the magic of property rights

common and valuable saying:

it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

often, especially when dealing with bureaucrat assholes clamoring like viruses for every whif of control or intervention (i.e., power), that's the way to go. lately though, i've been experimenting with the opposite, especially when it comes to guns on private property. many gun owners figure that if they have their shit together, there's no reason to ask for permission to carry on somebody's property. with skittish or uninformed types, asking can really fuck things up. on the other hand, i've had consistently good responses this month mentioning the issue right out of the gate with business owners, though it's delicate most times you're not dealing with other shooters.

the down side is that if you bring it up, you're basically bound to abide by the ruling of the property owner. the up side is the refreshing slap in the face it is for most property owners to be presented with somebody who's indicating that their land ownership is respected — unlike with the state, which holds land for ransom, and kills most land ownership in hospitable areas.

just got off the phone with somebody i didn't know. he owns a business in virginia (a no-"permit" open-carry state for non-residents). over the weekend i asked for unusual permission to take my gun into his business rather than leave it in my vehicle. there's a good reason, though i don't want to go into it here. i'd first presented the situation to one of his employees, and she didn't seem too hip, but offered to present the request to the owner — better result than i expected.

when the owner returned my call, i could tell he was hoping to just turn down the request and not have the potential liability of being involved. knowing it probably hadn't been presented ideally, i asked him if he could spare 60 seconds to hear my proposal from scratch. he agreed. after listening, he first told me that he appreciated me even bringing it up. i said yes, it would have been easy to just bring the gun in and make sure nobody saw it, and that would have been the end of it. but he was the custodian of the property, and i would abide by what he said.

i'm no mind reader, but i think that turned it around. he accepted my proposal, we agreed to final terms, and that was it. now it's up to me to deliver perfectly.

so what was gained? a few things. yeah, i got what i wanted, but that wasn't the primary aim here; had it been, i could simply have kept it to myself. my larger goal was to expand a little bit more the average guy's exposure to guns. if i handle myself well, it will be a net positive for the owners and staff. the next guy who comes along can build on that. for the same reason, i often pull into police stations in new states/towns and go over gun laws with them, letting them know yet another guy is out there trying to turn the tide on their ridiculous monopoly. i don't do it rudely; despite my hatred of the state, cops get along just fine with me when i approach them (usually not the other way around, of course).

since virginia's an open carry state, when there i usually drive around with the full compliment of handgun schwag on the passenger seat of my small car, or on the "dog house" of my hummer (H1). not generally a fan of open carry in metro businesses, since it's a heavy responsibility i've neither trained for recently nor want to worry about when shopping; concealed is much better, IMO. virginia's also a "shall issue" concealed carry state, so few carry openly in stores, except maybe hunters. i do like the idea of reminding cops and the general public that it's nothing to freak out about though.

checking into a virginia motel last weekend, i asked the guy at the desk if they had a gun policy for guests. he seemed a little freaked out, and had a bunch of somewhat intensely phrased questions. a few minutes into it though, he asked sheepishly, "can i see the gun?"

i told him i'd be happy to run him through an introduction to gun safety and the glock 21 (.45 caliber). we set up a system where i'd demo things on a table in a side room, and when anybody showed up to get a room, we just threw a towel over everything while he dealt with the customers. some of his family lived and worked at the hotel, and he asked if they could participate. a couple showed up only for a peek, but it was good for them to get the exposure. he said later that they began considering getting a gun after an incident with some borderline-violent jerk.

if you're a gun owner who generally keeps mum when carrying on business property, consider chatting up the owners when a decline wouldn't ruin your situation. only personal interaction has a hope of turning around the ludicrous anti-gun trollopy bullshit permeating this scary stupid world. guns and property are a match that may have been made in heaven.

posted by saltypig @ 19:04