Look, I'm no apologist for the teabagging town hall disruptors... but someone carrying a gun in southern Arizona is not quite the freak show that folks back east make it out to be.

Now, this guy may have been a nutter who thought he needed to prove his manhood by packing heat to Giffords' meeting, and perhaps use its presence to imply that he should be listened to more than others.

Or, maybe he's just one of those rural southern AZ types.

I guess what I'm saying is, you folks back east don't get it. This time.

"You folks back east don't get it? "

Rynato, we get it. Jerks packing guns in public are one small step below being a firebug with a can of gasoline. They're exhibiting the same socially inappropriate and self-centered behavior as any other run of the mill nutjob.

Like a firebug with a match and a field of dry grass, the gun nuts of this country have moved into their own field of dry grass, political crowds.

Believe me, we get it.

rynato, WTF ?????

Thats one of the beautiful things about living in a free country.

I am free to live somewhere like Arizona or Texas where I am free to carry a weapon to defend myself if I choose.

You are free to move to someplace like California or New Jersey that restricts or bans people from doing the same if you choose.

I've gone to my fair share of public meetings in the rural west. Growing up in the rural west, I have seen and still own my fair share of guns. In my experience, its extremely rare to see people walking around with holstered guns. I have never seen anyone, except for professional police officers, wear holstered guns in public meetings.

While I doubt that this man came to the meeting with the intention of causing violence, less pernicious intentions such as proving his manhood or using a subtle threat to have is voice heard can be dangerous intentions when mixed with guns and emotion. Who knows what would have happened if he got into a scuffle or was denied entry due to capacity limitations? Some minor incident could have easily escalated into a senseless tragedy. Beyond his intentions, this man showed that he is careless with guns in crowded public spaces. The fact that the gun (probably loaded) fell onto the floor in a crowded public meeting is enough to make any responsible gun owner cringe.

Moreover, by playacting as a cowboy, this man is setting a precedent for other folks. More folks with guns in public meetings means that there will be more armed folks with all sorts reasons for bringing them. It means that there are more chances for armed folks to get into minor scuffles and to have someone tell them something that they don't want to (perhaps they don't have to) hear. It also means more carelessness and and increased probability for stupid accidents that everyone will regret.

I don't know what this man was trying to achieve by coming to this meeting with a gun. Unfortunately, by bringing a gun to this meeting he did increase the risk for any American to trying to participate in the public sphere.

Guns at town halls in Arizona and New Hampshire. It may be common practice for guys with psychological problems related to the size of their penis (or lack thereof) to carry guns, but it is also common practice for ME to totally boycott anything and anyone from either state BECAUSE people are permitted to carry guns openly. Not one penny of mine will ever be spent on any product or any service or any person whatsoever that is connected to the states of Arizona or New Hampshire. And I've added South Carolina and Nebraska to my boycott list simply because the people there have no integrity as evident by their political decisions. Boycotts work, by golly, and I believe in putting my money where my mouth is and where my fingers type. Join up! If for no other reason than that it will make you feel much, much better.

"Male gentleman."

Just a quick comment, if its legal for him to bring a gun, so be it. I grew up in a rural area, and it wasn't crazy for someone to have a 44 on their waist.

But I do have some concern to the 'why' this particular individual brought a gun. Unless this was a normal gun carrier having a very awkward day, this person was an amateur--a person not used to carrying guns. Why would someone not accustomed to using guns be toting one around?

Besides, the fact that some moron brought a gun and dropped it in a crowded room should have sent some real southern Arizonans into a frenzy. On of the first rules that kids learn is not to drop your freaking gun. The other's to hold your shotgun tight against your shoulder (I learned that one the hard way at Christmas shooting down mistletoe, with a bruise on my shoulder and my dad's laughter drilling it into my head)

Little man with a gun in his hand.

The Minutemen wrote a song about this dood:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAmQlXUtcG0

Here's a more important story about Gabrielle Giffords: She is a Blue-Dog Democrat who might possibly vote for health care reform. If you have friends in Tucson, Fort Huachuca, or southeastern Arizona, tell them to contact her.

The gun story is over-hyped. It is legal and not unusual for local ranchers to carry handguns. I don't like it, but there is nothing I can do about it.

I carried a gun in Vietnam but have never had the slightest thought that I needed to carry a gun here. Maybe it is justifiable for some reason I am not aware and certainly it is a right we have. I just don't see the need. I'm not so sure it's a good idea in a social environment because some people might feel intimidated or threatened by somebody carrying.

When people feel threatened, sensibly or not, their behavior is unpredictable.

In an environment where it is understood that things could be confrontational and if you really wanted to find a solution to disagreement, carrying doesn't strike me as the way to go about it.

I don't fucking buy the 'its not unusual to carry a handgun in ______state' argument. Had this been five years ago, the effing FBI woulda put this person in JAIL!

(Yes, I am shouting!)

I wonder if it might be useful for some correspondents to recall that, prior to the 1968 gun control act, carrying around loaded firearms of any kind in public was normal and legal behavior. It might also be useful for some correspondents to recollect (or learn) that the particular inciting incident that led to the passing of that law was the spectacle, on TV, of Black Panthers with rifles and bandoliers patrolling and marching in demonstrations. That law, and its particular consequences today, passed because of the confluence of liberal desires to deemphasize conflict resolution via force of arms, and conservative desires to disarm black militants.

The Black Panthers: a guaranteed cure for right-wing gun mania

Gun Control: White Man's Law

Thanks.

mp

Imagine bringing a loaded weapon to a Cheney/Bush rally! Hell, wearing a t-shirt bearing a peace symbol was enough evidence to deny your admittance. WTF are these people thinking?

OK, OK. First of all, you guys are dead wrong about being jailed for carrying a gun at a Bush Cheney rally. Like it or not, I'll bet 50% at a BC rally in Texas (or in any concealed carry state) WERE carrying guns. That's the nature of the Bush Cheney supporters. Only Democrats were jailed - and that's the problem, not the gun toting right wingers. I agree, the4 right foments dangerous attitudes about dissent, violence towards elected officials (Democrats, primarily) and many don't see the danger in joking about such. They are nuts, we all know that from reading TPM. My point is that it's them, not the gun (to turn the classic NRA argument around on "them") that is the problem.

I won't address all of the wrongful assumptions that nearly every poster made about me, other than to ask that you re-read my post and attempt to see it without your bias. I've given you all the same courtesy -

I do have the necessary training, I am a Peace Officer (though I am not a LEO, and am not required to carry a firearm off or on-duty), and among other responsible precautions I take in life, I do sometimes legally carry a firearm. While the right wing is generally nuts, they are right about a few things - people kill people, a properly secured firearm is not a danger to society, guns don't discharge when dropped (read the last line of the TPM post for left wing nonsense) and th police can't protect you from sudden violence. As for the suggestion that only armed nuts find themselves in "tense" situations? I live in literally the most liberal, peace loving town in the US (home of the Grateful Dead) - yet I've encountered bar fights that spilled out onto the street while my family waited in line for a movie, angry bicyclists shouting threats at a meter maid, and angry drivers who tailgated me because they felt I was driving too slow. In each situation, because I was armed, I chose to remove myself from the situation entirely rather than even discuss the issues with those at hand - my action was safe, responsible, and never involved the brandishing of a firearm. Are you serious that in 40 years, you've never seen a similar situation?

In any of these situations, had the irrational people approached or attacked me or my family (while we retreated) with the potential to cause us great bodily harm, I would have had the option to defend myself and my family. In each case, I called the local authorities (20 year old police officers with braces and zits) who responded, in due time, and arrived with bravado and chest puffing after the event was long over.