That's a nice way to put it. I was thinking more along the lines of Removing the unconstitutional prohibition on an explicitly granted Constitutional right.

And the whole "crackdown" on crime going on in DC right now has less to do with protecting the defenseless citizens of DC and more (if not everything) to do with restoring the flow of tourist dollars into the city coffers. For DC, its all about the Benjamins. Except when it comes to citizen's rights which have nothing in common with anyone named Benjamin.

To pick a further nit, the Constitution doesn't *grant* that right, it recognizes that it is inherent and then prohibits infringement of it.

No, it wasn't legal, he was in DC. And in this case, carrying a gun did not keep the guy from being robbed in the first place. Similar to a neighbor of mine in a recent incident in Philly--he carried a (legal, this time) firearm, yet was still robbed of his jewelry. This man apparently was not up on the various "Conditions," being out and about at two in the morning in the first place.

It does speak to the issue--whether or not he was armed didn't matter, because he didn't have the opportunity to access anything, not even to reach in his pocket to give up his wallet.

Safety
 

I carry a shod foot everywhere I go.:neutral:

You're not paying attention. I'm saying that being a legally armed citizen changes your behavior. So anecdotes about unarmed folks aren't germane.

Anybody wearing jewelry worth stealing on the street in Philly at 2am without even being at full alert goes in the "knucklehead" file along with your felon friend in DC. You're sure he held a permit, and was packing when this happened? He actually knew how to shoot? Practiced at a range, and so forth? (Training isn't actually required for a PA permit.) I'm suspecting a face-saving tale.

What neighborhood did *that* go down in? Please don't say "West Philly" or "South Street".

The past tense of "shoot" is "shot", not "shod".

Was that a joke?

It's hard to tell at this hour, but yeah.

Yes. :-)

Okay. Just checking. For one horrible minute, I considered the possibility that maggie didn't understand the word 'shod', which would have been totally at odds with her usual high level of intelligence.

Shot. Foot. Get it? :-)

http://www.reed.edu/~tuckers/jokes/foot.html

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0411061foot1.html

http://burks.bton.ac.uk/burks/language/shoot.htm

I do, I do. It's almost 3:30 here:P My mind is not working as fast as it usually does.

OK, so to go with that one...

Oh, I know what you're saying, and I am taking you at your word that carrying a firearm has changed *your* behavior for the better (as in being more aware of your surroundings). You are obviously missing my point, which is: someone intent on mugging you doesn't know, and may not even care, if you're packing.

So, you want a face-saving tale...hate to disappoint you, but all I can give you are the facts as they were reported. The Philly guy had a CC permit. He was carrying his gun at the time of the theft. We know this because he shot the thief several times (he's dead) after he chased and hit him with his car. It happened in Center City. I'm sure you must have heard about this in the news recently.

I imagine that it was merely intended as a cheap jab, but the person you referred to as "your felon friend" was not a personal friend of mine.

So, then he *did* get a chance to use his gun...although his tactics suck. :-) If he had to hit the guy with his car before he could hit him with handgun fire I assume he didn't train much...unless it's because he kept the gun in his car--always a bad move. Clearly another one for the knucklehead file.

I recall a similar case in the news, but it was more like four years ago, and started on South Street in the daytime. Sorry, I thought when you cited "everyone I know who's been mugged" you were referring to people you actually do know.