Ordinance being drafted to repeal gun prohibition at Ben Geren Park

I have a CHCL. I carry a gun every where I go. I'm a fraidy cat? 2 tours in Iraq as an Infantrymen..I think your wrong. And if you don't want to carry a gun cause you feel safe everywhere you go, good for you! I hope you always remain safe. But there are thousands of folks out there who are either dead or wounded that thought they were safe as well.

What we need to realize is that about half the population of the United States is scared to death at all times. These people wake up in the morning and go to bed each night thinking someone is after them and between morning and night they think the same thing over and over.

So a good number of them get a concealed carry permit and pack heat all the time. And we don't know if the person standing next to us at the checkout is armed or not. Statistics show no increase or decrease in gun-toting crimes in Arkansas since the concealed carry permits were first issued. So what we can glean from that is that concealed carry permits do not deter crime, nor do they contribute to it....it's a draw. Except the fraidy cat portion of our citizenry can enjoy a day at the park with less fear some monster out of Dirty Harry can attack them and get away with it.

These people are gun nuts...not because they own guns...I own guns...but because of their constant fear of attack pushes them to get a carry permit. And if you dig deeper this same type of person so often assumes non-whites and the poor are ready to pounce any moment their head is turned. It must be terrible to go through life this way. As Shakespeare wrote, “A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero only one.”

At this ugly moment in time so often the fraidy cats love Jesus and proclaim he's protecting their every move, yet feel the need to back Big J up with a hidden weapon. Kinda ironic, don't you think. They're also fairly big fans of torture. I assume someone fearing an attack at any moment finds it easy to believe X number of humans deserve a good torturing. It keeps us safe, ya know. What next? Concealed waterboarding equipment?

Since I never think of being in personal danger, I find it very hard to understand the mind of any non-law enforcement person who feels the need to strap one on before they shop at Harp's. I guess I just don't have the fraidy cat brain. And for that I'm thankful.

All this makes me think of my favorite passage from A Good Man is Hard to Find. Maybe the gun nuts are here to perform a service for us all. Ben Geren might turn into a place of salvation instead of silly recreation.

"She would of been a good woman," The Misfit said, "if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." "Some fun!" Bobby Lee said. "Shut up, Bobby Lee" The Misfit said. "It's no real pleasure in life."

with all these great citizens holding weapons, why do we need police officers at all?!

I'm sure you are fully aware that the United States Supreme Court ruled in Warren v. District of Columbia that the police have no duty to protect you?

I'm sure you are fully aware that a simple search in Google can bring up hundreds of examples of Police officers committing crimes, unlawfully discharging their weapons, assault and battery, etc..

I'm sure you are fully aware that another google search will show almost no crimes committed by right to carry permit holders.

let's look at some of the other highly intelligent comments made here.....

"if we aren't a society capable of functioning without weapons, perhaps we should be economical and start looking for ways to make it that way."

Sure, we could do that. But we still have a small problem called criminals. Should a person not be allowed to protect themselves against them? HHMMmmmmm....I suspect that if you had a gun, and someone wanted to take the life of your child you would use that gun to protect your child...then use the phone to call for help.

"now our children can play gun tag with real guns."

So, as a parent you want to allow your children to do that? Sounds like poor, irresponsible parenting on your part.

"if you want the candidate out, you can send it both of your cards immediately,"

Please, when you get back from never never land let me know how your trip was. HAve you ever read history by chance? Not only are you wanting to ban guns but you want to do away with other parts of the Constitution as well. Like Due process.

"How about converting some of the park into a public shooting range?"

Are you saying that is what YOU would do? Seems like like you are the type of person that makes me carry a gun for self-defense.

now our children can play gun tag with real guns.

i don't think that on public property guns should be allowed. by anybody. i think public guns should be stored safely and called upon when needed, and that police departments should be more neighborhood oriented than city-wide. a warrant based on evidence should be required and somebody to create that (who is elected to do that) should do it. If the guy turns out to be a horrible dictator they simply vote him out.

the voting system could be something like this. You receive four voting cards per election, and elections only occur once the winning candidate has been voted out. half of the cards are red, half are green (this can just be considered a metaphor or thought experiment...the cards represent anything tangible). They are all unique to you. If the candidate does something you disapprove or approve of strongly, you sumbmit whatever cards you want, though submitting red and green at once would be just as pointless as voting for ron paul.

this adds an element of real strategy to voting. rather than relying simply on political fanaticism to outvote people you have to think strongly about each issue you confront and whether you want to blow your card on some dramatic scene you pulled over a quibble.

if you want the candidate out, you can send it both of your cards immediately, but if you do and nobody else does you've wasted your cards without any real effect. people react more strongly if they see somebody complaining than if they're told about it. if the disapproval rating reaches 60% the candidate is on notice of imminent elimination (some arbitrary period of weeks or months unless he reaches a better rating), over 70% the rate of decay quickens, i guess in a half-lifey kind of way (that seems to be pretty efficient for other stuff).

if more than some arbitrary percentage (70%? what do you even base this figure on?) of the cards are sent as votes and the candidate is not eliminated, the cards are redistributed to their respective owners and the guy carries on.

cards can only be possessed by people who are capable of passing a political science test that should cost the price of manufacture and a small processing fee. the test should be transparent and solvable in casual language. there is no better way to study for a test than to know the questions. the idea of studying through masses of useless information in order to be 'prepared' for a test is ludicrous. you learn to learn, not to pass tests, and at the very least people should learn the basics before participating in something that alters the course of humanity.

anyway, if there are less guns patrolling and more waiting, rested, and not aggravated from horrible overwork, horrible incidents may be less likely to occur, and more people might want to give it a shot.

is this really the best humanity can produce right now? it's intriguing. how do you even begin to solve this, or look at it as a question you might be able to solve? haha.

How about converting some of the park into a public shooting range?