Recently, a man in Michigan was arrested after he flashed a card identifying him as a CIA employee.  Apparently Mr. Flint isn’t really with the CIA, and he showed the card to allay any concerns brought on by him carrying a pistol, ammunition, and body armor at a movie theater.  Now, instead of enjoying popcorn and a beverage while being entertained, he’s going to be introduced to the guys over at Club Fed for a while.

If you’re going to carry a gun, your actions need to be as pure as the driven snow, or at least as close as you can get.  I understand carrying a gun to somewhere in public like a restaurant or a movie theater.  I do it all the time.  I also recognize that some property owners don’t want legal carriage of firearms in their establishments.  I recognize it, I don’t agree with it, but it’s their property.   I avoid these establishments as much as I can, and I try to scan the doors of businesses to see if they have posted a sign asking that I keep myself and my firearm out.

In this case, the movie theater may have had a posted policy against bringing weapons on the premises, and this guy thought he’d ignore it.  In a lot of states, that act itself isn’t illegal.  As I understand the law here in Kentucky, if a property owner notices that you’re carrying and asks you to take your gun and leave, you have to go, but so long as you comply, no harm, no foul.

But flashing phony ID and claiming to be something you’re not so that you can enjoy watching “The Chipmunks VII:  Theodore’s Sacrifice” is pretty much the opposite of what you should do.  It only leads to more complications, as in this case, where our subject will probably be losing a few of his God-given rights because of a moment of stupidity.

To sum up:  When you’re carrying, obey the law.  Doing anything less puts yourself at risk legally and makes the rest of us look bad.

And for those who need to reach for smelling salts because a man was carrying 34 bullets and had 111 more in his car, that’s called having your range bag in the trunk and having two reloads in your pocket.  You might as well gasp loudly when a golfer has his clubs in the back of the minivan and a couple of extra balls in his pocket.