1. I'm sure that you are an absolute expert in the laws of PA. What about FL, where the OP is from? What about my own humble IN? Our LGS here is full of people who claim to know the law. If I had a nickle for everytime I met one who did not know what he was talking about, then Mrs. Sandman and I could build that place on the lake and retire.
What about those places? I'm sorry if I took your post to be a direct response to mine, if it was not. (Though my reactions remain unchanged.) If you are unsure of the laws in your area, inform yourself before you carry anywhere at all, certainly.
Or were you asking me to look up the laws in those places for you?
Indiana:
http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/indiana.pdf
“No Firearm” signs in Indiana have no force of law unless they are posted on property that is specifically mentioned in State Law as being off limits to those with a Permit/License to Carry. If you are in a place not specifically mentioned in the law that is posted and they ask you to leave, you must leave. If you refuse to leave then you are breaking the law and can be charged. Even if the property is not posted and you are asked to leave you must leave.
Florida:
http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/florida.pdf
“No Firearm” signs in Florida have no force of law unless they are posted on property that is specifically mentioned in State Law as being off limits to those with a Permit/License to Carry. If you are in a place not specifically mentioned in the law that is posted and they ask you to leave, you must leave. If you refuse to leave then you are breaking the law and can be charged. Even if the property is not posted and you are asked to leave you must leave.
Feel a little less better?
2. I think that the inability to visit an amusement park without a heater reflects a great deal of fear.
I think my desire to be as well defended as practicable reflects a great deal of critical thinking and balancing of risks.
3. If you were invited to the home of a friend , and they asked you not to bring your gun, would you still go armed? I think that this reflects a great deal of rudeness. Don't go to their house if you are not ready to follow their rules!
If a personal friend asked me that, we'd have a deep discussion about the matter and I'd either decide to agree, not visit, or possibly end the relationship, as his request would by necessity speak volumes of his opinion of me.
The amesment park is a business, owned by a person or a group of people. It's their park and their rules. Be polite and obey them or don't go to the park. Why would you want to support an anti-gun park anyway?
There's nothing polite or impolite about it at all. I will go patronize that business or I won't. I will follow the law. If they desire to (try to) fully disarm all patrons they are free to institute metal detectors, pat-downs and invasive searches. As long as they aren't doing anything more than a cursory bag-check, and thus not denying criminals, gang members, and predators from carrying their weapons ILLEGALLY, they also won't be deterring me from carrying mine LEGALLY.
Why would I patronize such a place? Because that's the option I have for such a resource. If there were two such places equally distant and they had differing policies, I
might consider patronizing one over the other. But that's not the case, so a moot point. I can follow
the law and still patronize that establishment on my terms, so I do. My choice. You may choose otherwise.
4. As far as ruining "it" for the rest of "us", I'll spell it out for you. Us are people who like guns and want them around, it is the ability to have guns. Right now, it is a right. As long as most people want it to be a right, it will likely remain so. If you engage in behaviour that may draw attention to guns in a negative way, you may convert neutral gun people into anti gun people. Some examples would be open carry (say, at a mall) when not needed, showing off your gun at a kids birthday party, strapping a bullet ridden deer to the roof of your SUV, or taking a sidearm where your hosts do not want it. That's what I was talking about.
Well, some of those things are public and some are not. Some might influence public opinion and some will not. All are up to the discretion of the individual and are choices we make for our own reasons. I don't see open carry as a negative thing only producing negative reactions. (The experiences of those members here who do so would indicate quite the opposite.) I don't see a privately held CONCEALED firearm as having any impact at all on public opinion --- UNLESS I AM FORCED TO USE IT.
And if I am forced to use it, I don't care one tiny little bit about public opinion at that point. I'll just be glad, oh so very glad, that I have it with me.