Glenn E. Meyer
New member
Today I was in Barnes and Noble off I-10 in San Antonio. It had a nice selection of all the latest gun rags. However, Playboy was behind the counter. It got me to thinking.
Down the road is Wal-Mart and it has a decent selection of usable long arms but no handguns, they have been removed.
Two large chain sporting good stores have bellied up. They used to have large handgun displays right next to the regular stuff.
On TFL - folks denounce large chain stores that stop carrying guns. Some then say -
Ah - what the heck - I only go the mom and pop stores only!! Support them.
Well, that's reasonable but I'm going to argue that removing guns from normal commerce is devasting to the RKBA.
It puts on the level of pornography.
I first saw my first real firearms in Macy's in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, NY. They were in a section near the model airplanes. The store sold surplus military rifles. A few blocks away Sears sold guns too. Now, are there firearms in any Macy's or Sears?
You can't even get a long gun in NYC without permission now IIRC.
In Oregon and Texas, you could go to a major sporting goods store in a major mall and see nice displays of guns. Young folks can go look at sneakers and then wander over to the guns. A friendly clerk might answer a question for them Guns are seen as part of normal commerce and things a normal person would own.
So these stores go away and chains drop guns.
Where will that little kid see a gun?
Unless they are specifically taken to a gun show or range they won't. Maybe they will be taken to gun store - but that takes parental committment - just another choir member.
Where are the mom and pop shops? In Oregon, they are usually in crappy strip malls - next to crappy travel agencies and the like. Not a place that kids will go to. Or they are separate stores on a street that you don't go to unless you already want a gun - the choir!
Some stores are truly crappy. Now I know some nice ones in both states, that's true. But the odds of a kid going there spontaneously is low.
It is like a porno store. They are separate and evil. Playboy was banned from the markets. I could buy it at the grocery store - no more.
Dirty little stores in weird strip malls sell porno.
Gun magazines are disappearing in some places. Stores are isolated.
So when a major store drops guns - it might be ok with the choir. Sure, you could get Playboy at that special store also. But guns are not seen as normal to sell or own. We have lost something.
Interesting, maybe some of the guns guys said good that Playboy got banned from the store
(an allusion to flame wars in other threads).
Maybe there is some hope. A really nice store just opened near me. There are a couple of nice stores in decent places in Austin. However, you still have to go to them and that little kid who doesn't have a choir member mom or dad may never see them.
Down the road is Wal-Mart and it has a decent selection of usable long arms but no handguns, they have been removed.
Two large chain sporting good stores have bellied up. They used to have large handgun displays right next to the regular stuff.
On TFL - folks denounce large chain stores that stop carrying guns. Some then say -
Ah - what the heck - I only go the mom and pop stores only!! Support them.
Well, that's reasonable but I'm going to argue that removing guns from normal commerce is devasting to the RKBA.
It puts on the level of pornography.
I first saw my first real firearms in Macy's in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, NY. They were in a section near the model airplanes. The store sold surplus military rifles. A few blocks away Sears sold guns too. Now, are there firearms in any Macy's or Sears?
You can't even get a long gun in NYC without permission now IIRC.
In Oregon and Texas, you could go to a major sporting goods store in a major mall and see nice displays of guns. Young folks can go look at sneakers and then wander over to the guns. A friendly clerk might answer a question for them Guns are seen as part of normal commerce and things a normal person would own.
So these stores go away and chains drop guns.
Where will that little kid see a gun?
Unless they are specifically taken to a gun show or range they won't. Maybe they will be taken to gun store - but that takes parental committment - just another choir member.
Where are the mom and pop shops? In Oregon, they are usually in crappy strip malls - next to crappy travel agencies and the like. Not a place that kids will go to. Or they are separate stores on a street that you don't go to unless you already want a gun - the choir!
Some stores are truly crappy. Now I know some nice ones in both states, that's true. But the odds of a kid going there spontaneously is low.
It is like a porno store. They are separate and evil. Playboy was banned from the markets. I could buy it at the grocery store - no more.
Dirty little stores in weird strip malls sell porno.
Gun magazines are disappearing in some places. Stores are isolated.
So when a major store drops guns - it might be ok with the choir. Sure, you could get Playboy at that special store also. But guns are not seen as normal to sell or own. We have lost something.
Interesting, maybe some of the guns guys said good that Playboy got banned from the store
(an allusion to flame wars in other threads).
Maybe there is some hope. A really nice store just opened near me. There are a couple of nice stores in decent places in Austin. However, you still have to go to them and that little kid who doesn't have a choir member mom or dad may never see them.