Dodge City, Dead Boys and Gun-Nut Lies

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-25/dodge-city-dead-boys-and-gun-nut-lies.html



***SNIP

The open carry movement is based on a myth and a lie.

The myth is that the U.S. was a gunslinger's paradise until repressive 20th century cosmopolitan mores spread across the land, crushing freedom. Take a look at this 19th century photograph of Dodge City, Kansas -- yes, that Dodge -- and you'll get a sense of just how deeply American gun regulation is.



Tombstone, Arizona, setting for both Wyatt Earp's shootout and an excellent memoir by Justin St. Germain, also enforced gun control. Disarming men who violated the town's firearms restriction may have been a cause of Earp's shootout.

The lie is that gun rights ideologues want to carry guns openly in public just because it's so gosh-darned normal. The desire for open carry surely derives from more than one psychological strain. But one intention is clearly to intimidate others -- physically and politically. Guns scare people for good reason. And people with guns know that -- with or without straws.