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Gun nation: Inside America's gun-carry culture


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From the Christian Science Monitor (cover story of the 12 March weekly magazine).

 

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2012/0311/Gun-nation-Inside-America-s-gun-carry-culture

 

Gun nation: Inside America's gun-carry culture

By Patrik Jonsson, Staff writer / March 11, 2012

 

Leaning against a scrub pine as preschoolers scurry about at his feet, Shane Gazda, father of 3-year-old twins, recalls a conundrum he faced earlier that morning: whether to take his Smith & Wesson .40 caliber handgun to a Groundhog Day celebration in this town's White Deer Park.

 

After all, what was once against the law in North Carolina – carrying a concealed gun in a town park, square, or greenway – is now, as of Dec. 1, 2011, very much allowed. To Mr. Gazda, who likes to shoot targets in his backyard, an event as innocent as paying homage to a rodent could turn dangerous if the wrong person shows up.

 

"Part of it is being ready for cataclysm every day," says Gazda, a hospital maintenance engineer. "And to be honest, I started carrying precisely to protect not just myself, but my family, and anyone around me who needs help."

 

In the end, Gazda left the gun at home. But his internal debate is emblematic of one a growing number of Americans are having almost daily. Thirty years after a powerful gun-control movement swept the country, Americans are embracing the idea of owning and carrying firearms with a zeal rarely seen since the days of muskets and militias.

 

A combination of favorable court rulings, grass-roots activism, traditional fears of crime, and modern anxieties about government has led to what may be a tipping point on an issue that just a few years ago was one of America's most contentious. Gun rights have now expanded to the point where the fundamental question seems not to be "should we be able to carry guns," but instead is "where can't we carry them?"

 

The answer: not very many places.

 

 

ARTICLE IS 7 PAGES LONG ... read more at link above!

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"Gun carry culture?" Not getting that. I carry where I can, but I don't belong to any "culture." I carry a tool which may prevent me from becoming a victim. I know others who do as well, most of whom are liberal Democrats. Neither myself nor (that I know of) my friends fetishize firearms, it's no big deal, certainly nothing to center a "culture" around. Is there a secret handshake/symbols/??? that I don't know about?

 

A "gun carry culture" makes it sound like some type of cult. How does a right granted by the overwhelming majority of states become something less than mainstream? Is there a "culture" of free-speech advocates? Do people coalesce around the right to a jury trial? I have nothing more in common with people who are pro-voting than I do with people who are for a free press, yet these aren't singled-out as a "culture." The only common denominator I can find is that all the above mentioned rights are enjoyed by persons who value the importance of treating an individual with respect & dignity in a just manner.

 

"Gun carry" is not a "culture" or some discreet subset, CCW is a part of our society the same as voting. One doesn't have to excercise one's rights, but they are there if one decides to enjoy them. Still not getting the "gun carry culture" thing, but then again I don't know the secret handshake.

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"Gun carry culture?" Not getting that. I carry where I can, but I don't belong to any "culture." I carry a tool which may prevent me from becoming a victim. I know others who do as well, most of whom are liberal Democrats. Neither myself nor (that I know of) my friends fetishize firearms, it's no big deal, certainly nothing to center a "culture" around. Is there a secret handshake/symbols/??? that I don't know about?

 

A "gun carry culture" makes it sound like some type of cult. How does a right granted by the overwhelming majority of states become something less than mainstream? Is there a "culture" of free-speech advocates? Do people coalesce around the right to a jury trial? I have nothing more in common with people who are pro-voting than I do with people who are for a free press, yet these aren't singled-out as a "culture." The only common denominator I can find is that all the above mentioned rights are enjoyed by persons who value the importance of treating an individual with respect & dignity in a just manner.

 

"Gun carry" is not a "culture" or some discreet subset, CCW is a part of our society the same as voting. One doesn't have to excercise one's rights, but they are there if one decides to enjoy them. Still not getting the "gun carry culture" thing, but then again I don't know the secret handshake.

The media tries to make it sound out of the mainstream and somewhat nutty. I believe it is that simple.

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I think the article actually is kind of neutral in tone.

 

More inportantly though, there are somne lessons in the article on what works in other states to get pro-gun laws passed and anti-gun laws defeated.

 

Did anybody else pick up on the one groups branding of a mandatory locked gun storage bill as the "Rapist Protection Act" which played a major part in getting the bill defeated?

 

I need to get busy and start researching other States for methods that they used to get their firearm laws changed

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Wonder if it's worthwhile to amend the title of our bills to something like "State Police Funding Act & Family and Personal Protection Act". Or Law Enforcement Funding Act...

 

In our "rendezvous with reality" of budget cuts and deficits, makes you look like a dirty dog for taking away much needed funds from the state police by voting against it. 30+ million in funding. Would love to see the guv have to publicly veto state police funding!!

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Wonder if it's worthwhile to amend the title of our bills to something like "State Police Funding Act & Family and Personal Protection Act". Or Law Enforcement Funding Act...

 

In our "rendezvous with reality" of budget cuts and deficits, makes you look like a dirty dog for taking away much needed funds from the state police by voting against it. 30+ million in funding. Would love to see the guv have to publicly veto state police funding!!

 

I like that! The liberal legislators always seem to put their spin in the title of the bill - maybe we should start fighting back with things like the "State Police Funding & Family Protection Act".

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From the Christian Science Monitor (cover story of the 12 March weekly magazine).

Leaning against a scrub pine as preschoolers scurry about at his feet, Shane Gazda, father of 3-year-old twins, recalls a conundrum he faced earlier that morning: whether to take his Smith & Wesson .40 caliber handgun to a Groundhog Day celebration in this town's White Deer Park.

 

 

 

He couldn't decide on the .40, .45 or 9mm.

 

That is a dilemma us Illinoisans will hopefully soon be able to face.

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