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Accomplished Advocate
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I had occasion to eat lunch with a friend in a local Mexican restaurant recently. They serve beer, so I took off my long-tailed flannel shirt because carrying a concealed handgun is illegal in a restaurant that serves alcoholic drinks here. There was one guy in the place who clearly took offense by my presence with my modest, relatively inconspicuous Sig 229 on my belt.
I was thinking about this, and I've thought, I've only seen men react that way. And by far the stories I've heard about people causing a fuss over someone with a gun are all about men who react to other men carrying guns. They don't react that way if the man is clearly a cop. And if I had to guess, I'd say the guy who was giving me the hairy eyeball was ex-navy.
So, having considered the matter for some time, I think I've got a handle on it, at least as a partial explanation: they take it as a challenge to their manhood. They don't react to cops because cops are not in the same category they see themselves in, so that's not a threat. But if I (a fat old geezer) come into the restaurant with a gun, they're suddenly worried about who's top dog. I think it's a hormone related mental disorder that had some utility in the hunting and gathering world, but is a real problem for folks living in a city. By coming in with a gun, in that guy's mind, I'm saying to him that I'm in charge, that I'm his superior, and that I have the means to effect my will, take his women, and burn down his house.
Too much testosterone.
I had occasion to eat lunch with a friend in a local Mexican restaurant recently. They serve beer, so I took off my long-tailed flannel shirt because carrying a concealed handgun is illegal in a restaurant that serves alcoholic drinks here. There was one guy in the place who clearly took offense by my presence with my modest, relatively inconspicuous Sig 229 on my belt.
I was thinking about this, and I've thought, I've only seen men react that way. And by far the stories I've heard about people causing a fuss over someone with a gun are all about men who react to other men carrying guns. They don't react that way if the man is clearly a cop. And if I had to guess, I'd say the guy who was giving me the hairy eyeball was ex-navy.
So, having considered the matter for some time, I think I've got a handle on it, at least as a partial explanation: they take it as a challenge to their manhood. They don't react to cops because cops are not in the same category they see themselves in, so that's not a threat. But if I (a fat old geezer) come into the restaurant with a gun, they're suddenly worried about who's top dog. I think it's a hormone related mental disorder that had some utility in the hunting and gathering world, but is a real problem for folks living in a city. By coming in with a gun, in that guy's mind, I'm saying to him that I'm in charge, that I'm his superior, and that I have the means to effect my will, take his women, and burn down his house.
Too much testosterone.