Grocery Shopping In Atlanta January 5, 2023January 5, 2023 By now you’ve likely seen: Heavily Armed Man Panics Supermarket. Clearly, as the law now stands, he had a right to be there. If he had massacred anyone, then of course the full weight of the law would — and should! — have rained down upon him. That’s the view of the gun-rights crowd, who insist 18-year-olds — not old enough to buy beer — be offered military-grade assault weapons. But how about this? Given that ranchers and city-dwellers have needs and views, why not allow each county, city, and township to make its own rules? Some might be incredibly strict . . . some, incredibly lax . . . some hybrid, relying on private businesses and landlords to decide what weapons, if any, to allow on their premises (and empowering police to enforce those restrictions). Many might go back to the ways of the Wild West. (“Wyatt Earp, Wyatt Earp” — sing it with me, boys! — “brave, courageous and bold. Long live his name and long live his glory — and long may his story be told!”) Are you really going to tell me the Wild West was somehow unAmerican? . . . The laws of Tombstone required visitors, upon entering town to disarm, either at a hotel or a lawman’s office. (Residents of many famed cattle towns, such as Dodge City, Abilene, and Deadwood, had similar restrictions.) When the Earps and Holliday met the cowboys on Fremont Street in the early afternoon, Virgil once again called on them to disarm. Nobody knows who fired first [but] Billy Clanton and the McLaury brothers were killed by the lawmen, all of whom walked away. The “Old West” conjures up all sorts of imagery, but broadly, the term is used to evoke life among the crusty prospectors, threadbare gold panners, madams of brothels, and six-shooter-packing cowboys in small frontier towns – such as Tombstone, Deadwood, Dodge City, or Abilene, to name a few. One other thing these cities had in common: strict gun control laws. . . . Of course, a well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, anyone who qualifies for service in the National Guard should have the sacred, uninfringed right to bear arms wherever his or her Guard unit specifies, lest the free State of Montana be invaded by Idaho or Canada — or the U.S. Capitol itself come under attack as it did in 1814 and again in 2021. Have a great day. May the Republicans begin to feel the same sort of regret over Trumpism as the Brits increasingly feel over Brexit.