The upside of concealed carry is a makes mugging a little more of a high-risk profession <s>

Guns are a funny issue in our culture. Romanticised, demonized, lionized, vilified. But I think with your background you'll agree they are just a tool - no magical powers, they just do what they were designed to do.

Knives were that way. Remember the '50s juvenile delinquent movies and the magic "switchblades" and how the click and the schwing of the blade popping up ( thank you Dr. Freud ) would liquify the bowels of whoever saw it. ( pulling out your mom's kitchen knife just didn't have the same magical power ) So switchblades are illegal - somebody probably got a lot of votes for "championing" that. I have a couple dozen Benchmades, Kershaws, Gerbers and others in my collection that you can open just as quickly with either hand and are actually well-made combat knives and not just the silly little italian letter openers that were so scary they had to be illegal but ... hey ... the public can sleep better at night because laws protect them from scarey things.<g>



>>Actually, there are a lot of people walking around with guns. Making that illegal will deter people who will not do things that are illegal. that hardly solves the problem, does it? I am not particularly a gun nut, but I think it is magical thinking to think gun laws have any effect on gun crime. Mandatory draconian penalties that are actually enforced might have some impact, but I don't think passing a law against driving a car away from a bank robbery would cause bank robbers to take the bus or would prevent bank robberies as they would feel that you had cut off their escape.
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>>If Cho had walked into a cop bar with same evil intent, I doubt he would have had a chance to reload.
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>A buddy of mine shoots on a police competition team and he said a few years ago they were at a competition in Jackson, MS. A couple of thugs tried to hold up two middle aged guys in the parking lot of a motel. It turns out the thugs had selected two of the best shots in the US to try to rob. Yep, both robbers were killed, while neither officer was harmed.