I respectfully disagree with both of y'all.Tex1961 wrote:Interblog wrote:Quote the linked story: “I figured I might get some comments or looks,” Johnston said.
If Johnston didn't want to go to Chicago, then why did he get on that train? He fully knew that he was getting on the train - he said so himself!
Johnston wearing that shirt is analogous to the young woman with the perky little bottom wearing the short skirt discussed in a thread gone by. In that other thread, most of this forum's commenters acknowledged that, if the woman wears the skirt, then she has to accept the consequences that it brings her. We have to conclude that the very same principle of responsibility applies for a male wearing a provocative piece of clothing as it does for a female, or else we run the risk of endorsing a blatant double standard.
In other words, I see Sailor's point on this one. Yes, Johnston had every right to do what he did. He had every right to bait that woman just as young women have every right to bait men by wiggling their short-skirted bottoms in front of them. But Johnston is engaging in a form of showboating. That, to me, does not embody the humility and the respectful presence that should be projected by gun owners. Johnston erodes the image of gun owners just as Ms. Short Skirt erodes the image of us women.
Women do not deserve to be assaulted (physically or verbally) just because they aren't wearing a Burkha. Most men learned to control themselves sometime around high school. Some haven't learned that yet. The fact is, even if a woman is walking down the street completely naked, you still need to control yourself and not attack her. Some people can't control their impulses and would attack her. And those people belong in prison.
In this case, a guy was just hanging out at the park with his kids. He wasn't doing anything "in your face". If you want to analogize to a woman's choice of clothing, this wasn't even a short skirt. That would be more similar to what OCT does. This was more like wearing a summer dress.
Am I being "in your face" when I drive my BMW into a poor neighborhood? Do I deserve what I get for being so provocative? What about an older man who is presenting a tempting target to criminals? Does he deserve what he gets? After all, he made the choice to go to the store instead of asking someone to go for him.