Sunday, February 27, 2022

Have Gun Will Rattle

By SAM URETSKY

Harper’s Magazine, August 2010, had a cover article “Happiness Is a Worn Gun:  My concealed weapon and me” by Dan Baum. Mr Baum wrote, “in every book about concealed carry that I read, much was made of “conditions of readiness,” which are color-coded from white to red. Condition White is total oblivion to one’s surroundings—sleeping, being drunk or stoned, losing oneself in conversation while walking on city streets, texting while listening to an iPod. Condition Yellow is being aware of, and taking an interest in, one’s surroundings—essentially, the mental state we are encouraged to achieve when we are driving: keeping our eyes moving, checking the mirrors, being careful not to let the radio drown out the sounds around us. …” Essentially, people carrying guns are on the alert for reasons to use the gun.

An interesting description of the personality of a firearms advocate of the past appears in a book by Bat Masterson, who, in 1902, moved to New York and became a sports writer for the Morning Telegraph. Like any freelance writer he would write anything that promised a paycheck, including the 1907 “Famous Gunfighters of the Western Frontier.”) “… Doc Holliday was a weakling who could not have whipped a healthy 15-year-old boy ... and knowledge of this fact was perhaps why he was so ready to resort to a weapon of some kind whenever he got himself into difficulty. ...”

Currently, 28 states have some version of a “stand your ground” law, which would permit the use of deadly force in self defense. The best known is probably Florida’s, which states, “a person who is not engaged in an unlawful activity and who is attacked in any other place where he or she has a right to be has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.” 

Other states may limit the right to use deadly force to specific locations, such as home, business, or automobile. As for “reasonably believes” – there is something of a presumption of reasonableness, which would be impossible to disprove if the only person who might testify against it is dead.

According to the web site , “Beginning Sept. 1, 2021, HB1927 made it legal in Texas for most people 21 or over to carry a handgun in a holster without a permit both openly and/or concealed. This law modified the previous open carry law from 2016 by eliminating the requirement to have a license to carry. This means that most people 21 or over may carry a handgun without a license to carry.” There are still a few locations where carrying a weapon is not permitted, but not that many.

Basically, if you’re a Texan, you can buy a gun, strap it on your hip, and go wandering the streets feeling either safe or at least patriotic. Gov. Greg Abbott said that he was signing a bill to protect gun rights and freedom. Texas police, on the other hand, were disappointed, particularly since there was a 65% growth in the number of mass shootings in Texas in 2021.

The simple reality is that there are many people, in Texas and elsewhere, who are afraid of any sort of confrontation, even somebody trying to cut the line in a supermarket, or racing to a parking space. This is the type of argument that should be resolved by an exchange of insults, and usually one person will back down or walk away. But, if each person can see that the other is carrying a firearm, that may initiate an escalation to violence. The prevalence of paranoia has been estimated at between 2.3 and 4.4%, more commonly among men. According to the Merck Manual “(People with paranoid personality disorder) are hypervigilant for potential insults, slights, threats, and disloyalty and look for hidden meanings in remarks and actions. They closely scrutinize others for evidence to support their suspicions. For example, they may misinterpret an offer of help as implication that they are unable to do the task on their own. If they think that they have been insulted or injured in any way, they do not forgive the person who injured them. They tend to counterattack or to become angry in response to these perceived injuries. Because they distrust others, they feel a need to be autonomous and in control.”

And in Texas they’re increasingly likely to be armed and dangerous.

Sam Uretsky is a writer and pharmacist living in Louisville, Ky. Email sdu01@outlook.com.

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