Yesterday, my daughters and I walked from San Francisco’s Castro Street to Union Square. We found ourselves leaving gracious neighborhoods with painted ladies for a commercial area filled with literally hundreds of homeless people.
We saw a barely conscious man crumpled by the side of a wall passing a needle to his “friend.” The only reason it was remarkable: the concentration of homeless people/addicts. In fact, SF shelters (one way or another) some ten thousand homeless people. They’re everywhere.
Not surprisingly, The City by the Bay’s crime rate is high. wikipedia.com pegs it at 771 violent crimes per 100k. SF also has the highest rate of per capita property crime rate in the U.S. I felt distinctly unsafe walking through parts of the city with my girls — without a gun.
Regardless of the visible threat to your safety, how do those of you who live in a city/state that refuses to give you “permission” to exercise your natural, civil and Constitutionally protected right to keep and bear arms do it? No-go areas, head on a swivel, stay in after dark? Do you feel trapped? Frustrated? Angry?