More on Virginia's Open Carry

Here's another Post story on open carrying in Virginia. Demosophia, who was one of the group invovled in the Champs incident, linked to it. (I wonder if he is in this group? I've often wanted to go out with them, but just can't bring myself to frequent Blue Ridge Arsenal - for a whole host of reasons, though the gun rentals are nice and something the NRA range doesn't offer). Its a bit better than the one I linked to earlier (and which I sent a so far unpublished letter to the Washington Post editor). Still, there are a couple of passages that make me shudder.

Some, such as Cindy Jones, worry that openly toting guns could make them too accessible to the wrong fingers. "The image that comes to mind is a child could grab it," said Jones, 50, a psychologist. "It's frightening to think that that's the mind-set. It makes me think of a gunslinger with a holster."

I don't know her, but Ms. Jones strikes me as a liberal no nothing liberal twit. A Child Could grab it???? I've got a couple of thoughts on this.

First, no one is grabbing anything out of my holster - both because any decent holster ratain the gun very well and makes it near impossible to remove from the wrong angle (not to mention that many leather holsters strap the firearm down) and second because anyone who even thinks of removing it on me is going to end up with a couple of holes in them. My feeling is generally that a child is going to scurry away from the holster, rather than grab for it.

Second, if a child could grab for it, how come the cops don't worry about it?

"I'd rather they were open than concealed," said Amber Smith, 47, a horse trainer who grew up around guns and hunters and was taught to shoot by her father. Smith said she might feel different in some contexts -- such as visiting a high-crime locale -- or if the person next to her had serious firepower.

Still, she added, making a scene by lugging some steel is a little too much for her taste. "It's absurd that people think they need to make a political point by carrying it into a coffee shop. They could leave it in the car," Smith said.

Here again, I've got a couple of concerns. First, I would feel far more comfortable with seeing firearms in sight in a high crime area. Since felons are prohibited from possessing them, anyone openly carrying is likely not a threat. As a gun owner though, in a high crime area I don't announce that I have a $500+ weapon on my hip - its just inviting trouble and removes the tacticle advantages the weapon offers.

As to the calls to leave it in the car? Well, thats absurd. What is the car is broken into, or stolen? If the Post ran an article on the preference of gun owners to leave their firearms in vehicles, unsecured (even with a door locked, your vehicle is unsecured - look at all the radios stolen from them) you can bet the Antis would come flooding out of the woodwork to protest this dangerous practice. In fact, in some states, I believe leaving a firearm unattended is illegal.

Also, what if I am mugged/attacked in the dark parking lot?

Geez, do liberals even think anymore?

UPDATE: Hey, I forgot, I should have given Alphecca some props for the link to Demosophia and the more recent post story.