Tondeleo: One thing that is difficult to get used to in the States is the fact that many Americans are armed. By that I mean, not just carrying knives, and it seems that most of them do (including the teenage girls and women!), but many are actually carrying loaded hand guns! You may not notice it, because they carry "concealed" meaning that their gun is hidden, but they can reach it in a moment.
Out in the rural areas, it is very common for the locals to carry loaded rifles and shotguns in their pick up trucks. They usually have special racks mounted in the back window, behind the seat, so that their guns are in plain sight. That seems to be legal, and is not considered threatening, because anyone can see the gun! And, no permit is needed for this!!!
After an evening playing music and jamming with friends, Big Dave, Doc and I piled into Doc's truck and drove the 19 plus miles to the Wal-Mart in La Plata. They needed guitar strings, which sell at Wal-Mart for just a little over three dollars and also ammo. Both needed bullets for their handguns and "double 0 buck" for their "12 gauge" shotguns, whatever that means. I know it has to do with deer hunting, or home protection or both.
I have a difficult time with the ready availability of guns and ammunition in the US. Even the Wal-Marts sell guns and ammunition to nearly anyone. I find this frightening, to say the least!
I was talking about this with Doc and Big Dave, and they were trying to get me to take comfort in the fact that when we are all in a Wal-Mart together that there may be as many as twenty people, women as well as men, who are carrying loa
ded handguns!
Doc: Yeah, Tondy, a lot of women carry guns. How else they gonna protect theyselves if a man wants to rob 'em or worse? They usually ain't carryin' 'em in they's purses 'cause a man'll snatch they purse. So they carry a gun somewhere else, on them where you cain't see it. Might be in they's waist band, or under they dress, strapped to they leg. Anywhere. Maybe a small gun is in they bra, Tondy!
Heck, Marilyn carries sometimes, an' you ain't never been scared 'cause you ain't never knowed it. She ain't NEVER unarmed. Sometimes it is just a knife what she carries.
Tondeleo: Marilyn carries??? MARILYN? I never thought she would carry a loaded gun!
Doc: Well, she ain't gonna 'nounce it to the world, Tondy!
Tondeleo: I was just thinking that if someone was carrying a gun, it would be more obvious, like in a bum bag (make that "fanny pack!" in the US! I cannot bring myself to say that.), or something more obvious. It is very frightening to think that so many people may be carrying loaded guns here! Especially if you can't tell who is carrying a loaded gun and who isn't.
Doc: I'd be scared if people was carryin' UNLOADED guns, Tondy! What're they gonna do - THROW it at a bad guy? A unloaded gun might as well be a rock!
I'm glad to be in a store where people is carryin' guns. If someone tries to rob that store, then whoever's carryin' can protect anyone else in the store, or shoot the person what is robbin' it.
Big Dave: Yeah, and if there's a shootout, like with the police, the people that's carryin' can help the cops, and maybe take out a couple of bad guys. Cops need help too. Most people what carry handguns is good people and they is givin' backup to the cops and is against dopeheads and scum that rob people or stores. I ain't got no use for none of 'em. Predators ain't no endangered species.
Tondeleo: Is there any way to tell who is carrying a concealed gun and who isn't? That would help me feel safer...
Big Dave: Well, bad guys what's carryin' concealed mostly don't use holsters. Bad guys have their guns stuck down the back of their pants (trousers, not "pants" as in UK!) or in their waistband up front. Some just carry their gun in their pants pocket or coat pocket. If you look at them, you can usually see their clothes drooping on the side where the gun is. Pants leg is lower on that side, or jacket pocket hanging lower on that side. Some dumb ones carry their gun in the hood of their sweatshirt that's hanging down their back.
Doc: People what gets permits to carry don't look like that. Mostly they use a holster. And mostly, they dress like off duty cops. That's people with office jobs and such. They got the money to buy shirts and pants with pockets to hide guns in, and they wear them.
My neighbor's boy is a cop and he wears that stuff when he's off duty. He gets 'em from catalogs and on the inner web. They got they own brands of clothes for carryin' guns in! If you seen what he wears, and other cops, you can spot it pretty clear if you're in the mall. Cops can spot it too, so they know prob'ly who is packin' and is a good guy and who is packin' and aint.
(Later I confirmed this with a quick Google search on "concealed carry clothing," and found these kinds of clothes on the websites of 5.11, Blackhawk, Gall's and others).
Pants for carryin' got extra pockets down low on the leg, but that ain't where a gun is, and usually some kind of cop looking boots. Polo shirts, with another shirt over it what is untucked. Some of 'em carry two guns, one in a holster what is hidden under they shirt what is untucked, but there is a bulge on that side, and one strapped to they ankle, which you can also see the bulge of, if you look.
Big Dave: Yeah, if the wind is blowing, or if they bend over to pick something up, you can pretty much tell. There'll be a bulge or even the butt of their gun sticking out from under their shirt, or you'll see the outline of their gun on their leg. Might be a off duty cop, or someone with a permit. Usually they ain't criminals. They is mostly people with good jobs, and are out to protect themselves and the people around them. I ain't got no problem with that.
Doc: Yeah, Tondy, none of them people is gonna hurt you. They mostly are good people exercisin' they rights as Americans. You all cain't do that, cause you aint Americans in your country so you cain't carry guns. That's all. But we is all ok with it over here, except the ones what ain't cool with it. Lotsa people ain't cool with nothin'.
