Exceptional video log of a tension-filled city council meeting touching on gun ownership

I better get back to the gym and build up my muscles before THAT becomes illegal.

I have a level of heightened alertness around police officers with guns and soldiers with guns. That tends to lessen my level of comfort. It's the guns that make the difference, but the degree of difference depends on the context.

For example:

1. Cops on duty, in uniform, drinking coffee = Mura noticing, observing, checking what/who else is around, deciding whether the cops are relaxed or not, and choosing a comfortable safe distance from said cops in which I can relax too. Note: This level of uncomfortable awareness will not stop me talking to said cops in a friendly manner if I want something from them, like directions.

2. Cops on duty, in uniform, hands on holsters = Mura on instant alert and making use of the nearest exit immediately.

3. Soldiers in uniform, holding rifles (or whatever the hell it is they hold), patrolling around a political event, embassy, airport, or other high security setting = Mura persuading herself this is a necessary evil while seeking to leave the area as quickly as possible.

4. Soldiers in said situation who make an effort to communicate that things are fine and that I can relax = Mura smiling at said soldiers and seeking to exit scene slightly more subtly.

5. Soldiers or police in dress uniform on parade duty = Mura relaxed even if the guns are real.

6. Cops out of uniform but with guns visible, in a car = Mura checking out said car for hints that it is a police vehicle, and then moving away from it.

7. Cop out of uniform, not obviously on duty, with unusual gun gear visible = Mura obsessively studying said person for signals he/she is a cop and not a homicidal maniac while desiring very very very much to be as far away from said person as possible. (Real life example: The time I was sitting on the J train in NYC and noticed the guy sitting on the bench opposite me had a pistol in an ankle holster on his leg, visible when his trouser leg rode up as he sat down. I spent the whole of a 45-minute trip trying to judge whether his, lean, tight, but middle-aged physique, extremely polished partially bald head, and superbly neat moustache were NYPD regulation or sign of a psycho. I sort of concluded he was a cop, but I still wasn't satisfied entirely, and I could hardly wait to get him out of my sight.)

8. Anyone who doesn't look like a cop but is clearly armed = Mura concludes this person is or soon will be a criminal and seeks to get far away asap.

9. Anyone who looks a whole lot like a cop or soldier but turns out not to be either = Mura doesn't wait to see if they're armed; she scrams.

What all that boils down to is this: Guns make me nervous. I don't like them. They are noisy, nasty, dangerous things that have no peaceful or friendly connotations. I don't like to be around them, and having them around injects an note of tension into any situation.

However, people also make me nervous, some more than others. When you add the two together, the nervousness factor ratchets up significantly. For instance, I may not like the idea of a gun lying on the table in a room I'm in, but I'd like the idea of someone holding that gun in that room even less, because it is the person holding the gun that is the wild card factor.

If the unpredictable, uncontrollable person holding the gun is a qualified professional on legitimate duty, my nervousness reaches a certain level. If the unpredictable, uncontrollable person is just some random stranger off the street whom I have no reason to believe is not some kind of wacko or moron, then my nervousness is magnified exponentially.

But even this is not a set in stone formula. There are always things like this: Link. So much for trained professionals lowering my nervousness around guns.

@mura, LMAO! Me too, oddly enough.

But, confession: I feel more nervous around a person with a gun (okay, a MAN with a gun) who I know is a cop than I do the average person.

Might have something to do with the fact that a cop has aimed a gun at me. I looked down the barrel of said gun, armed with nothing more than ten pain pills in my sweating palm. I was a 30-some-odd year old 120-pound female dressed in pajamas with a major drug problem who was totally frozen, utterly surrendered, crying and scared shitless.

There was no fucking call for pulling a gun on me and to this day, I am still trying to forgive that asshole person.

Thanks for letting me share.

Plot Device said:

I invite anyone here to draft whatever petition they deem appropriate and then endeavor to change the laws of their municipality.

We live in a great nation where your right to petition is (for the time being) unlimited.

Until the law changes, I'm very sorry you feel so uncomfortable. And I mean that. I do not say that in a spirit of condescension. I say it sincerely. I think it's tragic that you feel so uncomfortable.

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And I thank you for that. Really, I do. Because I don't think the people who participated in this demonstration were taking our feelings into consideration. Or rather, they were mocking them.

Plot Device said:

Until the law changes, I'm very sorry you feel so uncomfortable. And I mean that. I do not say that in a spirit of condescension. I say it sincerely. I think it's tragic that you feel so uncomfortable.

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I think it's tragic that so many people feel the need to carry a gun around.

So is no one with me on fighting for our right to carry a sword?

I'm surprised there aren't more people outraged by this injustice.

Our constitutional rights are being infringed, and all you hear about is guns.

The only thing I have to say about swords is that I hate it when people carry full-sized umbrellas on the subway. I can't imagine how irritating they'd be with swords. The idea makes me support gun control even more.

How about slingshots?

kuwisdelu said:

So is no one with me on fighting for our right to carry a sword?

I'm surprised there aren't more people outraged by this injustice.

Our constitutional rights are being infringed, and all you hear about is guns.

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This is how it happens. Older, obsolete things covered by the Constitution are outlawed and no one notices. It's like boiling a frog by slowly heating up the water.

"First, they came for the swords..."

Williebee said:

How about slingshots?

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You mean the modern ones made of a "Y" stick and rubber band, or the original swing-around-your-head type that David used to take down Goliath?

benbradley said:

This is how it happens. Older, obsolete things covered by the Constitution are outlawed and no one notices. It's like boiling a frog by slowly heating up the water.

"First, they came for the swords..."

You mean the modern ones made of a "Y" stick and rubber band, or the original swing-around-your-head type that David used to take down Goliath?

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They're not you grandfather's slingshot anymore, Ben. This video shows one punching holes through both sides of a soda can full of water. It looks like a deadly weapon to me.