Satire or not, pro-gun petition has people ‘freaked out’

Monday I mentioned the change.org petition to allow delegates to the Republican Convention in Cleveland to openly carry their firearms – in the spirit of the Second Amendment and in line with Ohio’s open-carry laws. And I was surprised that it’s gotten so many supporters – it looked to me like satire.

Just look at this line from the petition: “Without the right to protect themselves, those at the Quicken Loans Arena will be sitting ducks, utterly helpless against evil-doers!”

Related: Don’t get too warm and fuzzy about this thwarted mass shooting

“Utterly helpless?” They plan to have 5,000 cops there and Secret Service!

Well now, according to several websites, the author of the petition has come forward – reluctantly – and sure enough, he is a Democratic activist who says he wrote it as satire.

Satire or not, however, it now has 50,000 supporters, which has left some people FREAKED OUT at the prospect of seeing thousands of delegates packing in Cleveland.

But that brings me to this other news item, a brand new concept in firearms called the Ideal Conceal. It is a .38 caliber two-shot miniature gun that folds up so that it looks just like an ordinary cellphone.

I thought that story was satire too until I saw a TV interview with the inventor.

Think about it. You could have a completely armed convention hall, with everyone open-carrying, and it would simply appear that a lot of people happen to have two cellphones. If that happens, you want to make sure that when you hear your ringtone you grab the right one.