Say it’s a head shop in South Philly.
I’d probably ask one of the staff members what was up- is that their personal gun? Is it sanctioned by the store? Is there a reason, or is it just the owner’s desire? Are there rules on using them? What about training?
Just the weapons themselves wouldn’t frighten me, but I’d be curious as to the whys and hows.
FYI, some of the responses are kind of hyperbolic; they’re just guns. Would you feel any different if everyone had a machete or 12" Bowie knife strapped to their hip?
Exactly the correct response. But I’d also actively encourage people not to shop there as long as the business allowed such behavior. As is my right. And BTW I have no problem with people carrying at gun shows, in gun stores, at gatherings of like minded individuals/groups or in a well maintained milita. I just don’t see the need to condone such behavior in a family restaurant. If one were to believe the movies most western towns didn’t approve of such behavior either at some point in there history; generally after the citizenry organized against it; as was and still is there right.
Lotta people killed by fire extinguishers where you live, are there?
I have a car with passive and active restraints designed to minimize injury. Should I start wearing a bullet proof vest when out in public? Not sure if I can. My shirts and suits are all slim fitted.
I trust public roads are safe because the government maintains them and requires operators to pass a safety test and get licensed to operate their vehicles.
I don’t think this is the example you wanted.
If they were all carrying fire extinguishers, because management felt the odds were high enough of a fire breaking out? You bet. Even though I’m not worried about being killed by a stray shot from a fire extinquisher.
Not one little bit.
I would probably try to get a job there.
Inapt comparison.
A fire extinguisher is designed to put out fires. It is a tool. No one thinks about a fire extinguisher until a fire is evident, or when the fire marshal comes by to check its expiration date. Fire extinguishers are required by code. It takes five minutes to learn to use a fire extinguisher properly. No one carries a fire extinguisher around with them at their place of business.
A gun is designed to maim or kill people. It is a weapon, which should require the user to be held to a high proficiency standard that can take years to achieve. There is a conscious, and not too well thought out, decision to carry a deadly weapon in a place of business.
No, but there are plenty killed by fire. Protect yourself.
The analogy isn’t perfect, but basically “fire extinguisher is to a fire as a gun is to a gun”. To protect yourself against fire you need fire extinguishers (and fire drills, fire education, among other things). To protect yourself against guns you need guns (and safety classes, marksmanship, etc.).
Let’s say the chance of an armed robbery (or murder spree even) is equal for both stores (even though criminals will probably be more likely to avoid the store that takes steps to defend themselves). Would you be safer among people with the ability to fight back, or would you be safer among unarmed sitting ducks?
Granting that such a situation is quite rare. Adopting a posture of self-defense is no more paranoid than adopting fire prevention strategies. Even in our modern technological society, writing it off as “fire extinguishers are unnecessary, we have trained fire departments to deal with that now” is downright foolish.
I would leave and never return for the same reason I would leave a garage in which staff and customers walked around carrying containers of battery acid or a welding shop in which people walked around with fully lite torches.
I’d walk out and if I went back and it was the same situation, I wouldn’t come back. If I asked (which I wouldn’t bother to do - a bunch of armed people is not a situation I want to be around), I wouldn’t say anything, I’d walk out.
It isn’t the guns, I’ve shot guns - its the people. I don’t know you, I don’t trust you, how can I know you aren’t about to go nutcase? If someone does go nutcase, I don’t wish to be in the middle of a firefight. One gun being shot in a crowd is bad, more than one gun being shot does not make the situation necessarily better.
I was responding to: “Why would you place such faith in absolute strangers who have the ability to take your life from across the room, even by accident, or especially by accident?”
This is what you do every time you step onto a public street.
At the local diner? You bet, I would. Someone carrying a machete at work is obviously unstable.
No it’s the one that just finished smoking a joint in the lot behind the store. Oh, and he just broke up with his girlfriend because he smashed the back of her car into a light pole in the parking lot. If he had been wearing his glasses that wouldn’t have happened. P.S. he’s not wearing his glasses now.
The fact of the matter is, other people can kill you. They simply can, and it is foolish to go about our lives pretending otherwise. You trust that most people are doing their best to prevent death and destruction, and do your best to prepare for the eventual accident or rare individual with opposite intentions.
Because the government makes them pass safety and operational testing before they can legally drive.
I hear this so often, people talking about using a gun to protect themselves, but I’ve never once heard anyone explain how this is supposed to work. At what point in a situation do you draw a gun, and at what point do you pull the trigger? If you do either of those before the other guy does, then you’re not defending yourself; you’re the one who needs to be defended against. And if you wait until after the other guy does it, then you’re still not defending yourself; you’re at best avenging yourself.
You know what really defends against guns? The absence of guns. I’m not at all worried about a crook coming into my store, pointing his index finger at me, and saying “bang”.