I really think that the vast majority of gun owners simply want to be left alone. The 'silent majority' want to be able to hunt, shoot or carry without any drama and without having to constantly justify their actions.
The gun control lobby is the exact opposite. They are a small group of people who feed off the drama, and want to turn every single thing about guns into a federal case. They live for this and if there isn't any conflict occurring naturally, they will do whatever they can to stir it up.
For good or ill, there's a small contingent of gun owners that feel this way as well. They need to be 'in the fight', even if that fight is something they create themselves.
My initial reaction to this was 'what an idiot'. My second was 'why do I think he's an idiot?'.
We may not thank people that push us past our comfort point, but in reality that's how things grow. If one man, pushing the envelope a bit is enough to have the laws changed around this aspect of carry in GA, then we need to address that sooner versus later.
If the anti-gunners use this to try and have Hartsfield turned into a gun-free zone, and somehow succeeded, that would be a real wake-up call that our laws and political support here in GA are not as solid as we'd like them to be.
So yes, this guy did something I would never do...Honestly, something I wouldn't have the nerve to do. It's caused some negative perceptions about gun owners. It's stirred up some anti-gun politicians to introduce legislation.
How we weather this will tell us more about the state of gun rights in GA than if it had never happened. If a tree never faces any wind, it grows shallow roots and will fall over in the first real storm it faces.
Constantly testing and exercising our rights is not something many gun owners relish or even support. But it is something that I've come to think needs to be done, at least occasionally.
The gun control lobby is the exact opposite. They are a small group of people who feed off the drama, and want to turn every single thing about guns into a federal case. They live for this and if there isn't any conflict occurring naturally, they will do whatever they can to stir it up.
For good or ill, there's a small contingent of gun owners that feel this way as well. They need to be 'in the fight', even if that fight is something they create themselves.
My initial reaction to this was 'what an idiot'. My second was 'why do I think he's an idiot?'.
We may not thank people that push us past our comfort point, but in reality that's how things grow. If one man, pushing the envelope a bit is enough to have the laws changed around this aspect of carry in GA, then we need to address that sooner versus later.
If the anti-gunners use this to try and have Hartsfield turned into a gun-free zone, and somehow succeeded, that would be a real wake-up call that our laws and political support here in GA are not as solid as we'd like them to be.
So yes, this guy did something I would never do...Honestly, something I wouldn't have the nerve to do. It's caused some negative perceptions about gun owners. It's stirred up some anti-gun politicians to introduce legislation.
How we weather this will tell us more about the state of gun rights in GA than if it had never happened. If a tree never faces any wind, it grows shallow roots and will fall over in the first real storm it faces.
Constantly testing and exercising our rights is not something many gun owners relish or even support. But it is something that I've come to think needs to be done, at least occasionally.
