By David Stanczak

There was a debate the other night over guns at the old Bloomington Junior High School between an advocate of tighter gun control laws and a proponent and practitioner of concealed carry. Both sides were well represented, the debate was civil, and no gun or non-gun violence occurred. I only wish more people had witnessed it. Guns are a topic which generates strong emotions on both sides, and it is good for people to hear both sides rationally and calmly presented.

I have noticed several things in recent times which say something to me about current attitudes toward guns. You can plug them into your scale of values for what they are worth.

First, people tend to be uncomfortable around and suspicious of guns. They don’t think about them when they see a cop wearing one on duty. But put the same gun on a person not known to be a cop, and people tend to focus on the damage the weapon can do rather than the person carrying it.

Second, although people tend not to trust others with guns, they see guns as a form of protection. You’ve heard of people “voting with their feet” by fleeing tyrannical regimes? They vote with their wallets on guns. It is no coincidence that gun sales have shot up (no pun intended) during the administration of the most rabidly anti-gun president in history. They also increase dramatically whenever there is a shooting, whether by a nut job, workplace violence (wink, wink) or real workplace violence. There have been no spikes in Bloomington-Normal. Whether that says something about the local mentality or the absence of local atrocities remains to be seen, and I don’t want to find out.

Third, designated gun-free zones tend to be gun-free only so long as criminals, nut jobs, and terrorists stay out. For some reason, their sign-reading abilities seem to be impaired. None of those “folks” (that’s what Obama calls them), that I am aware of, had concealed carry permits.   If I’m in one of those “gun-free zones” and one of those “folks” shows up, I’m going to be praying somebody else couldn’t read the sign, either.

David Stanczak, a Forum commentator since 1995, came to Bloomington in 1971. He served as the City of Bloomington’s first full-time legal counsel for over 18 years, before entering private practice. He is currently employed by the Snyder Companies and continues to reside in Bloomington with his family.

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