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    U-T San Diego,
    P.O. Box 120191
    San Diego, CA 92112-0191.

High Noon tensions in Escondido

It is nice to know that Escondido is such a safe city that it can have its police force take time to check the weapons of the gun carriers to make sure the guns are unloaded. After all, the police are being given a generous five-minutes' notice to locate the rallies.

As a former Marine sergeant and a Korean War veteran, I was taught that there is no such thing as an unloaded weapon. All guns are to be treated with respect. So, I hope that caution is taken when the gun guy hands his pistol over for inspection to guard against accidental discharge.


Those fellows who insist on wearing their unloaded guns on their hips remind me of a bunch of beer-bellied rednecks who are living in the 19th century. Excuse me, that's an insult to the rednecks. I don't think such conduct is any way to express your constitutional rights.


Regarding “‘Open carry’ advocates wear guns to mall” (Sept. 2):

I want to give notice to any shopping mall or store where I make purchases: If I see any person wearing an unloaded, holstered gun, I will never, repeat never, return to shop at your place of business!

San Diego

It may be legal, but it's uncivilized. There's no law that says you have to bathe, either, but most of us do so because that's the way civilized people behave. The price of uncivilized behavior is usually shunning: civilized people will avoid you and the places you go.

I grew up among serious outdoorsmen (and women) in Montana, where guns were treated with respect. They had a serious use and a place in people's lives. But no one would any more carry a gun to a store or a coffee shop or a picnic than they would to church. Anyone who did so would be considered obnoxious and unwelcome.

If I owned a business that catered to the public, especially families with children, I would be concerned about customers staying away. As a taxpayer, I resent the extra burden this places on our police forces. (If the guns aren't allowed to be loaded, by the way, how do they afford protection to the people carrying them?)

In this modern Wild West drama, I think of myself as Miss Kitty.

San Diego

Being old enough to remember the horrific political assassinations in the 1960s, this trend of people carrying firearms to political meetings and rallies, and now to the mall, is frightening. What is the point? If I have a bottle of beer and I'm standing around in the mall, it is assumed that I plan to drink it.

Remind me never to visit that Escondido mall.

San Diego

I feel sorry for that 69-year-old veteran in Escondido who wants to tote a gun. I'm a 68-year-old vet, and I wouldn't own a gun if you paid me.

Does he really think walking around like Barney Fife with a gun at his side and a bullet in his pocket will make him safe? Any gangbanger wanting to start trouble would just take that gun away from him and beat him over the head with it.


