I live in a state in which almost everyone (outside the two big cities) owns a gun. Open carry is inherently legal (and easier than concealed.) I've never seen anyone open carry a handgun, and any other weapon has been in the context of hunting. I'm sure there are many people who conceal carry though. On the News recently there was a story about an innocent man getting shot 10 times by a police officer. If we should be afraid of anybody with guns, it's the police. 

As for Starbucks, it is their property right to remove anybody who doesn't follow their rules. If their rules are no guns, then so be it. 

Seriously. It's funny how they go out of their way to say that of course this doesn't apply to law enforcement. A guy with a gun just has a gun. The police have a gun and a little badge that they think makes them special, and it's the latter that's worrying.

If we were living in the wild west it would be logical. Problem is....we aren't. If a civilian needs a gun to keep other civilians, civilized in 2014 we're not civilized. In someones mind we're not. In a truly civil society it's illogical to need a gun. How many times did I write civil whilst philosphyzing?

That's a pretty terrible analogy. The civilian doesn't keep a gun to keep others civilized, he keeps it for self defense. It would be more accurate to say that if we need government agents with guns to keep us civilized, we're not civilized.

Don't hobbits have big hands and very large feet? I would take his words as a compliment.

@thebold: That is assuming the other civilians aren't civil, correct? :)

I'm not saying take the gun away, I'm just asking....you know. I think the Starbucks guy is onto something. Can't we all just be "civilized" in a Starbucks and enjoy our milkshakes? I mean....coffee. God forbid the owner of Panera Bread whom serves a similar crossection of America asks everyone to leave their guns at home."DAMN CITYSLICKER!"

Actually the Wild West had the strictest gunlaws the US had ever seen.

In most wild west towns you had to surrender your gun at the sheriffs office or main inn.  You weren't allowed to have a gun within city limits.

That's why the shootout at the OK corral happened.

That's also why so many people were able to be ambushed inside towns.  You simply snuck in town with  gun, find your target... now unarmed if they followed the law, then quickly leave town before a response could happen.

It's assuming that bad shit can happen and taking precautions against that. It doesn't necessitate being distrustful of people generally, only realizing that things can happen like what happened Monday where - once again, just like in Fort Hood - a lot of people were shot and killed while they waited for other people with guns to show up and do something about it.

The whole "wild west" cliche is a misconception. There was actually very strict gun control in the west. These military bases, campuses, etc., are the real "wild west" situation where no carry rules disarm everyone except for those who are authorized to carry weapons and those who don't care about silly anti-gun rules because they intend to kill people.

You can't keep people civilized at gun point. The threat of violence might change behavior for a moment, but it doesn't change the underlying thought processes.

I don't want to be sitting next to someone with a gun. I'd probably leave if I realized it. That's because most people are stupid and I wouldn't trust them with a rubber band, much less a gun. We have a truck load of accidental shooting every year. Earlier this year, a guy from where I live took a loaded shotgun to a gun show at the state fair, which went off when he took it out to have it checked at the entrance. It's scary knowing there are idiots carrying guns around. Starbucks probably knows that most people are idiots and that most people know that most people are idiots.