Mike
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Our view: History loops itself in 2nd concealed carry dust-up
Public Opinion Online
It was almost a year ago that a local man temporarily lost his permit to carry a concealed firearm after he openly and legally carried his sidearm to a polling place to vote.
A couple of months later, a local judge affirmed that no crime had occurred and returned the man's permit. But not before pro-gun activists politicized the incident and engineered a headline-grabbing media spectacle.
At the time, we wondered how long it would take for a copycat to exercise the right to open carry in defiance of common sense and courtesy, by inappropriately bringing a gun to a place where people would be guaranteed to take exception.
We got our answer a few weeks ago: About 10 months.
On Sept. 11, Meleanie Hain openly wore her sidearm to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game in Lebanon. Justifiably angry parents complained, and Hain -- like Chambersburg's Greg Rotz -- lost her permit for a brief time before a judge returned it to her this week.
The two cases practically mirror each other, with one important exception: Since Rotz's incident occurred at a polling place, it wasn't likely to be witnessed by a lot of children and their protective parents.
Nonetheless, the cases are similar enough that we feel compelled to re-emphasize the importance of respecting others' rights in the exercise of your own. The concept amounts to one of the pillars of civilized society.
Of course, we make all these points on the assumption that these open carriers
simply suffered honest lapses in judgment, and were not actively trying to cause a ruckus to serve a greater political cause.
We have no evidence of collusion to that end, but we do find it interesting that a copycat incident dealing with a galvanizing wedge issue pops up right before another Election Day.
Instead of playing off people's fears to make a point, gun advocates would do better for their cause by showing more respect for those who don't feel a need to carry a firearm everywhere they go.
-- By Matthew Major, on behalf of Public Opinion's editorial board
http://www.publicopiniononline.com/ci_10731652
Our view: History loops itself in 2nd concealed carry dust-up
Public Opinion Online
It was almost a year ago that a local man temporarily lost his permit to carry a concealed firearm after he openly and legally carried his sidearm to a polling place to vote.
A couple of months later, a local judge affirmed that no crime had occurred and returned the man's permit. But not before pro-gun activists politicized the incident and engineered a headline-grabbing media spectacle.
At the time, we wondered how long it would take for a copycat to exercise the right to open carry in defiance of common sense and courtesy, by inappropriately bringing a gun to a place where people would be guaranteed to take exception.
We got our answer a few weeks ago: About 10 months.
On Sept. 11, Meleanie Hain openly wore her sidearm to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game in Lebanon. Justifiably angry parents complained, and Hain -- like Chambersburg's Greg Rotz -- lost her permit for a brief time before a judge returned it to her this week.
The two cases practically mirror each other, with one important exception: Since Rotz's incident occurred at a polling place, it wasn't likely to be witnessed by a lot of children and their protective parents.
Nonetheless, the cases are similar enough that we feel compelled to re-emphasize the importance of respecting others' rights in the exercise of your own. The concept amounts to one of the pillars of civilized society.
Of course, we make all these points on the assumption that these open carriers
simply suffered honest lapses in judgment, and were not actively trying to cause a ruckus to serve a greater political cause.
We have no evidence of collusion to that end, but we do find it interesting that a copycat incident dealing with a galvanizing wedge issue pops up right before another Election Day.
Instead of playing off people's fears to make a point, gun advocates would do better for their cause by showing more respect for those who don't feel a need to carry a firearm everywhere they go.
-- By Matthew Major, on behalf of Public Opinion's editorial board
