Thursday, January 20, 2011

Utah is an open carry gun state

The local news reported an incident where a guy took a gun to the local mall.  He didn't actually go into the mall.  He walked around outside the mall carrying the guns.  The guns he had were in plain site and were in the style of "assault weapons". 

So, why is he doing this?  Well, Utah is an "open carry" state.  What does that mean?  It means that you can openly carry an unloaded firearm in public.  Actually, if I remember correctly, you can carry a loaded weapon, such as a revolver, but you can't have a round in the cylinder directly behind the barrel and the next cylinder.  So if you have a six shooter, two of the six cylinders need to be empty.  Anyway, Utah state law allows you to do what this guy is doing and so he decided to do it.  Is it his right?  Absolutely.  Is it the right thing to be doing, especially after the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords?  Probably not.  People tend to get a little freaked out when you're marching around the mall with a gun or two in plain view.  Not smart.  It kind of reminds me of this video.

I'm sure Mr. Taylor is trying to prove a point that if a law permits him to walk around with an unloaded gun, he should be free to do it.  Well Mr. Taylor, you're really not helping the gun group's cause.  You're coming across as a gun nut.  And frankly, with the recent shootings in Arizona, you really can't blame people for over-reacting just a bit.  If you want to help the gun cause, then go teach someone how to shoot.  Don't go parading around like you do because you're becoming the next poster boy for the anti-gun group.  There are enough of those right now to go around.  We don't need another one.

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!!  Welcome to 2011!  I hope everyone had a safe and happy Christmas and a great new year.

Generally we do a Christmas letter and family photo.  This year, we will send nothing.  Sorry folks.  We were just too busy.  For me, 2010 wasn't that bad of a year.  I hope 2011 is better.  I hope the economy gets better.  I'm not overly optimistic, but I hope that it is better than last year.