Given America's love affair with guns it is probably only a matter of time (if it hasn't happened already) before the NRA and Second Amendment absolutists come to the defense of NBA gazillionaire and all-star jerk
Gilbert Arenas who is said to have brought firearms to his workplace and menaced a co-worker. Arenas does not deny the first part but has framed the second part as more or less a little innocent horsing around with an unloaded deadly weapon. (You would need a cemetery the size of Kansas to contain the bodies of people who are now dead because they were horsing around with an "unloaded" gun.)
In light of l'affaire Arenas, I went back and dug up a comment I had left on libertarian Megan McArdle's blog on August 27. This was during the time when a lot of folks were very excited about something or another and were bringing licensed guns to political rallies attended by our President. McArdle's readers seemed to think this was just fine and, in fact, some kind of inalienable right guaranteed by the Constitution. I left the following comment:
August 27, 2009 10:03 PM
What's our position on guns at basketball games? Is it ok or not? Could everybody in the building have a gun or just a few people? What about coaches? They get pretty excited; should we ask them not to bring guns? Should the players themselves be armed? What kind of gun do you suppose Kobe would bring? 'Hey, back off, dude, I'm exercising my second amendment right to slam this mother on your ugly head.' Could we get guns in team colors and then we could all support our favorite team by carrying color coordinated handguns. And get your old lady one of those really nice little ones in pastel. People, people the fact that we are even discussing whether or not it is a good idea to bring guns to political rallies is extraordinarily sad and a sign of how far into the sewer political discourse in this country has fallen.
Not surprisingly, I suppose, most of McArdle's readers seem to think that all this sounded pretty reasonable. Americans should be allowed to carry licensed guns--concealed or openly--anywhere they want any time they want.
Personally--aside from law enforcement or security professionals--I can't envision a circumstance in which bringing a gun to work would add value. The only time you hear of that happening is when some former employee with a two-year old grudge shows up to settle some old scores. They don't call it "going postal' for nothing.
But, there are at least four justices on the current Supreme Court who I can envision siding with the libertarian crowd which is why I'm fervently hoping the nasty Arenas business does not become a test case.
I grew up in the backwoods of West Virginia in a hunting culture. We had several guns in the house and I was taught to respect them from the time I could walk. I love the smell of a discharged shotgun shell in the morning. Nothing makes me happier on a crisp fall day than to go out into the woods with a large gun and blow the head off a small, edible animal.
But, I don't think we ought to taking guns to church or sporting events or political rallies and certainly not to the place we work. There is no such thing as absolute rights, nor should there be.
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