This morning’s New York TImes took a troll—sorry, “stroll” through The City’s public accounting of concealed carry permit holders. Rather than find out what motivates an “average” person to want a CCW permit, the Gray Lady got all celeb jiggy with it. Of course, that criticism assumes there’s a single “average ” person amongst the 41,164 Big Apple-based CCW permit holders. But there is derisive humor to be had amongst the rich and famous that pack heat, apparently . . .
“I don’t believe people should be allowed to have guns in America,” Ms. [Alexis] Stewart, daughter of Martha, said in an interview, explaining that she bought a .357 Magnum after 9/11 — but would be happy to give it up if handguns were banned. “Having a swimming pool is way more dangerous than having a gun.”
Funny that the Times chose to highlight conservative pistol-packers Roger Ailes (Fox News Prez), Sean Hannity (right wing chin wagger), without naming one important left-leaning CCW permit holder: New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr. But we do get a great gun story . . .
John A. Catsimatidis, the owner of the Red Apple Group and Gristedes supermarket chain, recalled a chilling episode from the mid-1980s, when he intercepted a robber fleeing one of his stores in the Bronx.
“The first guy comes out with a sawed-off shotgun, goes right by me and says, ‘Be cool, man,’ ” said Mr. Catsimatidis, who has owned a gun for at least 35 years. “The second guy comes out with a sawed-off shotgun, goes by me and says, ‘Be cool, man.’ The third guy comes out with a sawed-off shotgun, and I intertwine my arm into his arm, and I put my gun to his head, and I say, ‘Drop your gun, or I’ll blow your head off.’ ”
When the police arrived, they arrested the man, and examined Mr. Catsimatidis’s weapon — a Walther PPK/S 9-millimeter pistol.
“The sergeant says to me, ‘You couldn’t have shot the guy anyway: your safety is still on,’ ” Mr. Catsimatidis recalled. “The sweat started dripping off my head.
“I’m not going to do anything stupid like that again.”
Which proves what, exactly?
