Bobby “Six-Nine” Bradford
Guest Columnist

I would like to give a big thumbs up to the Hinds County judge for issuing the permanent injunction to put the “open carry” gun law on hold. I don’t think Mississippi or any other state needs that law passed.

People are already misunderstanding what it would mean if it was passed. They think “open carry” means he or she could use a gun anytime he or she feels a need to use it.

The other day a convenience store worker and I were explaining to a young person in his early 20s why the law should not be passed. It was going out of his ears as soon as the words came out of our mouths. His attitude was, Yeah, I hope they do pass that law. I’m tired of folks talking crazy to me. If I can carry my gun, I’m gonna show ‘em I ain’t scared.”

We have a lot of young and older people with that same attitude.

Look at all the people now who are getting shot or killed by guns in our state. And if that stupid law is passed, the murder rate will increase.

The reason is people will have easier and quicker access to guns. Yes, I know if that law is passed, it would still be illegal to bring guns to schools, parks and other public places. And if I am an owner of any place of business, I am already preparing to post signs on my windows banning guns on my property, but still people will have their guns with them when they leave their houses. When they arrive at a place that bans guns, they will leave them on the front seat or somewhere in their vehicle. While he or she is inside that place, if something happens that ticks him or her off, that person would go back to the vehicle and get that gun.

Before you know it, someone is hurt, or even worse, dead. That’s what I mean by easier and quicker access to guns.

Right now, while there isn’t any “open carry” law, people are not thinking about bringing a gun out of their houses, but if that law is passed, the S.I.S people (Silly, ignorant, stupid) people will. I know that convicted felons still won’t be allowed to carry guns. Those people have already committed crimes in their lifetimes and paid their dues. If the open carry law is passed, we are opening the door for  other people to become felons.

The only persons I want to see carrying guns openly every day are officers of the law, and just as sure as I am writing this letter, if this law is passed, there are going to be times when police officers will feel threatened (especially the young, inexperienced ones), fear for his or her life and shoot someone before, “I get shot.”

If a police officer comes to arrest a certain person and he sees that person in a group and everyone in that group is carrying a gun …

But if there isn’t an open carry law, no one in that group would have a gun.

It’s like two old TV shows. On Gunsmoke, which aired from the 1950s to the 1970s, citizens carried guns openly on the streets of Dodge City. On Little House on the Prairie, which aired from the late 1970s until the early 1980s, you didn’t see the citizens of Walnut Grove carrying any guns. People got shot on every episode of Gunsmoke, but you could could count on two hands the number of times people got on Little House. I know there are a lot of people just like me who want Panola County and Mississippi to be more like Walnut Grove than Dodge City.