Thursday, September 21, 2006
I've been seeing this debate all over the place recently, and it came up again at SigForum. That was really the first time I put in my two cents on the debate, and I thought I would say something about it here.
The most common pros I see for pro-gun stickers on your car: They share your beliefs, it makes people think, it protects your car (I hear that one a lot).
And cons: It attracts thieves who want to steal your guns from your car, I like to keep my politics private, thieves will follow you home.
Here's my thoughts. As many of you know from the days of the Honda, I like me some bumper stickers. Granted, the Rav4's bumper sticker count is a lot less than the Honda's and I am trying to keep it that way. As a matter of fact, most of the ones on my Rav4 are actually window decals, so they can be removed when I grow tired of them. As for gun stickers, here is my count:
1 "Armed with Pride" NRA sticker
1 Really tiny "I am the NRA" sticker
1 Fairly larger than I like blue oval with "SIGSauer, To Hell and Back Reliability" on it
And this isn't a sticker, but my license plate frame is metal with bullet holes in it.
Currently own a "Got SIG?" sticker that has not been put on the car yet, and I am looking for a sticker I saw years ago that says, "Car insured by Smith&Wesson." I may not put either one on the car as they are stickers, and stickers fade and never come off.
I haven't really had anyone say anything about my stickers, and that is fine by me because I spend a lot of time in my car and like to decorate according to my taste. So they aren't there for comment and I don't care about anyone's thoughts on them, good or bad. The only comment I get ever is when a customer puts two and two together about "SIG girl" and the Rav4 with the big SIG sticker on it.
As for the pros and cons I listed above... well, my car is the only one in the neighborhood that hasn't had the rear window smashed out for the goodies inside... knock on wood. Do I attribute this to the stickers? I do jokingly. But not really seriously. I don't know who has been doing these robberies, so I can't tell you what their thought process is. It could be a good deterrent.
But it could also be a good deterrent that my neighbors seem to keep better crap in their cars. Most of them report thefts of digital cameras and laptops when their cars are busted into. Now, I was raised in NJ. In NJ, you don't keep anything in your car worth more than a dollar. This state may be considered lower crime than NJ, but this was always a practice I wasn't comfortable giving up. Call me untrusting of my fellow human beings if you will. But I do not keep anything in my car - especially my guns - if I am not in the car with them. So a thief going around checking out cars has an option here. Break into the car with the visible goodies, or break into the car that you can only see a sun shade for the dash, some empty cigarette packs, an empty bottle of soda, and my hearing protection for the range. If they want to take that junk, more power to them. While you're in there I have two garbage bags in the trunk full of books, ammo boxes (empty or bad ammo for the most part), some rusted to the point of forming holes gun mags, a few dead magazines, some things soaked in bore cleaner, a few towels, some shirts, a pair of torn jeans, and God only knows what else, but I don't really need any of it. You'll be helping my gas miles!
Do I think my pro-gun stickers have any effect on the world outside my car? Maybe. Maybe not. I'm sure one or two people have thought they were cool and others thought right away that I was a jackass redneck, and that's fine, too! Who am I to argue! But I won't argue politics (although I don't mind talking about them in a civil manner, so put on your big boy/girl panties before talking politics with me), especially on guns because I am so pig headed all it really does is piss me off, and I don't think a thief cares that someone who owns this car may or may not own a gun. Sure, they may bust a window to see if there's a gun under the seat, but that can be fixed. And the guns aren't under the seat anyway. They're in the house. Very close to my light sleeping person. And as I've said before... if they can get in a window or the front door on the second floor without waking up my parents or the dog, get up the steps, down the hall, and into my room without waking me, then somehow figure out where I hid said guns (again, before I wake up and without really knowing what they are looking for), then they can have them! They have a 1 in 3 chance of finding a gun with ammo, and I can tell you something... they aren't going to find that one.
But I will.
So all in all, I don't think they really have any more effect on anyone outside my car. I got more crap for the "God is coming and is she pissed!" sticker on the Honda than any of my pro-gun stickers, and that includes when I went up to NJ with this car and most of those stickers. I personally found that sticker a lot more threatening to my physical health and mental health than any other sticker I have ever had. Do you know a guy tried to beat the crap out of me one day because my sticker suggested that god may be a woman?! And then of course there was the endless stream of religious propaganda about a religion I don't even believe in but people couldn't fathom the idea that there were any other religions on Earth?! And you know, the only religion with "God" is Christianity after all. Not a Christian apparently equals not believing in God.
So there you have it. The real sticker that causes grief isn't the NRA or the SIG stickers... it's the God is a woman sticker. How do you like them apples?
Suck Lead did something BAAAAD at 9/21/2006 11:17:00 PM
