Mr. Frommer sure opened the floodgates ☀
For myself, without yet suggesting that others follow me in an open boycott, I will not personally travel in a state where civilians carry loaded weapons onto the sidewalks and as a means of political protest. I not only believe such practices are a threat to the future of our democracy, but I am firmly convinced that they would also endanger my own personal safety there. And therefore I will cancel any plans to vacation or otherwise visit in Arizona until I learn more. And I will begin thinking about whether tourists should safeguard themselves by avoiding stays in Arizona.If the legally protected open wearing of firearms causes Mr. Frommer to wet his pants, imagine if he found out that in 48 states citizens can legally carry concealed weapons — and may have done so at any time — within inches of him. Quick, get the smelling salts…
It’s befuddling to me that somebody notorious for publishing travel guidebooks, after 50+ years, just discovered that we Arizonans love and cherish our firearms dearly.
As one of my coworkers remarked to me as we kept abreast of the President’s visit to our city the other day — an armed society is a polite one. You got to think twice before aggressively confronting someone here in the copper state. And bless our state legislature, that just recently passed a law (despite all the other government woes, lavish attention was paid to this act) allowing guns in bars.
I had a gun brandished at me once, in the midst of city traffic, by a fellow traveler that took umbrage at my driving proficiency. He screamed and shouted obscenities at my startled self, then waved his piece at me. Typically, when another motorist acts out in aggression to me, I simply smile back. On that occasion, my reaction was a bit more stern.
If Mr. Frommer really wants an eye opening, he should jauntily shuffle off to a gun show in Arizona for a weekend to experience the exhuberance of the shootist culture to near full effect.
