The people at my office just don't get it. They snicker and sneer about how "paranoid" I am because I think people should be able to carry a gun. They laugh and joke about the idea that they might need to protect themselves someday from an oppressive government...DJK shares an experience we've all probably been through--dealing with our convictions at our places of employment.
Some are more open and accepting than others, but a rule I established for myself long ago always worked well for me: I was there to work. Some can mix the personal and professional seamlessly. I've never been one of those.
If a co-worker challenges you on guns, I'd have two responses ready:
If I thought they were a jerk just trying to bust my chops, I'd let them take their shot and tell them I didn't think it appropriate to debate politics on company time.
If I liked them, I'd tell them work wasn't the place to discuss things, but if they'd like to go to the range some time...
Out of idle curiosity you might ask your office mates which of them:
ReplyDelete- have homeowners insurance
- own a fire extinguisher
- carry a spare tire in their auto
- are trained in CPR or Heimlich
And just why they are so obsessively paranoid about protecting themselves from things that almost never happen.
For each of the above and for a personal defensive firearm the best attitude IMHO is, better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.
I’m a senior executive in a company with a published “no guns” policy. But I carry a Glock 27 on my ankle every day. Long ago I decided that my right to defend myself wasn’t negotiable.
ReplyDeleteRecently the owner of the company spotted my ankle holster and wrongly thought it was a probation bracelet. He approached me in the breakroom and asked me if there was anything I wanted to tell him about the “thing” on my ankle.
I said “What do you want to know about it?”
“Did you get in some kind of trouble? Is that a probation bracelet you’re wearing?”
“No…it’s a 40 caliber pistol” says I.
His eyes nearly bugged out of his head: “It’s a WHAT?”
“I said ‘It’s a pistol’. Now are you gonna have an issue with that?” I had already made up my mind that I wasn’t going to disarm even if threatened with my job. My thought was ‘Does he have the same courage of his convictions that I do?’
The boss stuttered, and stammered and Uhhh’ed and Ummm’ed for a minute, and then finally said: “Well, I guess I’m gonna be a lot nicer to you from now on, and if I ever have to reprimand or fire you I’ll do it by phone or email.”
“Why are you armed” he said.
“Number one…because it’s my god-given RIGHT!”
“Number two…because it’s a rough world out there and you never know when you’re gonna need it.” I replied.
“Well I think you’re just paranoid. What is it that you’re so afraid of” he says.
And here I got a great big grin on my face and said “As long as I’m wearing this .40 pistol…not a damn thing!”
I work with DJK and I am one of those guys ribbing him about his gun position, although not nearly as much as the other folks really ginving him a hard time.
ReplyDeleteI think what scares us is that DJK is the most normal gun advocate we know. Most of the others we know of have either shot somebody or locked themselves up in a compound.
Gun rights advocates like you folks and DJK are probably right, but we are gonna need some more convincing. More stories of punk gangsters trying to rob granny but getting a bullet in the butt instead.
Also, maybe if you weren't so loud about it all the time? I think of the gay guy PROUDLY and LOUDLY running around the office in his pink short shorts expressing his right to be gay. I say fine, no problem here, just please tuck it back in and get a haircut.
We're comin around DJK, but slowly.
D!X
Just answer one question, Steven, not to me but to yourself:
ReplyDeleteShould a man be able to protect himself and those he loves?
I refuse to believe you've reached adulthood and are still demanding proofs.
"I think what scares us is that DJK is the most normal gun advocate we know. Most of the others we know of have either shot somebody or locked themselves up in a compound."
ReplyDeleteI refuse to believe that is true.
Normalcy as a standard is very like fairness; by whose criteria is it determined?
The video on my post should be proof enough...but if you want more...there's TONS HERE just about every day.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.claytoncramer.com/gundefenseblog/blogger.html
It's quite the eye opener.
I've been loud about it because I believe in it and would like to bring those around me into the loop. To get them to realize that all isn't well. We work in a nice place... I don't live in a nice place. Just last night I had to listen to some brothas "fresh 'out tha pen" who "never get a break and always up in the pen" talking about how they'd "run up in a mufucka house and jack a nigga". That was 100 feet from my bedroom window where my wife sleeps and maybe someday my children. Let me tell you... My gun was close and I was ready to go. Not until about 30 minutes after they left was I able to get some sleep. OH yeah, I called the cops after the guy through a bottle at the wall and told them all the stuff they were saying.....never showed. I'm sure glad he didn't choose last night to "jack a nigga" or a honkey.
To D!X's credit, he has come a long way on the issue...even went to the range with me but wasn't able to shoot (expired driver license).