Home Crime and Punishment Can You Lose Your Gun Rights for Refusing to Wear a Mask?

Can You Lose Your Gun Rights for Refusing to Wear a Mask?

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virus mask gun rights carry
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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By Rob Geiger

Local, state, and national government officials have asked (and required) people to wear masks in public to help contain the spread of COVID-19. Many businesses have followed suit and put up signs requiring the use of masks for customers to enter their establishments.

But what it you don’t want to wear a mask? Could your refusal to wear one cost you your gun license?

The simple answer is yes, at least temporarily; and as always, the answer can depend on the state where you live.

“In most cases, if a business owner wants you to leave and you refuse, and the police get involved, you would likely end up being charged with some level of trespassing,” said Walker & Taylor attorney Emily Taylor. “There are varying levels of trespassing and different states will categorize them differently, but you’d likely be looking at a misdemeanor charge.

“If the trespassing leads to an actual criminal charge, then your carry license could be suspended at least until the matter is resolved in court. If you get convicted on a criminal trespassing charge in court, then you’d likely lose your license outright.”

Let’s use a common example: you go to your local grocery store and they have a sign at the door asking you to wear a mask. You ignore the sign, enter the store, and begin to shop.

An employee notices you’re not wearing a mask and informs you of store policy. You tell them you won’t wear a mask, so they ask you to leave.

Again you refuse, so they call the police. They arrive and say you are trespassing.

Now What?

Each state’s trespassing laws are different, but if the offender is not violent and made no physical contact or threats, the situation will be viewed as a misdemeanor in most instances.

However, if the offender becomes belligerent or violent, the nature of the charges could become more severe and the penalties more dire.

In the grocery store situation, if law enforcement gets involved, you’d likely be escorted out of the store and charged with a misdemeanor trespassing offense. That could result in a suspension of your handgun license while your case is pending. If you were to be convicted of the offense, you will likely lose your handgun license — and possibly your firearms — for a certain period of time.

“As gun owners and licensed carriers, we have to hold ourselves to the highest standard,” Taylor said. “We recommend a courteous exchange with everyone involved — especially law enforcement — and if you are asked to leave for any reason you do so immediately. Protest their policy with your pocketbook…not your freedom.”

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161 COMMENTS

  1. Just leave, then file suit. U.S.C. 18, Section 242 states: ” Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States,…shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; …”

      • “As any state or federal mask mandate or any other mandates of the Scamdemic are un Constitutional as a three dollar bill…”

        OK, but the examples provided in the OP are private businesses, and they do not deny anyone’s rights by specifying the conditions for patrons to enter and remain. Now, if a government building is denying said rights it may be a different story but private businesses and residences are free to set most of the conditions for being on the property.

        It can be claimed that the business in question might be under duress via the various governmental agencies to ban admission without a mask. Under the scenarios provided in the OP, however, anyone who is that obstinate is obviously looking for trouble and should expect to be either booted or even arrested if they persist.

        Lose access to self defense over crap like this from a private business I did not have to enter in the first place?

        Not me, but I’m sure there are plenty around TTAG that would disagree and probably even some who’d operate in the manner described that would lead to their arrest. And then the same worthies would probably be upset because NRA wouldn’t take their idiotic case.

        For as long as I can remember, I’ve happily stayed out of establishments that operate in manners counter to my principles. “Being required” to enter the DMV or some other governmental building is one thing but picking a fight with Target or Piggly Wiggly is just plain stupid IMNSHO.

        • I do believe it is unconstitutional to deny service based on political beliefs. In fact, prejudicial treatment based on political beliefs was protected against long before special protections were extended to women, minorities, gays, illegal aliens, etc. If you’re going to open a business that sells groceries to obedient sheeple, you also have to sell to less obedient people.

          Is it necessary that this belief in masks is more political than it is scientific?

    • Well, if that “color of law” thing was actually effective, the world we inhabit would already be a place different from this one.

      However….

      Anyone who tries to deny me my rights, anytime, anywhere, is a nattering nabob of negativity belonging to an effete corps of impudent snobs.

      • Dr Seuss

        I’ve heard there are troubles of more than one kind,
        Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
        But I’ve brought a big bat. I’m already you see,
        Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”

        No Poet

        Because I’m Sam I am yes Sam I am.
        And of Vice President Spiro Agnew I am a big fan.
        And his most famous quote I know by heart.
        And If you want me to I can say the famous part.
        You nattering nabobs of negativism.
        You have driven us all into a schism.
        And Like Spiro I Sam I am dislike the media.
        I wish a pox on them, I hope they they all get Chlamydia.
        Or at least a case of laryngitis.
        And fingers infested with arthritis.
        And cause I’m Sam I am, yes I’m the one.
        I make eating green eggs and ham sound like its fun.

    • I live in Michigan and work in Indiana both states executive orders have exemptions for “medical reasons” Indiana even has a exceptions for mental reasons. Neither state’s order specifies how you get an exemption or who issues it. The orders are very vague. So being the stubborn SOB that I am I have granted myself exempt from wearing a mask. When going into a store or restaurant if asked about the mask I tell them I am medically exempt. I have not been turned away yet.

      • I’m in Arkansas. I’ve had a piece of paper making me medically exempt since my employer first suggested that masks would be mandatory. My primary care provider very explicitly pointed out that I NEVER NEED TO EXPLAIN how or why I am exempt. It is nobody’s business why the mask bothers me, and PCP can’t be forced to give a reason either. It’s all nice and legal, printed on appropriate letterhead, with a signature, just like any identification document.

        • According to ADA law, once you explain that you are medically exempt from wearing a mask, it is a violation of federal law for anyone—an employer, a cop, a store clerk, etc., to seek further justification for you’re not wearing a mask. They literally are prohibited from asking further questions. The intent of the law is to underscore the fact that you are in charge of your person and medical condition and other people do not get to employ a gate-keeper role to determine whether you are or are not “properly” wearing a stupid mask.

        • I’m all for the ADA, in not for POS exploiting it for BS. Want to make a statement, fine. Don’t be a coward and hide behind the ADA. Why don’t you just bring your emotional companion with you next time as well. Seriously, WTF. Exploding a law designed to help people the physical disadvantages to make a political statement, can you honestly get much scummier?

    • Exactly, I’ve been quoting that for 9 months. As in the case of the recent ruling in PA, any LEO who still wants to enforce Wolfe”s unconstitutional edicts is subject to 18USC, section 242. I keep a copy of it o me at all times.

      Times up, start not complying with this ccp bullshit.

    • Your problem is that if you have a state issued licensed to carry a gun then you do not have a Right to have a gun that is protected under the Second Amendment. What you have instead is a government granted privilege that is subject to government regulation and the payment of fees and also subject to being revoked for whatever reason the government deems appropriate.

      A Right is never subject to government approval or permission or the payment of any fee. However, if you accept to contract your Rights away and accept to receive in return a government granted privilege, then you have obligated yourself to accepting whatever terms are dictated by government.

      Rights and privileges are two very different things.

      “The U.S. Supreme Court broadly and unequivocally held that licensing or registration of any Constitutional Right is itself unconstitutional.” — Follett vs McCormick, S.C., 321 U.S. 573 (1944)

    • Actual constitutional lawyer here – the government can suspend any enumerated right if it does so to achieve a compelling interest in a narrowly tailored manner using the least restrictive law possible.

      In other words, don’t be a (expletives deleted), wear your mask.

      • @busybeef Not impressed by your credentials since Obama claimed to be one also. It would be best for you mind your own (expletives deleted) business. My body, my choice.

      • Engineer, not lawyer, here:

        Actual constitutional lawyer here – the government can suspend any enumerated right if it does so to achieve a compelling interest in a narrowly tailored manner using the least restrictive law possible.

        In other words, don’t be a (expletives deleted), wear your mask.

        Ah, yes: strict scrutiny; the power the Court gave itself that is enumerated nowhere in the Constitution. For sake of argument, let’s apply strict scrutiny to mask mandates and/or restriction of constitutionally protected rights:

        1. Must be justified by a compelling government interest.

        Saving large numbers of lives is generally understood to meet the standard for compelling government interest. I’ll certainly concede that one. That said, while preventing death is a compelling government interest, extending that interest to preventing/minimizing spread of a disease is not inherently a compelling government interest. (This would be a subjective decision, based on things such as virulence and mortality.)

        2. Must be narrowly tailored to achieve that compelling government interest – meaning that it must 2a) not be overbroad and 2b) be demonstrated to be address essential elements of the compelling government interest.

        Here, mask mandates (and other restrictions) begin to fail.

        2a) Blanket mask mandates are overbroad. Blanket closure of churches, businesses, and gatherings is overbroad. Of those without symptoms, 99% of them are healthy non-carriers, not asymptomatic carriers.

        2b) Blanket mask mandates do not have empirical data to demonstrate that they address essential elements of the compelling government interest. Blanket closure of churches, businesses, and gatherings does not have empirical data to demonstrate that such closures address essential elements of the compelling government interest.

        3. Must be the least restrictive means for achieving the compelling government interest.

        Mask mandates (and other restrictions) absolutely fail here, in multiple ways. First, there is no empirical evidence to support that a) asymptomatic carriers are a particular threat of infection or that b) mask-wearing by asymptomatic carriers mitigates that risk of spread.

        Again, of those without symptoms, 99% of them are healthy non-carriers, not asymptomatic carriers. So, a mask mandate or assembly prohibition for symptomatic persons would be less-restrictive and more closely tailored to the compelling government interest.

        Also, the arbitrary implementation of mask mandates and other restrictions demonstrates that they are not the least-restrictive means.

        For example, allowing restaurant patrons to remove masks while seated at tables but requiring them to wear masks while moving to and from tables demonstrates that requiring masks is not the least-restrictive means (e.g. social distancing when moving to and from tables would be less-restrictive). Allowing casinos to remain open with capacity limitations and social distancing while blanket prohibiting churches to remain open with the same measures proves that requiring churches to close is not the least restrictive means (and violates other first amendment protections, as a bonus).

        What you apply to masks and Covid-related restrictions of constitutionally protected rights, others apply to restrictions of second amendment-protected rights – and you both do so using the same, false premises. The problem with most lawyers is that they will arbitrarily and subjectively apply an extra-constitutional method to determine the constitutionality of a restriction, based first and foremost on their own ideological biases, and devoid of any real subject matter expertise in terms of associating a given restriction with its likelihood or efficacy to achieve the identified compelling government interest.

        Blanket mask mandates and blanket closures/assembly prohibitions no more prevent large numbers of deaths than any one or collectively all of the myriad gun control laws prevent deaths, crime, or other harms.

      • “Actual constitutional lawyer here – the government can suspend any enumerated right if it does so to achieve a compelling interest in a narrowly tailored manner using the least restrictive law possible.”

        Yes, rule by the Black Robe Gang.

        “If proponents of judicial supremacy are right, then we have neither a republic nor a constitutional regime. In their understanding of the power of the Court, we have rule by an elite few–an aristocracy or an oligarchy. Moreover, if the Supreme Court has the ultimate say as to what counts as law–just because it has the final say as to thwt the Constitution means or requires–then these aristocrats or oligarchs are not constrained by the Constitution. Rather the Constitution is constrained by them. And in that case whe have the rule of men (and women) rather than the rule of law. Such a regime is, as a matter of definition, non-constitutional.”
        – -Paul R. Dehart, “The unsoundness of Judicial Supremacy”, July 8, 2015, Journal of the Witherspoon Institute.( https://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2015/07/15266/)

  2. In PA it would be defiant trespass. A conviction for defiant trespass here would make you a prohibited person. You wouldn’t simply lose your license to carry, you would never legally be able to even touch guns or ammo again.

    • Never ran into anything where that particular charge was used, is it a felony or a targeted misdemeanor (assault and domestic violence varying by state)?

    • Actually seems reasonable to me. We’re talking about deliberate trespass (picture your living room) and refusing to leave when discovered? That sounds like a violent act.

    • I suspect, if I look up the PA statute that defines “defiant trespass”, I will find that “refusing to wear a mask” does not fit the criteria.

      • PA crimes code 3503b (i), states that if given instruction to leave by owner, representative of owner or law enforcement and don’t, they are guilty of defiant trespass. Its a M3 here so not more than 1 year in jail and no more than $250 fine.

        • Chip, have your reading comprehension skills deserted you?

          “…if given instruction to leave by owner, representative of owner or law enforcement and don’t, they are guilty of defiant trespass.”

          It’s not about the mask, it’s being told to leave and not complying.

          A property owner can tell you to leave because you’re wearing a white shirt and you must leave, do you not understand that simple property right?

          I thought all you conservatives were all about private property rights, is that just when it serves you and it’s not for the other people?

        • My reading comprehension? How ironic!

          Chip, have your reading comprehension skills deserted you?

          “…if given instruction to leave by owner, representative of owner or law enforcement and don’t, they are guilty of defiant trespass.”

          It’s not about the mask, it’s being told to leave and not complying.

          That is… exactly what I said: it’s not about the mask.

          A property owner can tell you to leave because you’re wearing a white shirt and you must leave, do you not understand that simple property right?

          Correct. Where did I ever say otherwise? A property owner can trespass anyone for any reason at any time.

          I thought all you conservatives were all about private property rights, is that just when it serves you and it’s not for the other people?

          Cool straw man you just demolished.

        • Chip Bennett is normally astute and logical. But in this case he appears to be deliberately obtuse.

          You walk into a store, maskless. Store manager says, “Put a mask on or leave.” You refuse. Cops are summoned and you are charged with defiant trespass. At this point the mask is irrelevant. He told you to leave and you didn’t.

        • You walk into a store, maskless. Store manager says, “Put a mask on or leave.” You refuse. Cops are summoned and you are charged with defiant trespass. At this point the mask is irrelevant. He told you to leave and you didn’t.

          So, what you’re saying is: the charge relates specifically to the refusal to leave when trespassed, and nothing at all whatsoever to do with the wearing or not wearing of a mask.

          So, what you’re saying is: you agree with me completely. I’m not sure how you would interpret my view as obtuse.

          (Actually, I am reasonably sure how you would come to that view; it is based on projecting/ascribing to me an argument that I didn’t make.)

        • miner. Property rights? You’re coming out as opposing those antifa and blm rioters that are destroying private property? Are you abandoning your socialist ideals about wealth redistribution?

          Fat chance. You’re being your usual hypocrite self. Try to flog is with rules you won’t follow.

      • It has nothing whatsoever to do with the mask. It’s all about being told to leave and refusing, insisting on “defending your rights” against a private entity that is well within _its rights_ to demand you leave for whatever reason it likes.

  3. I feel like you missed the real question, which is “Can you lose your gun rights for not wearing a mask… while on public property. Or while exercising your right to vote. Or while you’re attending a Wisconsin DNR Zoom meeting.”

    • Please don’t do that. When I see people wearing masks like that it makes me want to punch them in the nose. Far too many people are doing that unironically.

        • Yeah, sure, tough guy. I said *want*. Wear your idiot-mask right or don’t wear it at all. I have the same reaction when I see people walking around with their pants sagging or their shoes untied.

        • So you want to assault someone for not wearing them correctly, but you know they don’t do anything? Bruh, you are morally conflicted on a level that you should avoid further commenting. Either don’t wear it, or be a good slave and put your muzzle on.

        • “Punching someone is a good way to end up on slab in the morgue.”

          Possibly, but in most scenarios, killing someone who merely punched you in the nose is a sure way to end up having you sphincter enlarged over a period of 20 years or so…

        • So, schnozzola (oiy vey, that username…)

          Riddle me this…here in Los Angeles County, our mask edict explicitly allows for an exemption if you claim a medical issue. For example, I personally know an older gentleman who has worked as a professional welder for 30+ years. Due to the effects of that longterm exposure to welding particulates on his lungs, he is pursuaded by his doctor to avoid wearing a mask so he can keep his bloodstream oxygenation levels up. He has not worn a mask one single time since the shutdowns began back in March. If any store employee approaches him to remind him of our mask edict, he politely tells him he has a medical exemption, and he has never been asked to leave any property.

          Would you punch him if you saw him walking by you without a mask?

        • @Craig A in Iowa

          You’re sounding stupid with that statement. Being punched in the nose, that is being physically battered, is reason to invoke your right to self defense. About the only thing that YOU could do, is to run like the wind, and be gone before the person you battered has time to draw his weapon. WTF did you get the idea that breaking a person’s nose prevents him from killing you in self defense?

        • If the masks actually did anything, but they don’t. The only masks that effectively prevent the spread of disease are N95s and plastic faceshields (provided that you’re coofing or someone else is coofing in your face). The cloth masks and square paper “medical”/”non-medical” masks do nothing, but our Republicuck governor and all the politicians and large businesses are forcing them on us. We’ve been forced to wear masks for 2 months statewide and the infection numbers just keep climbing.

          Walking around with your nose poking out is more like walking around with your fly unzipped. The primary detriment is that it makes you look like a jackass.

        • Given the size of the viruses and the size of the air passages in the mask, wearing a mask is like wearing a fishnet as a condom.

        • @Alexander: Obviously you don’t Science much. Being retired and having untold hours of free time. I’ve spent many of those hours researching all manner of things including the “Chinese Virus”. Based on information from all sides of the debate. It has been determined based on past anti viral efforts the correct mask offers a significant level of protection if the correct parameters are followed. I for one could care less if you or anyone else wears a mask. Considering that most of the people who do so refuse based on an emotional response. I base this on the way people simply loose their minds and devolve into childish temper fits. Everyone follows the No Shirt/No Service rule without question. Which by the way was not invoked for sanitary reasons, but as a way to keep Hippie types in the 60’s and 70’s who tended to dress that way out of stores. So regardless of how you Feel about masks. My guess it’s more about being Told what to do over believing masks won’t help protect you.

        • @Darkman: guess what? I science, too.

          A surgical mask provides, more or less, no protection against viral infection due to inhalation whatsoever for the wearer, fullstop.

          It really is neither here nor there with respect to the OP, but even I get tired of this nonsense. If you, as the wearer, want to protect yourself against inhalation of this virus or pretty much any other airborne, harmful agent, you need to wear a respirator, and that respirator needs to be fitted properly. Otherwise, air flow simply bypasses any and all filtration effects, and brings those harmful agents right into your airstream.

        • Darkman, the operative word is “correct.” Wearing the wrong type of “mask” can be worthless, or even worse than having nothing.

          In my place of business, about a fourth of the customers come in with no mask on. A few will apologize and offer to get one from their vehicle, and the rest will conduct their business and leave. A few will take them off if they see that I’m not wearing one. I don’t wear one, because I spend most of my time alone in the office, interacting with only a few customers over the course of a day. We have a sign on the door for masks because the governor says we have to, but we don’t make an issue out of it–I’ve never asked anyone to put one on, and I’ve never refused service to anyone who didn’t have one. I don’t work for the local health department.

        • “A surgical mask provides, more or less, no protection against viral infection due to inhalation whatsoever for the wearer, fullstop.”

          That’s absolutely correct, wearing a mask offers no protection to the where order those around them from the spread of the virus, any virus.

          Wearing a mask is a waste of time, it just makes you look like a dork. Cool people who are running with the hip crowd do not wear those silly mask.MS.

        • I have a full beard. In my military life I was trained that a mask was useless if you were not clean shaven. Now when I go into a store a put a small mask on over my full beard that runs out all around.

          I have yet to see a rule banning beards.

        • jwm,

          I recently saw a skinny Starbux-esque hipster with a scruffy beard wearing a painter’s mask with a small canister filter. His beard was sticking out all around the edges like brown moss. Made me laugh and shake my head, but hey…it’s a mask.

          The best DIY I ever saw was a woman with a literal feminine pad taped over her nose & mouth. As in, peel off the tape liner to expose the adhesive, and adhere to your face. People-Of-Walmart style, lol…

        • Over 20 peer reviewed double-blind studies show they very little effect at stopping the virus, cloth and N95. Masks are a situational prophylactic when cleaning and decon procedures are strictly adhered to. Peer reviewed double-blind studies have shown the health dangers from wearing masks wrongly and continuously. Its junk science.

          Common sense check: viruses enter the body through mucosal tissue. On you face there are four mucosal, and two non-mucosal openings. If you wear a mask and doesn’t cover your eyes viruses enter the eyes And can enter the ears as well . So all you fucking maskholes are you covering your eyes with swim goggles and ears with earmuffs? Doubtful, so shut the fuck up already about your mask bs. You would be better served to take 5-10,000 iu of lanolin based D3 with K2, 2-4 mg of vitamin C, nascent iodine, zinc and get some exercise and clean up your lazy lifestyles that made so susceptible to any virus, disease or sickness and quit debating masks.

          As far as 18 USC, section 242 it applies mainly to LEOs and politicians, not store owners. Jeez already.

        • @Darkman When I heard the Surgeon General and Fauci tell me not to wear a mask and then later to tell me that I have to wear a mask, it made me wonder
          And even though I work 10 hours a day I did a little research

          The size of the Covid Virus is 0.12 micro meters
          A wet virus is 0.5 micro meters
          The surgical mask only filters particles down to 100 micro meters
          A surgical mask is designed to filter out bacteria, not a virus

          So if you sneeze a surgical mask will (if worn correctly with 0 leaks) it will filter the virus trapped in moisture
          It will however, not filter the rest of the virus
          Worse once the mask is worn for more than 4 hours it becomes far less effective because moisture builds up in the mask

          I can’t remember exactly what the KN filter down to.
          I do remember that it is 95% effective

          There have been some studies that have tried to prove that masks work
          However all of them have proved to be junk studies
          Perhaps you remember the Kansas Health Dept who tried to show 90 counties without mask mandates had lower coronavirus infection rates than the 15 counties with mask mandates.
          To hide this fact, the Kansas health department tried to manipulate the official statistics and data presentation.
          They compared two graphs, one which showed the counties w/ mask mandates, and one without
          They deliberately changed the scale of the graph to make the counties without mask mandates look like they had a much higher rate of infections
          But they were caught and when the corrected it the non mask wearing counties were actually doing much better than the counties with mask mandates

          Now ask yourself, If there was evidence that masks worked, WHY would they lie?

          Another US study tried to prove masks were effective but they were caught using a time period where infection rates were already declining
          Again why the lie

          And finally The CDC just released a statement that the masks will not filter out the smoke particles from the fires we have here on the west coast
          Smoke particles are at the smallest. around 7 micro meters
          So they admit that there masks then are completely useless and unable to filter out a virus which is much smaller than smoke particles

          It’s late and I doubt anyone will probably read this, but I am compelled to point out that they are lying to us

        • “It’s late and I doubt anyone will probably read this, but I am compelled to point out that they are lying to us”

          Read it this morning.

          “Science” is what government says it is. Now, that’s settled.

        • @Troubled Soul

          You’re not really wrong about any part of that filtration argument, and your eyes aren’t lying to you, but it’s a more complicated. It doesn’t take a single virus to make people sick, for anything as far as I know. The lowest infective dose I ever heard of is ebola viruses to the eye, which takes 7 or 8 viruses to make someone develop disease, but for most things it usually takes an initial exposure of hundreds or thousands of an infectious agent to make someone develop sickness- your local immune system handles stuff all the time without requiring a systemic response.

          What you said about masks catching some wet particles but not airborne free viral particles is completely right, but that’s actually the point. You don’t breathe out individual wet viruses- because water sticks to itself you breathe out much larger droplets. If you’ve ever seen your breath in the cold, or someone sneeze, those are the droplets I mean. Those droplets have more mass than free viral particles, and are also a lot larger, so when you breathe out, they travel much, much further than most free viruses when you breathe out. Because those travel much further, and carry numerous viruses per droplet, the exposure between two people from wet particles is much, much, much higher than from dry particles. COVID-19 can spread with the comparatively high exposure of wet particles, but can’t really reach an infective dose from free airborne viruses alone. There are diseases, like measles and tuberculosis, that require so few particles they can spread by those airborne viruses alone, but truthfully, those are exceptions to the rule. COVID-19, colds, and flu cannot spread without those larger, heavy and virus-laden droplets. Masks are not perfect, but they can block those largest droplets, which are just aggregates of incredible numbers of wet viruses. You block those largest droplets, the remaining free viral particles that make it through a mask are still not enough exposure to make someone sick.

        • Science:

          “I agree with Dr. Redfield. At best, a vaccine will be about 75% effective against moderate to severe disease,” Dr. Paul Offit, a professor of pediatrics at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, told ABC News. “A mask, on the other hand, if used correctly and combined with social distancing, will be far more effective than that.”

          Dr. Paul Goepfert, director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham Vaccine Research Clinic, said, “I think the confusion here is that we do not know the efficacy of the COVID vaccines yet, nor how quickly available they will be if found to be effective, nor the percent of the population willing to get the vaccine. Since we do not know any of that yet, masks are a better solution.”

          The physical barrier that masks provide eliminates the ability of the virus to move from person to person, Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, said. This means that if masks are implemented widely and consistently, they will dampen the spread of COVID-19 significantly.”

      • The intentionally incorrect wearing of a mask is overtly belligerent behavior. Punching them in the nose would only serve to spread their problems to you, and maybe give them an excuse to shoot you.
        Project Pat… Don’t save her!
        https://youtu.be/IJn87TkZF38

        To the tough guys… you’re a fool to assume that it’s only gonna be one little dot to tune you up.
        Slumped.

      • @schnozzola I see sheeple every day wearing a mask, some wearing two, plus a face shield. While I think it’s ridiculous, I don’t have any hostility to them, if it makes them comfortable. Just don’t try and make me wear one, then there is a reason for hostility. I have never worn a mask in all these months and I have have never experienced anything but politeness from everyone around me, and I return same. Two places out of hundreds asked me to leave, so I left.

        • “The ones driving around ALONE wearing a mask crack me up.”

          I have N95 masks (purchased for lawn work), and they are a pain to put on and off. If driving a short distance between errands, I don’t bother with taking the mask off.

        • MB,

          I actually saw someone shopping in our local grocery store kitted up like that…a paper surgical mask, covered with a cloth mask, and further covered by a clear full face shield. Yet he was handling produce with bare hands.

          Oiy.

    • If you’re careful, you can successfully disguise your chin. And then, you are wearing a mask! No Problemo!

      D’oh! Biden says he will mandate mask wear if elected. I am waiting for someone to ask how he intends to enforce that decree, and does it involve the 101st Airborne? Guy’s IQ does not approach room temperature.

        • Nahhhh – you’re mistaken. It takes a positive IQ number just to maintain breathing. Joe’s IQ has to be at least 5 or 10. When you see him on a respirator, you might assume that his last couple of brain cells are deceased, and his IQ has dropped below zero.

      • If Biden is elected, the masks will be provided FREE to everyone………..after all, isn’t that what the Democratic Party has taught their sheeple to expect, EVERYTHING GIVEN TO THEM FREE ???

  4. I refuse to wear a mask and participate in the virus hoax. It shows you are bowing to a false narrative. I do not live in a filthy Chinese city.

      • My philosophy on masks: I wear a mask as a courtesy to the business owners in my area, who are required by law to enforce mask mandates, have suffered greatly under the tender mercies of our betters in state government, and don’t need me hassling them for something that isn’t their fault and is out of their control. I also don’t need the hassle myself, as I carry a firearm and have a responsibility not to put myself into situations that can escalate, jeopardize my safety, or put me in legal hot water. Mostly, I just want to buy my stuff, leave as quickly as possible, and go home.

        When I go out, I wear a mask only when required. I don’t think masks do very much good, and might actually be counterproductive, but I’m not an epidemiologist (unlike everyone else on the internet) so I know I could be wrong and am willing to wait and see, at least for a while.

        BUT: I do expect mask mandates to END, and I simply WILL NOT wear one for the rest of my life, not even avoid hassle from the truly insane zealots who wear masks while alone in their own cars, thinking (I guess?) that they are magic.

        • ^ This!
          It’s not the business owner’s fault, it wasn’t his idea to require your face covering. Give them a break, they are dealing with a hysterical level of dictatorial government meddling beyond what they have ever seen, and are just trying to stay in business and keep their employees working.

          So don’t be a duckhead and cause more problems for them. They deal with enough rectal orifices.

      • I wear a shirt so I don’t scare the public.
        As for shoes, I wear them in case I step on some glass, but I would go bare foot into a store if I wanted to.

  5. That video is something else! All he had to do is grab his stuff and walk out. Evidently he told the employees to get bent..thus the police show up.

    Bad decision making process dude has.

  6. Just wear a freaking mask. And space 6 feet apart.

    Consider it a gesture of courtesy to those around you , who have no idea if you’re infected and asymptomatic or not. And rest assured that their masks will help protect you from whatever they may be carrying. Hopefully, we’ll be back to ‘normal’ by this time next year.

    • As much as it pains me to say this “Common Courtesy” is as rare as “Common Sense”. Among certain members of the human species. The farther We as a species get from the things that led to a polite society the more barbaric Our tendencies become. History has shown time and time again that once a society reaches a point where these traits begin to disappear the more likely that society will devolve into Chaos. Factions will begin to develop with ever increasing reasons for distrust, division, anger and violence. What We are witnessing today is nothing more than history repeating itself. There has never been a society on earth that been able to keep from tearing itself apart over Control. It’s been said the Money is the root of all Evil. I tend to believe Power is the root of all Evil and Money is just a way to manipulate the Subjects and keep score for the Masters. Keep Your Powder Dry.

    • You are considering only the possible/theoretical benefits of mask wearing and ignoring the physiological, psychological, and sociological costs. Those costs are real and measurable, i.e., are scientifically demonstrable. The benefits are most based on conjecture, and that simply does not adequately argue in favor of wearing masks (as distinct from respirators).

    • “consider it a gesture”

      So, you admit that it’s all signaling and masks don’t actually do anything?

      Yeah, that’s a no from me dawg, that’s compelled speech and you can cram it where the sun doesn’t shine.

  7. Uh… so the answer is: “No.”
    In all of the listed scenarios, the cause of losing the license to carry is due to refusing to leave private property when asked. Private property is still private property; if you’re asked to leave, then leave. That includes if you’re asked to leave because you’re carrying a gun or if you’re asked to leave because you’re not complying with their company policy, or you’re asked to leave because they think you look funny. If you feel their reason for asking you to leave is inappropriate or illegal, take it up int he courts; getting yourself trespassed is not a good way to start that process.

    • This is on point. The act of not wearing a mask is not tied to the crime. Trespassing is the crime, and private property holds the right to ask you go leave for a laundry list of reasons. Failure to leave leads to legal problems, not the absence of the mask.

      Additionally, throwing a temper tantrum at employees or other patrons for any reason can also lead to trespassing and loss of rights.

      Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. While you are at it, vote Biden since the left is actively working to make the prizes better.

        • Half truth is still a lie, miner. Your specialty. The only reason barry signed that law was he wanted other things in that bill to go through.

          barry never was pro gun and never will be. Voting for joe is voting for a guy that can’t remember what day of the week it is.

    • While that sounds real simple, let me ask just who you expect to issue the order for you to leave? Your neighborhood grocery store, so just any passing jackass can order you to leave? How do I know who has that authority?

      • “…let me ask just who you expect to issue the order for you to leave? Your neighborhood grocery store, so just any passing jackass can order you to leave? How do I know who has that authority?”

        This sort of “what if” BS gets so juvenile… Probably the same people that allow you to enter the business in the first place, or wait on you or take your money in exchange for goods; you know- owner, employees, etc.. Probably wearing name tags for those who can read.

        Putting your “argument” into a different light, would you expect just “any passing jackass” to be able to let you into the neighborhood grocery store after hours, possibly through a broken window or door?

        Who’d argue this junk? But perhaps I made my point a number of posts above. This place can be embarrassing…

  8. As a former bouncer, I can tell you that leave means LEAVE!
    Don’t leave angry, just LEAVE.

    If you make the decision to disobey the rules set by the owner of a private establishment, to argue with employees and waste clock time, to force the involvement of law enforcement, you NEED to be sent packing.
    I’ve trespassed hundreds, and had quite a few arrested when they returned, and laid the smack down on a few. I’ll give ya’ some face-time with sweet Lady Handrail.
    According to ya’ll, they deserved it for acting belligerently. Sound about right?

    If you want to act like an A-hole and have contact with LEO, save everyone the trouble and go straight to the nearest local constabulary. Make sure you take your gun, and make sure you shout in their face and act a fool while snowflaking about “Muh freedom!”

    Pure stupidity… buttholery… and Karenism… I tell ya’ what.

  9. If you refuse to wear your mask during an armed robbery and you get arrested you will lose your gun rights. Duh.
    On the other hand…If those with conceal carry can conceal a firearm logic says the vast majority won’t have an issue when it comes to temporally concealing their mugs.

  10. No shirt
    No shoes
    No mask
    No service

    Management decides….not the patron.

    Go somewhere else. It’s just like 30.06 signs. Follow their rules or leave. Refusal to comply can leed to an arrest record. This is simple.

    With that said. It seems masks have become a main staple of mass hysteria. There will be a point where these can completely go away. Will politicians allow that without instilling the fear of god in everyone that all Americans must wear burkas?

    • Hey, that is actually a great example of where that can lead, if it’s not vigorously opposed. There have been many countries, in our lifetimes, where a woman could be executed for allowing her face to be uncovered in public. And that is in no way intended to be funny. In 1990 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, I watched a young woman ride a Jetski (standup variety) in a full chador, her hands were the only skin visible. The alternative would be to risk death. Do we wish to allow Biden that sort of power?

      • Friend, it is too late!

        There are many laws forcing me to cover the beauty of my God-given manhood on a public street, the very front porch of democracy where I should be able to displayed the perfection of God’s handiwork for all to see in the light of day.

        The authoritarian religionists (mostly Christian) in direct violation of the First Amendment, have forced me to purchase products from private companies at the direction of the government or risk immediate incarceration.

        I must buy these ‘clothes’ from private, for profit, merchants or be in violation of multiple laws and risk fine and imprisonment.

        Yes, it is too late, we are living under Christian sharia Law, where I can’t buy alcohol on Sunday and I am forced to to cover myself out of some twisted sense of shame.

        Where is my freedom from religion?

        • ” I must buy these ‘clothes’ from private, for profit, merchants ”

          No you don’t. That’s just your own laziness showing through. You can raise your own cotton, or flax, and weave your own cloth. Or raise your own sheep. Or go shoot a deer and use the hides. Or go dumpster diving and use discarded fabrics.

          Lots of options out there. But don’t go blaming others for your own lack of imagination and initiative.

        • Not hard to read at all @49er

          ~~First Amendment. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.~~

  11. I don’t like wearing masks….i think this whole thing has gotten out of had….that said…..After reading the article….i think the best thing is if you don’t like the stores policy, simply go somewhere else….If all stores have this policy, all you can really do is suck it up and wear it…..i mean, you need to eat, so alienating a supermarket you need to shop at is not a great idea…….Thing is, a private entity can set policy because its private……….Its a hassle you can 100% avoid, so why put yourself in that situation. The next thing you can do is become informed and vote….if you hate the policies your govenor put into place, then vote them out……

  12. Come on, guys. Let’s not engage in straw man arguments:

    But what it you don’t want to wear a mask? Could your refusal to wear one cost you your gun license?

    The simple answer is yes, at least temporarily; and as always, the answer can depend on the state where you live.

    “In most cases, if a business owner wants you to leave and you refuse, and the police get involved, you would likely end up being charged with some level of trespassing,” said Walker & Taylor attorney Emily Taylor. “There are varying levels of trespassing and different states will categorize them differently, but you’d likely be looking at a misdemeanor charge.

    No. This simple answer is no, you cannot lose your gun rights merely or simply for refusing to wear a mask.

    You would have to combine that refusal to wear a mask with some form of criminal trespass. To do that, you would now have to do at least two things (and likely, three):

    1. Refuse to wear a mask
    2. Be trespassed by the property, and refuse to leave
    3. (In many jurisdictions) Refuse again to leave, when police arrive and instruct you to leave.

    But at that point, you’ve merely committed some form of criminal trespass, which as far as I know is no worse than a misdemeanor in any jurisdiction. To lose your gun rights, you would have to commit a felony.

    (Side note here, but the author makes a subtle change here from “gun rights” to “gun license”. They are not the same thing, because a) gun rights includes possession, not just carrying, b) not all states require a license to carry a handgun, and c) few if any states require a license to carry a long gun. And also, even in states that require a license to carry a handgun, a misdemeanor charge isn’t necessarily going to cause your license to be temporarily or punitively suspended.)

    Anyway, back to losing gun rights, and felonies. For that to come into play, you now have to do yet another thing:

    4. Commit some felony offense as part of your refusal to leave when trespassed or when cited/arrested by police for misdemeanor criminal trespass, such as threatening the property owner with your firearm or committing battery against the police officer.

    So, again: no, you cannot “lose your gun rights” for refusing to wear a mask.

  13. Chris, in Florida tresspass with a firearm is a felony. That statute was to target poachers. As it should. I despise a poacher. But, more liberal prosecutors could stretch it to include the business just discussed. I hang my head in shame, but Miami-Dade did give us Janet Reno.

  14. People are very laissez-faire here in central WY. Some people wear them some don’t as if it is a personal choice. I haven’t seen any strife about it.The infection and death rate is also very low here as far as I can tell. It sounds like it is bigger issue in some other places. MPLS to small town Wy has turned out to be an incredibly good move. Must suck to still live in or near a big city.

    • Why? Technically, most places do “require” it. The question is, do they give a damn and will they ask you to leave if you don’t comply. I go everywhere without one. For example, wal-mart. I try to avoid wal-mart as much as possible, but it’s a “small” town and some things just land me in that spot. The other day they had some little kid, probably 16, harassing people in the front door about wearing masks. Most people just ignored him and walked by, nothing happened. I have been in there 10 times since all this and never once been harrassed by anyone. Instead, they find some low level employee and give him one job, to annoy people. If they are not going to do anything, what is the point? You can tell me it’s required all you want, unless you are going to tell me to leave and force me to, then fuck off and mind your own business. Enough is enough. The masks are useless, the requirement for them doubly so. Stand up for your self.

      • And your point is? If your local Wally World doesn’t care then you are in the clear. If they care and you need something that you can’t get anything else then either suck it up or go online. I see lot of my rights trump your rights around here.

        • I made my point clear. Masks are unconstitutional, as is the entire premise of their existence in public today. So tell me more about rights.

  15. Patterned Buff+Sunglasses+Baseball cap.

    Even covers your ears. Makes you feel like you’re about to rob the place and it defeats security cameras and facial recognition just for the lulz.

    Honestly, I don’t mind it. Mandatory anonymity in public? I’m at least 50/50 on that and a year ago I’d probably have been arrested for “masking” like this, especially once the cops showed up and found me carrying a gun while doing it.

  16. If someone is thoughtful enough to prepare to defense against human threats, you’d think they’d also take precautions against viral ones.

    • Prove that a mask does anything. I can prove a gun does, but can you prove a mask does? For every expert you show that says they “help” and are better than nothing, you can also find an expert who says they are useless outside of a sterile environment. Stop being a puppet.

  17. Gun rights advocates often claim that a proprietor’s right to exclude anyone from his premises trumps the right to bear arms (which constrains only government infringement). I understand the point; albeit, personally, I’m not entirely convinced.

    On the subject of masks, there is no Constitutional guarantee whatsoever on the right to go bear-faced. If there is a right to exclude from premises at the property-owner’s pleasure, then that would seem to include masks (required or prohibited).

    A proprietor might require/prohibit me from access to his premises if I wear/refuse-to-wear:
    – a burka
    – my birthday suit
    – a skirt
    – a mask

    On each count, it’s up to me to decide to patronize his business or leave.

    If there is ammo for sale I could be persuaded to wear a kilt, depending on my inventory and the political climate of mostly-peaceful protests.

    If there is a sale on ammo, I’ll get a burka.

    I’m much more amenable to any mask requirement/prohibition.

    • You have the essence of it, Mark. Private property rights extend only to allowing or disallowing (for any reason whatsoever, mind you) the presence of other persons on the real property that is owned. Private property rights do not extend to making any other demands of those persons while on that property – and particularly so where such demands violate the exercise of natural rights of those persons.

      • How ’bout this: retail businesses must collect sales taxes, or other fees mandated by the state. That makes retail businesses authorized agents of government(s). Ergo, when a business declares customer requirements for being on premises, they de facto represent government denial of constitutional rights.

        • Ergo, when a business declares customer requirements for being on premises, they de facto represent government denial of constitutional rights.

          Note, I’m not the one arguing 18 USC 242. Further, I hold the view that a private property owner has the right to trespass any person for any reason at any time.

        • “Note, I’m not the one arguing 18 USC 242. Further, I hold the view that a private property owner has the right to trespass any person for any reason at any time.”

          Of course. I am posing a different take on the application of 18 USC 242, eliciting your observation on the theory.

        • Of course. I am posing a different take on the application of 18 USC 242, eliciting your observation on the theory.

          I think it is tenuous theory, and would violate private property rights (and first amendment-protected rights, such as freedom of association) – granted, the courts have made up the fictitious “right of public accommodation” that enshrines violation of private property rights.

          Further, from a practical perspective, private property owners do not exercise color of law, regardless of the administrative activities you listed. To enforce law, private property owners still have to call in law enforcement officers.

        • “To enforce law, private property owners still have to call in law enforcement officers.”

          As a government agent, I could produce regulations regarding certain behaviors/actions. Yet, I had no power of enforcement. Similarly, Congress has authority to write law, but no authority to enforce them. In this vein, I am theorizing that as tax collectors, retail businesses are acting as agents of the states, and posting customer behavior rules is outside their specific authority. However, the retail outlets are using their apparent authority as government agents to deny full exercise of rights by customers, not to mention that the delegation of goverment authority (tax/fee collection) does not include authority to promulgate further restrictions on individuals. Thus, retail businesses not only act with assumed/apparent authority, but go beyond their actual authority, violating the “law of agency.”

          In short, as agents of government, retail businesses have no authority to prescribe dress codes, or health code in violation of customer’s individual constitutionally protected rights.

        • In short, as agents of government, retail businesses have no authority to prescribe dress codes, or health code in violation of customer’s individual constitutionally protected rights.

          As agents of government, no. But as private property owners, they have the right to set policy for those things for those for whom they allow access – and they have the right to trespass anyone for any reason at any time (for violation of said policy, or otherwise).

  18. It’s easy. Behave yourself. Don’t be a trespassing idiot who thinks your right to be a trespassing loud mouth exceeds the rights of the property owner to call the cops on your rude behavior.

    You don’t like the requirements for entry onto private property, go someplace else.

  19. If they ask you to leave and refuse your business, then leave. But it really is this simple: Don’t comply. Masks are a joke. Stand up for yourself and more people will too. They already are. I see it every day. Ask yourself this: When will it end? If masks worked, then the countries whose people wore them regularly already, like china and most of asia, would have kept that covid pretty secluded, right? So, do they work? Nope. And since we know they don’t work, we are waiting for a vaccine? lol… how naive. I am not an anti-vaxxer, but expecting a vaccine to just cure covid is like expecting one to cure the flu. So when do masks stop? We already know the covid numbers are being manipulated, and the cdc and who lied, and they are still lying. So why the fuck are you complying? Cuz it makes you feel good? If you actually believe you are stopping or slowing the spread then you might as well wear gloves and a mask while you do everything, including sleeping in your own home, for the rest of your life. To stop the spread of all germs cuz who knows… maybe one will get you or someone else sick.

  20. wow….take all the legal advise offered in this thread and put it in a really good bucket, you know the ones that cost a little more made of galvanized steel…..and what do you have then, just a really good bucket.

    let’s face it, we are all conformist and socialist and the only time we can truly be conservatives is when we go to buy a trump hat, instead we fold the money back up and put it back in our own pocket……

    get off the couch on your front porch and just go vote

    • I agree…..go vote!

      I just don’t remember seeing anywhere on this site from anyone that this should be seen as ‘legal advice’. But opinion is worth what ya paid.

    • Yup, voting, that’s my plan and let’s face it, about all any of us have really. So, vote for Biden to kick that treason SOB out of the White House. If that doesn’t work, there’s always the Republican group formed to try to repair what Trump is breaking, once he is out no matter who comes after
      .
      Republican Voters Against Trump
      https://rvat.org/

      Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform
      https://repair45.org/

      Donations sent!

      • What act of treason did Trump commit? You keep making these wild assed statements with no proof.

        I really am beginning to think you are just another alter ego for miner49er/vlad.

        • How is it not treason to knowingly allow Americans to die in ignorance, giving them the opposite of what Trump himself believed? Thousands died due to Trumps failures to seal off borders, halt air travel and do all the things the medical authorities pleaded with him to do. The Woodward recordings of Trump’s own voice admitting to saying the opposite publicly of what he truly believed about the pandemic’s deadliness and ease of transmission, how is this not treason? When your entire effort is to publicly play down what you are privately telling a reporter in an on the record interview is a deadly killer?

          How is it not treason to give comfort and praise to an enemy tyrant of a foreign power? To praise Communist China’s President as a great and strong leader who threw away a term limit law to declare himself President for Life? All as Trump was telling the commie filth that he should have a third and fourth term himself? What is AMERICAN about any of that?

          How is it not an abandonment of all we hold dear and sacred in this Republic to call Americans who fought in wars ‘suckers’ and ‘losers’? Men who died in Belleau Wood, or fought in the Argonne (my Grandfather, for example).

          All this shit is real. All this shit has multiple news agencies confirming, including Fox News. There’s no fake news here. The man lies about a disease that has now killed over 200,000 of our people. He supports foreign tyrants. He casts vile insults upon the fighting men who serve and risk and struggle or die in defense of all our lives and freedoms. He then insults the elderly Gold Star parents of our honored dead.

          What the fuck does it take to comprehend, to figure out that Trump is a Domestic Enemy and a Traitor to America?

          Need he seize a third or fourth term to get you people to wake up?

          Quite simply, Biden is now the lesser threat to the Republic. He’ll push his massive shopping list of every left wing dream ever imagined, disappoint vast numbers of lefties by being unable to put any real time or effort into most of it, and then be out in four years.

          It’s as simple as that. Far lower risk, low likelihood of succeeding in more than a handful of around 43 or more plans on his web page and then out of time.

          Bring in the fucking clowns.

        • Seal the borders? Precisely when did they install that button in the Oval Office to turn on the magic force field around the country?
          Should we send federal marshals to arrest b. obama and h. clinton for praising v. putin?
          Are you scared that if you say “trump” 3 times into a mirror he will appear and steal your soul?

        • enuf. Nobody is as delusional as you try to appear. Nobody that has unrestricted access to a computer that is. You’ve outed yourself as just another troll.

          Treason has a definition. Nothing you accuse Trump of doing or not doing meets that definition. As for insulting our troops? That’s been proven false. It was just more of your leftist controllers trying to spread lies.

          You want to see a traitor? Look in a mirror.

  21. Well all I can say is if the lefties get a chance they will take all your rights, if not wearing a mask could remove your gun rights they would enforce it to the maximum, so the people of America must put a limit on how much our grovnment can control of our rights, for they have exceeded it by far, we have got to take back what belongs to the people of America, and put a end to them ( government ) just making up laws just because they don’t like something are feeling bad about the e legals, the color of skin, anti-christ,,padding their bank accounts, and start doing what is right for America and it’s people, not people who come to America to go changing laws to suite them, they come to America, America didn’t go to them, the laws that was in place is what kept America free, strong and the greatest nation in the world, when something works that well, by no means do you consider making any adjustments, but here we are welcoming homosexuality, blms, antiChristianity, mixture of races ,taking more and more of GOD from this country, by welcoming evil ,to take control of the laws that made and persevered this country, these pushed aside laws where put there for a reason, not to be cast aside but to be enforced to protect the nation and it’s people, for justice for all not just a percentage.

    • Oh, well, that’s an easy one. It’s a permission slip to engage in your natural born and Constitutionally enumerated right. A little trick that Hoplophobes mostly on the left, but some on the right too, have been playing around with for well over a century.

      Because, you know, guns cause crimes and such like … um … somehow. I dunno how exactly, uh, ask an engineer … no wait … I am an engineer …um… ask a Las Vegas stage magician maybe?

      Yeah! That’s the ticket! Guns cause crime because …. MAGIC MAN!!!

  22. I carry a firearm to protect. I use a mask for the same reason. When you are not using one properly it shows everything about your character, that you don’t care about anyone other than yourself and that you are small minded and petty. You are the problem with this country.

    • When you are not using one properly it shows everything about your character, that you don’t care about anyone other than yourself and that you are small minded and petty. You are the problem with this country.

      Alternate explanation: you understand that empirical data simply do not support the contention that asymptomatic spread of Coronavirus is an appreciable risk, and therefore there is no evidence that mask-wearing by asymptomatic people constitutes any meaningful risk mitigation against the spread of Coronovirus. Or, perhaps, you understand that spread of Coronavirus requires sustained contact within close proximity, and you merely go about your daily activities in a manner that avoids sustained contact within close proximity to anyone.

      In either case, you merely roll your eyes at the maskholes who virtue signal through their (usually improper) mask wearing and attempt to condescend others who choose not to virtue signal similarly.

      But, hey: whatever makes you feel better, I suppose.

      • The problem with all that is you are outlandishly and nonsensically wrong.

        If you do not want to wear a mask, fine, stay the fuck away from the rest of us.

        Like others I carry a gun every day of my life since I was 21, and I’m an old fart now. And yet I wear the annoying mask every day when I go to work or the store because it’s the smart thing to do, as told to us by vastly more medical experts than the few quacks who just love to stand out for their damned fool quackery.

        • “The problem with all that is you are outlandishly and nonsensically wrong.”

          Like every time you spaz out about Trump.

        • The problem with all that is you are outlandishly and nonsensically wrong.

          Am I? Fine. Prove it.

          And yet I wear the annoying mask every day when I go to work or the store because it’s the smart thing to do, as told to us by vastly more medical experts than the few quacks who just love to stand out for their damned fool quackery.

          I’m speaking from my own training, experience, and reading of the literature, not from what the TV tells me to believe. The purpose of masks is to contain the spread from the symptomatic. They serve no other, legitimate purpose. In particular, they provide no protection to the wearer.

          Wear them or not; I don’t really care. You do you. But unscientific condescension is not a good look.

        • enuf. If the masks were anything but theater there would have been a ban on beards also. I have a full face beard. I wear a mask when I walk into a store. Any medical professional will tell you a mask is useless on a bearded face.

          The. Mask. Mandate. Has. Nothing. To. Do. With. Covid. Period. Full. Stop.

          Fucking traitor supporting an attempt to overthrow a legally elected government.

        • You are the one full of fear. Stay home. Nobody here is going to drag you out of your home. Yourfear does not get to dictate to the rest of us. We will all be dead soon so it’s a win win for you. You are pathetic. You really think your opinion is going to influence me. Your presence here raises my blood pressure. It’s just science man. Please remove yourself

        • “If you don’t want to wear a mask, fine, stay away from the rest of us”.

          How about if you are such a germaphobe and worried about getting sick then you stay the fuck home. See what I did there?

  23. First, pick your battles. Is it worth it? Save your protests for when and where it could make a difference. If a business requires you to wear a mask, put one on or go elsewhere. You can always wear the mask under your chin.

    Second, the person watching the door has likely has no power to change the mask policy. (See pick your battles, above). Why waste time debating with someone who isn’t a decision maker?

  24. In NY, if you are charged with misdemeanor (not even found guilty) a judge has cause to suspend a CCW license, and it can take around a year to get it back. It depends on what county you are in though, if its a leftist controlled county its a guarantee.

  25. I have never worn a mask any place I shop and nobody has questioned me about it.
    If they did tell me to wear a mask I would leave my shopping cart full of what I was going to buy and tell them I’ll shop elsewhere. They lose a customer and the money.
    Same goes for businesses with “No Gun” signs. Their loss.

  26. In this thread:

    Non-lawyers providing (wrong) legal advice.

    Non-medical professionals making (wrong) medical conclusions.

    I love America.

  27. This is stupid, I know, but here’s the best analogy I can think of.

    The thing about COVID-19 is that going without a mask actually works the way anti-gunners think carrying a firearm works- you’re actually putting everyone around you at risk all the time (because all you have to do to be a danger to others is breathe.)

    We all know that “unintentional threat at all times” thing is stupid and wrong when it comes to carrying firearms. But in the middle of a pandemic, going without a mask is like you might be unknowingly carrying an invisible firearm duct-taped to your hand. No, you aren’t trying to injure someone and maybe that situation wouldn’t really pose a risk to your own safety. But it could, emphasis could, be hazardous to the people around you.

    Sure, spread usually has to do with prolonged exposure in confined spaces, and if you avoid that the chance you would make someone sick is low. You spend little time around someone, or pass by someone outside the chance they get anything from you if you’re not having symptoms is really, really small, but whenever you go without a mask you make EVERYONE ELSE take that small risk. You might have muzzled them with an invisible firearm. The chance that you have one taped to your hand is small, and even if you did, the chance that muzzling would harm them is small, but you still might have just muzzled them. It’s not likely anything would go wrong, but they didn’t sign up for that.

    I for one would still get pissed if you muzzled me “only a little” because I don’t want to take that risk, and you just made me. To be clear, I’m not really at risk from this. I’m young and healthy, so if I got it I’d be fine, but that’s not the case for my whole family. That’s definitely not the case for my neighbors. I don’t want to give it to any of them, so don’t give it to me. Don’t make me take that risk I might be getting muzzled. Because as weird an analogy as it is, if you muzzle me, you also muzzle everyone else I spend time with. And the people they spend time with. And so on.

    The mask holsters that invisible firearm, if you have it. That keeps you from muzzling anyone. Make sure you don’t have a firearm taped to your hand, because if you don’t, that would be the dumbest part of this stupid analogy.

    • If breathing is a danger then when does it stop? As others have said, facial hair gets in the way of the mask, allowing “particles” to bypass, right? No mask is sealed to your face and I am willing to bet that even the ones that are if you put them in a room for a week with a bunch of “positive covid” patients, they would also catch it. Right through the mask. Nobody is wearing respirator and hazmat suits, which are the only thing that can actually help in the first place. Masks were a well thought out scheme to cause diversity. They provide no, that means zero, use outside a sterile environment and even in one, they do very little.

  28. In Ma. you can lose your CCW permit for just about anything, or nothing but pissibg off a cop.
    This guy in the gym was told he had to have a mask or to leave by the person in charge at that time, which voided any “contract’ he may have thought he had. A gym membership doesn’t allow you to violate their rules. Also the guy was an asshole and asked to be tased when he jumped up aggressively. The guy pushed the envelope as far as he could till it came down to time to get tased. I have no pity for that guyt. The cop did a good job with the situation. I hate guys in the gym that have the hygene of a pig and the respect for others of a Moose in heat. I have had more than a couple “debates” with other gym members who wouldn’t wipe down the weight machines after they used them. One even stated it was necessary because they were not sweting. There are signs all over the place stating the rules are to wipe down after you use the machines. in my former gym. It can be hard to hang on to your gun permit in Ma. Its too much of a lever to be used against you by police at times. I don’t know of any laws that clearly define what can be done if you “think” you have been unduly abused by taking your gun permit other than going to court, and in Ma. that may not help much either. The courts usually areon the ide of the police.

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