Are you considering purchasing a gun?

This weekend was the first time since moving to rural Montana that I have seen anybody carrying. The first time was at a diner where I went to pick up my lunch to go; there was a guy in front of me in line at the cash register who had a pistol in a holster. He was wearing a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers and looked sort of like a high school teacher on his day off. The second time was this morning at the grocery store; the guy in front of me in line at the bakery counter (the donuts at this grocery store are incredible, to the point that they're a local attraction) was an old man with a chest-length beard, baggy jeans held up by suspenders, and a revolver on his hip.

My immediate thought in the diner was a) why do you need a gun to come to the diner for lunch? and b) if you're worried enough to need to wear your gun to the diner, you should be exhibiting more situational awareness, because I could easily walk up behind you and stab you in the neck with this knife I have on my belt, just because you're not reading me, a fellow middle-aged white man, as a threat. Again, these dudes seem to want to be conveying the message that they're ready for whatever, but they're really not. A sudden attack from an unexpected quarter would find them totally unprepared. Shit, I probably could have slid past diner guy, said "Excuse me" like I'd bumped into him by accident, and taken his gun.

Yeah, but then he might shoot you with his other gun.

checkmate

my other gun is a ferrari

nah shit's performative, you know? i got rainbows all over everything, he got a gun. it's a _lifestyle accessory_.

I passed a guy at the grocery store in civilian clothes who had a Glock on his hip and extra magazines on the back of his belt, the first time I've seen someone out of uniform carrying that I can recall - maybe a civilian but he also looked like a 5'9" thumb so maybe a cop?

A sudden attack from an unexpected quarter would find them totally unprepared.

nah shit's performative

both absolutely otm

I'd see people open carrying a lot when I lived near Idaho and my first thought was always how easy it would be for me to take their gun away when they weren't paying attention.

I wonder if they got kind of a rush the first time they went outside with a holstered weapon, even though it's pretty well-accepted in their communities.

Once while living in Arizona, I saw some guy ride up to a 7-11 on a bike and he had what looked like a .357 sticking out of his pants waistband. I couldn't believe it didn't fall out while he was riding.

I'll bet the cashier at the 7-11 really loved seeing that guy walk through the door.