A Gun is a tool. It delivers a bullet at hi-velocity to wherever the muzzle is pointed, and impacts whatever it makes contact with. If you are trying to obtain meat to feed your family and what is impacted is a 12 point buck--this is a survival tool, much like a knife or a hatchet or an awl. Our ancestors relied on this tool for obtaining food, and providing security for their families, in a frontier environment.

But how many of our founding fathers were packing pistols or even carrying rifles when they attended the Constitutional Congress? How many citizens were walking around the streets of New York or Philadelphia packing heat?

Out West of course, on the frontier--you had to  have a gun--not only did you need meat, there was no refridgeration, after all--but you might encounter bandits or others hostile to your existence.

However--times have changed. The notion that I need to pack a pistol on my hip when I go to the mall, or the supermarket, or the movie theatre, for self protection, says more about me than the environment I might encounter.

Most of the time, the public only becomes aware of guns in public places when some nut goes on a rampage, with tragic consequences.

So, if  you were going to a political event--why would you bring a tool--why would you carry a gun? And, why would you carry an assault rifle--a weapon with exclusively military purposes? Are these gestures supposed to send a message? Of course I have the RIGHT to bring these tools. And maybe there are some citizens who choose to bring a skill saw or a hammer or a pipe wrench to these public events--that is their right to do so. But WHY would you bring a pipe wrench to a Townhall meeting? To send a message? What message?

If I bring an assault rifle to a public place, am I expecting to encounter other citizens with assault rifles who might turn them against me? Or am I merely a rattlesnake skaking my rattle? Is there really any mystery about the statement being made? Is it time for ALL of us to go out and get assault rifles? Is it the end of the peacekeeping Gendarmerie? Is a well armed society a polite society? Or a bloody society? So, what next, Civil War? Are the streets of America's cities about to be filled with sharpshooters and citizens running for cover?