Sometime last year, there was a demonstration outside an Arizona convention center where Barack Obama was speaking. The demonstrators, about a dozen people, were carrying guns. Since the guns were unloaded, the demonstration was legal - at least, it was legal in Arizona.

But the thought of it scared me to death, to think that such a display of deadly force was legal.

Yesterday, the California State Assembly passed a bill that would make such demonstrations illegal. It barely passed the Assembly, and there's doubt that it will pass the Senate. Governor Schwarzenegger hasn't taken a position on the bill, so there's no guarantee he'll sign it if the
Senate passes it.

The bill, AB 1934, makes "carrying an exposed handgun in a public place or on a public street in a city or in prohibited areas of unincorporated county territory a misdemeanor, punishable by a $1,000 fine and six months in jail. The bill contains exceptions, including display of a firearm by a peace officer, a firearms dealer, a target-shooter at a range, a gun-show participant, and by a licensed hunter while engaged in that sport." (Sacramento Bee, 2 June 2010).

Sam Paredes, director of the Gun Owners of California, says that the bill "urinates on the Second Amendment." It seems that the Supreme Court has made it clear that (at least for the time being), the Second Amendment protects the rights of individuals to bear arms, so let's not argue that point. Given the climate in the Supreme Court right now, I think that any legislation has to honor that right. But what of my rights as a citizen who's scared to death of guns? If I saw a dozen people carrying guns outside an arena, I'd be scared to go anywhere near that place. Doesn't their bearing of arms interfere with my right to enter a public place without fear? How can I be sure that those people don't have bullets in their guns?

What do you think of all this? How can the rights of gun owners be respected, without causing undue fear for the rest of us?

I've had a gun pointed at me only once in my life. I dealt with it, because it was my job to deal with it; but it was not a wonderful feeling.

-Joe-

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