I hate guns. This is a personal(non)preference. I have nothing against the 2nd Amendment, or my fellow citizens who love guns for target shooting, hunting, self defense or any other legit activity.
At about the same time period, I was stopped for speeding heading to Boston for liberty (sure beat the hell out of Portsmouth). The statie politely informed me that I was going too fast. He suggested to me that I should do whatever the traffic was doing, rather than passing every driver for several miles. No ticket, no harm, no foul. Do we sense some form of prejudice here?
I was once required to wear a .45 in the line of duty during my service in the Navy. I was summoned to the XO’s stateroom one morning for a special assignment– bailing out one of our sailors who had been locked up for the night in the jail in a small Massachusetts town near Boston (we were homeported at the Portsmouth, NH naval shipyard, about 45 miles north). XO ordered me to wear the sidearm, since he had heard that our sailor had been drunk/disorderly, uncooperative and violent, which is why he had been locked up. My first thoughts were along the lines of what do I do with it, anyway. Maybe shoot myself In the foot?? I was furnished with a G-car and a duty driver. We headed south, and arrived In mid-morning.
Upon arrival, I asked a few questions to assess the situation, weapon at the ready. The deputy sheriff told me that Boilertender 3rd Class Ross had been completely cooperative, non-violent and pretty much sober. So why was he incarcerated? Well, Sir, he was stopped for speeding (50 in a 35 mph zone), and was unable to cough up the bond (I think it was $50 or so). Not surprising, near the end of the month. I posted the bond, unstrapped my weapon and loaded the offending sailor into the car.
Upon arrival back at the ship, I reported to the XO. Not drunk, disorderly, merely a leadfooted driver short of cash. End of story, or so I thought. As I was about to leave, the Captain, himself, stomped across the narrow passageway. “I heard that! 50 in a 35 is not driving a car, its aiming a car! I want this man brought up to Captain’s Mast now!”. (Article 15 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, aka naval kangaroo court, in case you didn’t know). BT Ross received a reduction in rank, to BTFN, for speeding! For this, I needed protection?
Both of these incidents occurred in the early 1960’s, when we were not thanking servicemembers for their service, and it was not uncommon in some of these towns to see signs advising dogs and sailors to stay off the premises.
Rogernarc 