So, you guys don't feel insulted by those signs?
Every infringement adds up.
And it it is very true that when one business sees another doing something, they will copy. If they think that putting up the signs gets/keeps business, and gun owners don't tell them anything, they'll enthusiastically do it. And they are NOT psychic.
Grass-roots efforts can be VERY effective. And call-in/e-mail campaigns with larger business have worked very well in the past. Individuals have also had intelligent chats with managers and the signs have come down. Sometimes it just takes one effort. I've done it a couple of times. It's easy.
"Why don't you want me as a customer?"
Of course, lately, on this forum, if you suggest that a bunch of folks get together an e-mail the corporate leadership of S-Mart about how one or two of their stores have posted "no guns" signs, you're almost guaranteeing that someone will post "it isn't very high road to send e-mails to the management" and "it's their property rights" and somesuch. Which basically guarantees that several other folks will get on the dang thread and agree. What side of the issue are some folks on?
About the only intelligent thing some of you guys have managed is keeping your booger flicker off your boomstick's trigger as you smirk your way past the signage so that you can support, with your hard-earned money, the same business which insults you. You think you're getting away with something? Is that it?
Say these merchants play copycat with each other - If Joe's BBQ has a gunbusters sign on their door, then Frank's Barbershop is gonna think that they need one. Before you know it, half your town is "being safe."
And then one of your state reps sneaks something into some last-minute knee jerk crime bill, making it a five-year felony to take a gun past ANY "no guns" sign. You don't think that can't happen? This is the United States - screwed up legislation happens all the time. Will you be smirking then? Every time you carry past one of those "useless" signs, you'll be chancing five years as Bubba's cellmate, and permanent loss of all your rights as a citizen.
You can be active today, or you can play catch-up down the road.
And it is ALL about public perception. When 10 year old kids see those "no guns" signs, it is reinforced in them that "gun are not something we want around here." And now someone will say that his kids know what the signs really mean - fine. Maybe not your kids, but then you ain't the daddy of the rest of the world's brats.
In eight years, those kids will be old enough to vote. And they will know, because they've been shown every day as they've walked in the supermarket, the hardware store, the local gas station, whatever, that guns = we don't want them around here.
Those signs say "We don't want your type." And you're letting them do it.
You are letting someone else erode your rights. WITHOUT ACTING TO SLOW IT OR PREVENT IT.
Sad.
And stupid.
Foolish.
Idiotic.
Maybe you're smart, but your behavior just doesn't cut it. And doesn't prove it.
The managers and store owners are not psychic. And most of them are not malevolent "anti-gun" folks either. They just think that they are being safe. And it takes a couple of minutes of polite chat to maybe convince them otherwise.
Then again, maybe that's too hard for some folks to handle. You'd rather smirk, and sneak in, and support the people who are insulting you, and later, go home and congratulate yourself on getting away with something.
Sigh.
It's not that hard. It requires a small amount of effort. Tell the owners/management why you are offended by their signs, and why you cannot shop there. Sometimes the sign comes down. Not every time. Can't win every skirmish.
But when you don't do anything, you are guaranteeing a loss.
Which makes you a loser. An apathetic loser.
Next time you mentally smirk, and walk past one of those insulting signs, to spend your money to support the same business that insults you, maybe you'll think about this. Maybe you'll go find the manager. Maybe you'll turn around, and shop at a store that wants your business. Those are grass-roots steps in winning.
Or maybe you'll just continue to be a loser.
