BY RAUL HERNANDEZ
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry wants moviegoers to take guns to theaters, and don’t forget to load up on Milk Duds and popcorn too.
Make sure to butter the popcorn and check that the weapon’s safety is on when you sit down to watch “Minions” with the kids.
Perry, the NRA and gun rights supporters argue that guns will protect the public from guys like the Lafayette shooter who had a history of mental instability and criminal activity.
Or, they will stop people like Jihad Brown, a violent criminal who along with another man entered the Walmart this month in South Carolina to rob it.
The two got the money and fled. But two days, one of the suspects was arrested.
What follows is interesting:
A deputy spotted Brown’s black Dodge Dart and pursued the vehicle throughout the city until the vehicle became stuck in a ditch near the intersection, according to a WCTV News report.
As the officer approached the vehicle, Brown reached under his seat before raising his hands to the officer’s command. The officer ordered Brown to get on the ground to which Brown replied “just shoot me” before again reaching into the car.
The officer then tased and handcuffed Brown.
It is just a matter of time when another armed and violent criminal like Brown enters a Walmart, McDonalds, Target, any fast-food restaurant or bank to rob it, and a “good guy” with a gun pulls out his weapon to stop the robber.
Then another “good guy” pulls out his gun and then, another weapon is whipped out. Pretty soon it will be hard to separate the “good guys” with guns from the bad guys with guns.
Gun fire will erupt. A 911 call will be made. As cops arrive they are faced with the task of trying to figure out who are the “good guys” with guns and the criminals with guns. Mistakes will be made and bodies will be dropping everywhere while more cops arrive to figure it all out all over again.
I am sure businesses have mulled over this possible scenario and others in deciding whether to allow Ak47 and 44 caliber handguns inside their stores.
I often go to Starbucks in Ventura or Santa Barbara to bang out some stories to post on my website.
Starbucks and other coffee shops are friendly and great places to drink coffee and get work done. But occasionally, people who look like they’ve slept on a park bench will walk into the place with their imaginary friends.
Or, there is the quiet, glassy-eyed customer crumpled in the corner who looks like he’s about to be sucked into his computer screen. Everybody assumes he is either the owner or is renting that corner of the Starbucks.
If California adopted a law allowing open carry, it would be difficult for customers not to be on edge when some of these people walked in with an AK-47 or a holstered cannon on their shoulders.
California has strict guns laws and will tack on an additional 10 years to a sentence if an weapon is used to commit a crime. Still, it is difficult to keep guns out the hands of criminals and crazies.
But allowing people who walk into businesses with assault rifles or other weapons is not only very bad for business but it’s insane, especially at a place that children frequent like McDonalds.
There is a reason why Perry’s Texas-based hamburger chain Whataburger will prohibit customers from openly carrying firearms in its restaurants despite a new law in the state that permits licensed gun owners to do so in public.
“We have to think about how open carry impacts our 34,000+ employees and millions of customers,” Whataburger CEO Preston Atkinson wrote. “We’ve had many customers and employees tell us they’re uncomfortable being around someone with a visible firearm who is not a member of law enforcement … [and] we have a responsibility to make sure everyone who walks into our restaurants feels comfortable. For that reason, we don’t restrict licensed concealed carry but do ask customers not to open carry in our restaurants.”
Other business have also followed suit of not allowing guns inside their stores.
Whataburger is not the first restaurant chain to bar openly carried firearms in states with open carry allowances. In 2014, gun rights activists in Dallas brought assault-style rifles into a Chipotle there as part of a demonstration, prompting the burrito chain to issue a statement asking that customers not openly carry guns in any of its restaurants.
The gun lobby and its supporters are threatening to boycott these businesses.
In June, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott inked a bill allowing gun owners who previously qualified for concealed carry permits to carry their handguns openly in shoulder or hip holsters.
The law, which passed with strong backing from groups like the National Rifle Association, will go into effect in January.
Abbott is the governor who said he is going to ask the National Guard to keep an eye on U.S. Army troops in Texas who are having military exercises in the Lone Star state.
By doing so, Abbott gave credibility to the paranoid nutjobs in that state who swore up and down that Obama was trying to take over the state and put everybody in Walmart prison camps or were convinced of some weird off-the-wall conspiracy theory involving U.S. soldiers.
You can’t make this up. This is a snapshot of some of the people who are armed in Texas.
In Louisiana where the sad and tragic deaths of two women occurred, Gov. Bobby Jindal is tightlipped about guns and violence, saying that it wasn’t the time to talk about this issue. He weaseled out of answering a reporter’s pressing question about gun violence:
“You want to be the leader of not only the United States but of the free world,” the reporter continued. “What would you do different to stop these things from happening all over the country?”
In 2013, Jindal signed with much fanfare three other pieces of gun legislation that include, according to the Times Picayune:
- House Bill 6 by Rep. John Schroder, R-Covington: Will allow off-duty law enforcement officers to carry their guns onto school campuses. Law only applies to commissioned, certified law enforcement agents. Given final passage by the Legislature May 28.
- House Bill 98, sponsored by Thompson: Will allow sheriffs to recognize concealed handgun permits issued by their colleagues in neighboring parishes. In Louisiana, the State Police and individual parish sheriffs have the power to issue the permits. Given final passage June 6.
- Senate Bill 178, sponsored by Riser: Will allow voter registration application forms to be made available to gun buyers “at the point of purchase.” The dealer distributing the applications must have a federal firearms license and employ at least 25 full-time workers.