“Nobody’s sayin’ you can’t own a gun.
“Nobody’s even sayin’ you can’t carry a gun.
“All we’re sayin’ is you can’t carry a gun in town. That’s not so bad, is it?” — Virgil Earp, “Tombstone,” 1993.
Nobody’s sayin’ you can’t carry a gun onto an Amtrak train, we’re just sayin’ you’ve gotta check it at the train door.
That’s the ruling that came down in California recently, but if you just heard the talking heads announce it, it sounded much more dire.
In fact, this is the way it was presented: “Passengers will soon be allowed to carry guns aboard some Amtrak trains.”
Well, yeah, technically that is right, though it’s not what you think.
The real decision, which, by the way reverses a “near decade-long gun ban on the government-owned rail corporation,” according to the Associated Press, is not about “carrying” guns, as in “packin’ iron.”
As the AP account noted, “Beginning Dec. 15, guns can be carried aboard trains that have checked baggage service.
“Gun owners must inform Amtrak officials 24 hours ahead of departure, and unloaded firearms must be packed in hard-sided containers for storage in train lockers.
“Rail cars are being retrofitted with weapons storage lockers.”
In other words, if you are taking the train to your next trap shooting competition, or to a hunting expedition, you can actually check baggage that holds firearms, have them locked away, and you can reclaim them when you reach your destination, with the whole world knowing that you are their legal owner.
It’s not exactly like Dodge City on Saturday night.
Or is it?
See, the reality is that the fabled “cow towns” always did have stricter gun control laws than most communities do, even today.
In fact, cattle companies generally did not allow their employees to carry firearms on the trail, either.
The reality of gun ownership is rarely as colorful as those opposed to firearms would have you believe. The reality is that the criminal element always has, and still does, make the trouble with guns. The vast majority of gun owners are law-abiding citizens, just trying to keep up with all the rules, just like they always have.
— Chuck Smith