My first wife and I have been divorced for almost two decades, and I have since remarried, but she still counts on me to provide a decent example and role model for her son & daughter. They still treat me as their dad, and I consider myself truly blessed to have such fine young people in my life.
Last Saturday, I had an important (step-)parental duty to perform with my son.
This particular duty fell to me because I've been carrying a concealed firearm since the summer of 2005... and, more importantly, I've made it through six years without needing to use it.
He actually carried a gun before I did, but the circumstances were a little different: in March 2003, near the end of his four-year enlistment in the Army, he strapped on his 9mm Beretta (in the shoulder holster I sent him) and drove a tank to Baghdad. He did use his sidearm, and quite a few other weapons, more often than he cares to discuss.
Since then, he has put himself through college without debt (partly thanks to the GI Bill) and got a decent job in his field of study. Over the years, he has come to terms with the things that Bush-Cheney made him do, and he is at peace with himself. He is about to buy a house in Philly, and he just obtained his PA License to Carry Firearms.
His mother knows almost nothing about guns, except that she doesn't want one. She isn't exactly excited that he's about to get one, but she trusts me to handle this side of the parenting.
(Believe this, dear readers: if I thought there was any chance he would be a danger to himself or others, I would have talked him out of it... and he would have listened. It's OK if you don't believe that, because his mother knows it's true).
So, to celebrate the scheduled termite inspection at his new house, he strapped on a gun for the first time since the war, and we went for a walk.
Before I left for Philly, I donned my usual carry rig, a Safepacker; it "hides" a 10mm Glock 29 and a spare magazine in plain sight. I loaded up my laptop bag with my Glock 20 in a Fobus paddle holster, a simple leather slide holster, a few spare 15-round magazines that fit either Glock, and my wife's tiny .357 Magnum revolver (and two holsters for it, an inside-the-waistband holster padded in sheepskin and an Uncle Mike's pocket holster).
All the guns were loaded; their triggers were protected by the holsters.
The first two stops had nothing to do with guns: I went to Costco, bought some supplies, and dropped them at the Occupy Delaware encampment in downtown Wilmington. (I guess, technically, Delaware was under armed Occupation for about two minutes, but nobody noticed or minded).
Then, I picked up my son in Center City, and we headed over to Fishtown to look at his future home. We went inside to deal with the guns in private before the rest of our entourage showed up. He ended up wearing my G29 in the slide holster. I wore the larger G20 in the paddle holster. We covered them up with our coats, locked the laptop bag in the trunk of my ratty old Police Interceptor, and took a peaceful walk through his new neighborhood.
While we walked and enjoyed the sunny fall day, I dispensed the turds pearls of wisdom that I've gathered over the last six years, including:
"Having a gun is like having two penises: if you whip out either of them in public, you're going to jail."
"Anything you do wrong becomes ten times worse with a gun, so don't do anything wrong."
"If you shot Osama bin Laden in self-defense in front of a stadium full of people on live television, you'd still spend thousands of dollars on a lawyer to stay out of jail."
"The biggest risk to your life when you're armed is that the police will shoot you by mistake. If you are stopped by the police, keep your hands in plain sight... and give them your carry permit before they know you're armed."
Just as our walk took us back to the house, his girlfriend, mother and sister showed up. We took another walk around the block until the termite inspector came and went, and then we went all out for lunch at an excellent local café. My son and I drove together so I could put his borrowed gun back into my Safepacker... which allowed us to enjoy the meal without needing to keep our coats on.
I left him as I found him: unarmed and at peace. He plans to remain at peace, but not to remain unarmed for long. He plans to buy a 10mm Glock, just like the one that's strapped to dear old dad. This incident, a block from the house in his relatively safe new neighborhood, makes me glad he's choosing firepower over convenience.
And, the next morning, my (current) wife and I briefly re-Occupied Delaware to drop off more food & supplies. Her gun was in her purse, and mine was where it always is, so I suppose you could call those two minutes an armed re-Occupation.
My son has already been part of one Occupation, so he didn't come along on this one.
No protesters were harmed in the making of this diary.
Right to Keep and Bear Arms is a DKos group of second amendment supporters who also have progressive and liberal values. We don't think that being a liberal means one has to be anti-gun. Some of us are extreme in our second amendment views (no licensing, no restrictions on small arms) and some of us are more moderate (licensing, restrictions on small arms.) Moderate or extreme or somewhere in between, we hold one common belief: more gun control equals lost elections. We don't want a repeat of 1994. We are an inclusive group: if you see the Second Amendment as safeguarding our right to keep and bear arms individually, then come join us in our conversation. If you are against the right to keep and bear arms, come join our conversation. We look forward to seeing you, as long as you engage in a civil discussion. If you're just here to disrupt or troll, expect to get a Do Not Respond (DNR) comment and then be ignored. Insults, lies, and willful ignorance will be dealt with by normal community moderation. Disagreement by itself is not considered trolling.
As always, if you're interested in joining RKBA, message KVoimakas.