Yesterday on Facebook a local entrepreneur who is rehabilitating an old theater in a nearby town posted the following notice: "When _____ opens we will welcome sane law abiding adults with legal hand guns. I want anyone who entertains the thought of harming any of our patrons to consider the fact that they may be sitting next to a glock."
Living where I do, I have always known that others may well be armed. Even if one is a Southern Lady attempting to be polite at all costs, one is far less tempted to flip off a rude driver who is likely packing heat. Still, I and quite a few others found this open invitation a bit unsettling, not to say appalling. To a woman (yes, it was all women, at least as I'm writing this,) we announced our intention of never patronizing his theater. (There was one woman who applauded the notice and said she would be there and she would bring her gun. And a man applauded the theater owner for having the cojones to post this notice. But the reaction was mainly negative.) The theater owner responded that he was concerned for the safety of his patrons, hence the welcome sign for legal and sane gun toters. Some of us asked how he planned to determine legality and sanity -- one pictures little interviews with each customer before entering the theater. Others accused him of fear-mongering and/or publicity seeking. Various statistics were cited but it was all done in polite and measured words.
Then came another dissenting voice, a fella (whose profile pic shows him leaning against a church pew) said, and I quote: "Shut the hell up I will be there with bells on Liberal trash this is madison co go back to your wimpy spineless gun free high crime rathole you came from"
Though, as I've mentioned before, I own a gun and have a concealed carry permit, I would not be at all comfortable sitting next to this angry guy -- and imagining a whole room full of similar folks is enough to keep me away forever. And what if the fella below was in the seat on the other side?
