What's wrong with Wisconsin's recently minted "open carry" gun law? Plenty. And let S. Wright over at DailyKos.com tell you all about the latest evidence of that, up in our state's fine city of Wausau. There, a seemingly nice guy wrote to the local newspaper to complain about an incident where a Pick 'n Save store manager asked him to leave because his openly holstered, .45-caliber sidearm bothered other customers:
His op-ed was picked up and linked to by many thousands of pro-gun sites across the country. Maybe 100,000 or so such links ... . For several days he was something of a poster-boy for open-carry advocates... Well, guess what? ...Just four days later he was arrested and jailed on gun-related charges, including endangering safety.
In case your local Wisconsin newspaper hasn't bothered to share this tale, the entire DailyKos piece is available for your inspection at the URL below.
Irrespective of the facts in this particular case, it does seem more and more obvious that openly carrying a gun around seems to instill in some people a sense of power and importance. Too much so, in fact. And, that swaggering behavior in turn tends to scare many of the rest of the unarmed folks nearby who are just trying to get through their day in a socially cooperative way. But, as the NRA and other gun rights groups always insist, don't worry, because lawful gun owners are with rare exception very thoughtful, responsible citizens. Like George Zimmerman in Florida, for example. Or porch-shooter John Henry Spooner in Milwaukee. Or.... .
