Mike
Site Co-Founder
imported post
Looks like the Times-Tribune subscribes to George Orwell's "Newspeak" from his book, 1984.
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http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19707014&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=418218&rfi=6
Big difference in right v. smart
05/21/2008
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2185&dept_id=418218&newsid=19707014
A small group of gun owners who decided to openly parade their hardware recently at a Dickson City buffet restaurant were out to prove that they had the right to do so. So, they know everything about their right, but nothing about wisely using it.
The gun-wielders became known to their activist brethren as the “Dickson Dozen” after someone in the restaurant complained to police that they openly were carrying their guns.
Police detained one of the armed diners and temporarily confiscated his weapon when he declined to answer their questions. So, the point was made. The Second Amendment provides the right to bear arms, and Pennsylvania has no law precluding citizens from openly brandishing the hardware. Moreover, the police were not quite sure about how to respond.
Yet having a right does not mean that it’s always smart to exercise it. Americans have broad free-speech rights, but it’s often smarter to hold one’s tongue for the sake of civil society — broadly, the accommodation of others. The gun-toters don’t seem to understand that not brandishing their weapons in public would not diminish their right while also not intimidating other diners.
Gun advocates insist, of course, that their open possession of handguns deters crime. One can only imagine the scene, however, if some incident occurs and the same police, who are now excoriated by the activists, arrive to find a dozen people with weapons drawn.
While the right cited by the activists is indeed rooted in the Constitution, the “wisdom” in exercising it at the buffet restaurant is a false premise rooted in bad judgment.
Looks like the Times-Tribune subscribes to George Orwell's "Newspeak" from his book, 1984.
--
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19707014&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=418218&rfi=6
Big difference in right v. smart
05/21/2008
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=2185&dept_id=418218&newsid=19707014
A small group of gun owners who decided to openly parade their hardware recently at a Dickson City buffet restaurant were out to prove that they had the right to do so. So, they know everything about their right, but nothing about wisely using it.
The gun-wielders became known to their activist brethren as the “Dickson Dozen” after someone in the restaurant complained to police that they openly were carrying their guns.
Police detained one of the armed diners and temporarily confiscated his weapon when he declined to answer their questions. So, the point was made. The Second Amendment provides the right to bear arms, and Pennsylvania has no law precluding citizens from openly brandishing the hardware. Moreover, the police were not quite sure about how to respond.
Yet having a right does not mean that it’s always smart to exercise it. Americans have broad free-speech rights, but it’s often smarter to hold one’s tongue for the sake of civil society — broadly, the accommodation of others. The gun-toters don’t seem to understand that not brandishing their weapons in public would not diminish their right while also not intimidating other diners.
Gun advocates insist, of course, that their open possession of handguns deters crime. One can only imagine the scene, however, if some incident occurs and the same police, who are now excoriated by the activists, arrive to find a dozen people with weapons drawn.
While the right cited by the activists is indeed rooted in the Constitution, the “wisdom” in exercising it at the buffet restaurant is a false premise rooted in bad judgment.