!

Take THAT you little yellow bastid!

[cwydro]

41. Lol!

I've never forgotten that sight.

I actually stopped and stared, but moved along lest I arouse his anger.

[bunnies]

45. haha! Good decision.

Probably not the best time to point and laugh.

[redstatebluegirl]

33. Those of us who don't believe in carrying or owning large stashes of firearms have lost our rights.

The only ones that matter are the gun people, not us. We have left businesses before without buying anything because of people showing their guns. Many of them don't look bright enough to be carrying but that isn't my call. What we can and do do is take our business elsewhere.

There is going to be a wild west type shooting in a store someday when one guy pulls his gun and all of the others pull theirs and innocent people will be killed. Maybe then and only then will people come to their senses.

[Marengo]

44. What rights, exactly, have you lost?

[leveymg]

36. Have we already lost our freedom? I would have lost my appetite, and

foregone my freedom to stay out of the rain. Drop the slice and get the hell out of there without making a fuss about it.

[kentuck]

49. We had already eaten and it was a joyful dinner and we were leaving....

...and for the children, it is a memorable experience. It just seemed out of place to be openly carrying a gun. The more paranoid ones, exactly the ones that should not have a gun, will say that is exactly the place to carry your weapon because that is the place someone would most likely shoot up - knowing that most of the people there would probably be women and children?

[mwrguy]

50. call 911 to report a man with a gun

and then get the hell out of there.

[ManiacJoe]

53. That type of nonsense is frowned on by the cops.

[deaniac21]

51. He was probably a detective.

[TexasBushwhacker]

56. That's what I was thinking

Lots of cops carry at all times.

[sweetapogee]

54. if it's legal for you

to carry in your state and if you are not disqualified to own a firearm and you know how to handle the weapon and you have the desire to carry then I think you should. If you answer no to any of those questions then no you shouldn't.

[tenderfoot]

59. People like that WISH!!!!! someone will do something to give them an excuse to unholster it.

eom

[Squinch]

61. I'm going to bet this was a white guy in a primarily white neighborhood.

Black guys are - unofficially - not allowed to do this in white neighborhoods, and really they aren't allowed to do this in black neighborhoods where there might be police who might misinterpret their guns.

So yes. Many of "us" have already lost our freedom. It happened a really, really long time ago.

[Nay]

63. Black guys also can't look at pellet guns for sale in Walmart, and black kids

can't hold air guns or water pistols, either. Just white guys can do all this shit and more.

[Squinch]

64. Or sit on swings with their hands in their pockets when they are twelve.

[Nay]

66. It's just horrifying. Only sociopaths can shoot kids for this stuff. nt

[ileus]

67. Seen a guy in walturd the other night with a chrome or nickle plated semiauto OCin'

We just passed on by him, his wife and daughter. Of course I had my Shield concealed. My son commented that he had a nice 45...LOL

[mahina]

68. Maybe we should all carry questionnaires printed on notepads, or a checklist to ask each armed

person we see in public.

Would you characterize yourself as being depressed?

Do you feel especially angry now?

How do you feel about gay people, ok or not ok?

Do you have any strong feelings about pizza or pizzerias?

[WinkyDink]

69. One thing is for sure: NOBODY CAN TELL by looking.