dave_in_delaware wrote:David wrote:Got a better idea. You mind your business and I'll mind mine.
I thought the same thing 7 years ago when I drove past two young adults (wearing hoodies) walking down the sidewalk. They seemed like they were minding their own business. Little did I know that by the time they passed my house slightly (where I was zipping up my backpack in my driveway at the passenger side of my van), they had decided to make "robbing me at gunpoint" their new business.
Long story short, most people on this forum know the outcome of this incident.
So please don't tell me that "minding your own business while others mind theirs" always works. Because it doesn't.
We all must always stay vigilant, stay armed, stay alert, and never assuming anything.
Scenario 1 - Two young adults walking down the sidewalk in hoodies. Nothing illegal. I keep an eye on them. They do what they are going to do, be it walk on by or rob me at gunpoint. If I'm attacked I defend myself.
Scenario 2 - Two young adults walking down the sidewalk in hoodies. Nothing illegal, but maybe suspicious. I call the police and report them. Cops swing by and ask them a few questions, maybe a pat down, who knows. Maybe I stopped a crime, maybe I just called the cops on a legal carrier who was minding his own damn business walking down the street.
This BS of see something say something turns everyone into a detective, with little to no training and, most often, even less knowledge of legal/illegal. Taking pictures in Cabelas is not any more illegal than buying a new AR with 2000 rounds of ammunition or open carrying a firearm yet to some all are suspicious. Throw in typical racist stereotypes and boom - OMG, its a terrorist.
Look, I'm all for diligence, vigilance, etc. But this country has been completely brainwashed to assume there is some damn terrorist around every corner and more on the way. We've been trained to accept the fact that everyone is a suspect and that its our duty to report them. If we're not watching everyone 24/7 we're all going to die. Its BS.
“Those who beat their swords into plowshares usually end up plowing for those who kept their swords.” -Benjamin Franklin