Four years ago, a failed grad student went postal, opening fire inside a screening of The Dark Knight at the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colorado. James Holmes shot and killed 12 people and wounded seventy others. The spree killing triggered a “debate” between gun owners who lamented the fact that the cinema was a “gun free” zone and wished there’d been an armed civilian to stop or at least slow the slaughter, and those who saw Holmes as yet another poster boy for civilian disarmament. Meanwhile, Aurora gym owner Graham Dunne didn’t wait for a [theoretical] resolution . . .
Aurora resident Graham Dunne is a man who wears many hats. He’s a weight lifter who is married with three children [with] a full time job . . .
[Dunne’s] Fit Republic Parker, like any other retail business, is susceptible to crime. “There’s always the concern of theft, armed robbery,” he said. In addition to good locks, a cash vault and security cameras, Dunne employs one more piece of equipment. A concealed firearm, “I carry a gun to protect myself and to protect my customers.”
Not only does Dunne carry a gun himself, he encourages his customers to do the same with a sign displayed in his store’s window that reads, “Guns are welcomed on the premises.”
Dogs are welcome too, according to kdvr.com.
By putting his money where his mouth is, by encouraging his customers to exercise their natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms in their own defense and — hopefully not — his, Graham Dunne gets TTAG Gun Hero of the Day award. Here’s the kicker: he’s a cop. You can post your congrats to his Facebook Page.
Very nice
So you can exercise your right to bear arms while getting ready to exercise, nice.
You mean you can proudly exercise your right to bear arms while exercising your arms so that you can proudly bare them?
Bravo!
You Dawg, I heard you liked inalienable rights, so I put a gun with your guns, so you can bear arms while you bare arms.
This.
A cop who likes both guns and dogs? Hard to believe.
Not at all, my wife has trained (German Shepherd Dogs) with several of them.
If you don’t enjoy being painted with a broad brush perhaps you should leave off doing the same.
Seriously, what do you accomplish by alienating folks who are on your side other than prove how narrow minded your perspective is?
(Written by a retired law enforcement officer, gun owner and rescuer of dogs.)
I seriously doubt your on my side.
Okay then.
Only if you read TTAG exclusively for firearms news.
??????
Good on him. More than likely his business will be safe from armed thugs.
Doesn’t surprise me, there’s alot more good cops than bad out there.
Just alot of good solid hardworking people just getting through everyday as well.
Good for this guy.
This is my America!
^^^^^^^ Best post of the day. ^^^^^^^
I’m pretty sure that’s a 642-1, the archtypecal stainless steel Airweight snubby. It’s one of the least expensive S&W revolvers sold today. I got one on sale last fall. Very handy, but pretty mean to shoot. The trigger was atrociously heavy, gritty, and stacked clear to the moon such that it even bound itself up once in a while. But it shot nice, tight groups given its basic groove sights.
I took mine to a local gunsmith not long after a range visit on New Year’s Day for a trigger job. Had to wait five months, but the results were incredible, like night and day. Now it has a smooth, clean, 8# give or take trigger pull. Before the trigger job, my hand and thumb were wrecked after 1 box of 158 grain LRN. Now, 2 boxes of the same ammo is a breeze.
Everyone should own a J-frame with a good trigger. That would be gun control I could get behind 🙂
Tom
My wife carries exactly that pistol, original trigger. She’s about 105lb soaking wet, and the spring on my Shield was too heavy for her to rack easily. The little Smith does the job for bad breath range (I have a small house, no range longer than 7 yards) and she more easily uses speedloaders than the mags + slingshotting on the Shield. Trigger job or not, it’s a fine defensive handgun.
Cop, guns, and dogs… This won’t end well…
(Before anybody jumps my shit, that’s a joke. This is the kind of police officer we’d all be lucky to have in our town.)
BRAVO ZULU
Only slightly related (the opening line about Aurora), I like movies. And despite overpriced admission and concessions I still like to go to the movies once in a while.
I went to see a movie with my brother lately. I told him we couldn’t go to the one literally across the street, we had to go thirty miles away. The closer theater has a posted no guns policy.
His exact words: you don’t think that carrying a gun into a movie theater is kinda silly?
I don’t often get completely gob smacked…
I know how you feel. I have an AMC 1/2 mile away, I don’t go there.
I like movies too. Going to a theater for a movie is great fun. My wife and I are always equipped to protect ourselves no matter which theater we choose to visit. So far, neither of us have taken notice of any signs that deter us from being safe.
I noticed that while this guy is all about carrying in his store, be’s not demanding that people who feel otherwise allow carrying in their stores. He’s not even demanding that everybody *must* carry in his store.
This seems pretty much the opposite of the anti- folks who don’t want to carry, don’t want you carrying in their store, and want to prohibit it everywhere else, too.
The anti’s approach to this seems to be: “You must live the way I prefer.”
Good for him, I hope he gets lots of business.