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Man I’m getting old. Former prosecutor and Texas Law Shield Firearms Program Attorney Emily Taylor [above] looks like a college kid to me. College kids look like grade schoolers. Grade schoolers look like toddlers. Toddlers look like embryos. I wasn’t born yesterday. Over the years — many, many years — I’ve learned that discretion is the better part of valor. I know it, but it doesn’t apply . . .

After writing thousands of posts on the Second Amendment and armed self-defense, after being excoriated by another blogger for dropping trou in the NRA Pressroom (to put on a new holster), I don’t think a jury would ever consider me the quiet, retiring type when it comes to guns.

Still, no strident pro-2A T-shirts, bumper stickers or ballistically-oriented warning signs for me. I prefer to walk softly and carry a big Wilson (so to speak). You?

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87 COMMENTS

    • Laws are what juries apply. Juries exist to apply laws. Juries are a protection from runaway prosecutors, a’ la Mike Nifong and Angela Corey, among other things. If you figure on relying on the law, you have to figure on at least the possibility that it will wind up in front of a jury ( with some exceptions, of course, as the right to a jury trial is very much “not absolute”).

      • Except that both statutes exist to significantly raise the bar to bring a prosecution. In most cases, the prosecution would need a significant weight of evidence to even file charges. Juries can be swayed by emotion black letter law statutes cannot.

        • The same standard for filing a charge obtains, whether a defense (and in particular an affirmative defense) exists or not. All a Grand Jury needs to indict is probable cause to believe the accused committed the charged offense. The available defenses do not even come into play, technically, until after the charge. Castle laws, etc do not address that standard. They do give the prosecutor and/or the Grand Jury something else to consider when deciding whether to go forward with a formal charge. At least in Florida, they apparently also give the defendant the opportunity to ask the judge to dismiss the case prior to going to a jury, so you have a point there. However, that particular option does not necessarily always exist, as the nature of SYG and castle laws varies from state to state.

        • Actually, neither is technically an affirmative defense. It is a requirement to disprove lawful actions before charges can be filed. Self-defense is an affirmative defense, SYG and Castle Doctrines are not. They are protocols that prevent the brining of charges unless the prosecution can meet the burden of proof to discount them.

      • Actually, juries are supposed to apply justice, not laws. Government could pass a law tomorrow declaring that it is a felony to wear a white shirt. And when the government proceeds to prosecute someone for wearing a white shirt, every jury should find the defendant NOT guilty no matter how clear the law and evidence may be — because we should not be ruining peoples lives and sending them to prison for wearing a white shirt, period.

        Saying it another way, juries should judge the evidence, witnesses, and the law. If the jury finds a law to be repugnant, they should find the defendant not guilty.

        • Justice? Not necessarily. Read one attorney explanation that courts only provide resolution…

          Makes sense, if you consider that justice is in the eye of the beholder.

    • This is assuming all cases where self defense is claimed are valid. SYG are determined by the initial investigation, not by mere claim.

      • True, however, as we saw in the Zimmerman debacle, politicians can use the courts to persecute innocent men. Zimmerman should never have been on trial in the first place.

    • I think you miss a key point of the video. She is describing a prosecutor intent on convincing a jury it was NOT self defense. Lawyers on both sides are there to win the case, not to expose the truth.

  1. Yup, me, too. No t-shirts, no firearms logos on anything I wear in public, etc. I’m just a feeble old guy, as far as anyone can tell.

    • This why I have No stickers on my Jeep but for my rescue dog. My NRA live Member hat is the stealth pattern. Dark grey over black. Unil you’re 4′ away you can’t make anything out. Bear in mind I live in Bloombergia.

  2. I agree. I don’t believe in advertising that I carry nor do I think that any bumper sticker or sign that makes light of shooting someone supports the pro-gun rights cause. Last thing I want is to be a victim. Second to last thing I want is to have to shoot someone in self defense.

  3. Haha got this email earlier also. While I dont think it should make one damn bit of difference if you put a similar sign up or not legally, I always kinda felt like its the “wish a mother frakker would” kinda sign. I do have a Modern Musket sticker on my vehicle though, couldnt help putting it on there.

    Im curious to hear about some supposed gun journalist getting upset about you putting on a new holster, seems like an entertaining read.

  4. Agreed. In my 20’s, I was more in-your-face. I lived in Chicago and tried to change people’s minds to be more pro-gun. I was told by at least one Chicago gun owner that I was the bad kind of gun owner for being too vocal.
    Twenty years later I am much happier living around my gun-owning peers in SE Texas. Wonder what ever happened to the gun-owner that berated me in IL.

  5. Absolutely true. Even if you are not prosecuted, these kinds of signs are an open invitation to a personal injury lawsuit by the perp (aka “victim”) or his survivors. A civil suit only needs a majority of the jurors to agree, and you are bankrupt.

  6. I dislike any and all “lifestyle” marketing crap. Whether it’s bumper stickers, logos on clothing, activity related phrases on objects, a team, school or band on your hat/shirt/jacket or, my favorite, the name/logo of the vehicle you are driving in huge size 500 font across your windshield.

    All you’re displaying to the world is how soft you are emotionally and socially and how easy it is to pry open your wallet for what amount to nothing real at all.

    Companies want me to display their logos or names then they should be paying me or renting my chest/back/car as a billboard.

    I suppose you could say I’m living the grey life but that in itself is a stupid bullshit label.

    • +1.

      Heck, I’m not happy about the dealer name painted under the model logo on the back of my pickup.

      Now where’d I leave the Goo-Gone…?

      • Is that a regional thing? I see it a lot in the Midwest and in Texas. Even like a metal plate bolted or stuck on the car. Ive never seen a dealer name on anything in CA or OR or WA except a license plate frame now and then.

        I always think, Ill take the car when you take your ad off it…

      • Ha! My great-grandmother, long since passed on now, once brought a car at Lone Star Buick in Dallas. Said car had “Lone Star Buick” in metal letters across the trunk. “Take it off!” she said. “but, but, they’re screwed on, it’ll leave holes in the trunk,” they said. “TAKE IT OFF!!!”

        Long story short, they ended up having to order a new trunk lid from Detroit, painted to match (and back in the early 60’s cars were made of real steel, shipping must have been a bastard) and sent to Texas to be installed. And no, she didn’t pay for it either.

        When I brought my first car, a Hyundai Elantra, I suggested that if they wanted me to advertise for them then they surely wouldn’t mind paying me $200 per month as commission. The decal was quickly removed.

        Tom

  7. My only bumper sticker says “I BRAKE FOR TAILGATERS”. I need another one that says “I’LL DRIVE FASTER IF YOU WILL PAY FOR MY SPEEDING TICKETS AND HIGHER INSURANCE RATES”. Just because I drive the speed limit – no faster (I hate paying speeding tickets and higher insurance rates), and no slower (unless the road/weather conditions warrant it), and I get idiots riding my bumper who think they have someplace important to get to in a hurry (sorry, but unless you’re driving something with a siren and flashers…you don’t have to get anyplace THAT badly that you have to drive up my tail-pipe). I had a vehicle with pro 2A stickers on it once – one said “BAR CRIMINALS, NOT GUNS”, and other was the old standby, “GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE – PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE”, and I got no end of hassles from the State Gestapo (otherwise known as state troopers/highway patrol) who would find BS reasons to pull me over and then harass me with repeated questions about whether I had guns in my vehicle. So, why advertise? It’s nobody else’s business!

    • You sound like one of those people who insist on driving 2 mph under the speed limit, in the passing lane forever. I drive 70-90 normally, haven’t had a ticket in 5-10 years now. If you want to drive the speed limit, fine. Get in the right lane and watch people with sense sail on by. Driving with traffic is sensible, since a cop cannot pull over 3-5000 people per hour. No traffic? That means no cops, since they are all about collecting revenue, so … 70-90. Duh.

      • I get that impression, too. Want to drive slow? Fine. I do that when I’m really tired. In the right lane. Want to drive slow in the left lane? You’re an a$$hole.

      • Hopefully it’s not some two lane road, where you have to pass by driving in the opposing lane. You know, like the road I drive fifteen miles on for my commute. Where so many places have been given turn lanes or made into no passing zones, that you basically can’t legally pass on 75% of this flat, straight road, and where there’s enough oncoming traffic it’s just as well.

        And where, every day this last week, some asswipe has been six cars in front of me for at least five miles of the commute, doing 50 or even 40, in a 65 mile per hour zone, for no apparent reason.

    • Driving slow in order to teach the guy behind you a lesson is just downright rude. Just because YOU don’t have some place to be, doesn’t mean everybody doesn’t. If I’m in no hurry, I pull over and let those behind go first…Perhaps they have a legit reason for having to faster than me…and besides…they become “Cop-bait”, that
      will grab the attention of any bacon that is waiting on your route, looking to fill their daily ticket quotas. What goes around, comes around…karma baby…it will catch up to you.

  8. When I was a kid my favorite was ‘fight crime shoot back’

    I run a small NRA and CRPA sticker on the back of my car. I can live with that.

  9. …embryos look like gametes

    Anyway yeah, I avoid that scary/contentious kind of stuff. Not my style. But good point Pwrserge. If someone has an OK explanation and was in their own home and there’s no conflicting evidence, I don’t think they should be jeopardized.

  10. To each his own IMO. I would not do it solely because I don’t want people in the urban area in which I live (translation, LIBERAL anti-2A big-city) to be biased against me for reasons mentioned in the video. I won’t even contemplate placing a PROUD NRA bumper sticker on my car for fear of a “downsizing” ploy by my employer…

    However, if I lived in an area that actually respected the Constitution (translation, rural areas of Red States) I would be in like-minded company that actually respects the First Amendment and Second as well…

    Guess it’s to the point now where people HAVE to contemplate their place of residence in order to appreciate the once universally respected/protected U.S. Constitution…

  11. Just a little NRA sticker that came with the car (go figure). I wouldn’t put it there myself, but I kinda like it. I do have a little Iwo Jima flag raising sticker but that’s unrelated. That being said, I should think that any sort of gun related sticker could be an invitation to an opportunistic criminal. To that end I would be inclined to remove it, but the car is cheap, insured, and I don’t have anything more expensive than a few tools inside. No firearms.

  12. Just a gadsden flag magnet. Simple and to the point. And I’ve had gadsden’s since before they became “cool”. Ever since I was a kid I liked and was inspired by it.

  13. I’m usually the quiet guy sitting in the back who keeps to himself. Harmless. Unassuming. Vigilant. Armed.

  14. My LaRue Tactical bumper sticker says “God Bless Our Troops – Especially Our Snipers.” License plates have confidentiality.
    I took off the “Extremely Rightwing” sticker because I was getting road raged by some of the “tolerant” lefties in SoCal.

    I’m currently wearing a Field Time Target and Training T-shirt at 24 hour fitness. My Ares Armor T-shirt is sexy enough that a few attractive young women at Trader Joes have noticed it. I’ve got North County Shootout shirts and the nice green TTAG shirt.

    To me, life is too damn short to be low profile all of the time. Uniform regs require me to have short have so the tactical look and weird tan lines are pretty well inescapable, so I might as well embrace it. It’s a bit like open carry – let it all hang out for the world to see. Just make sure you keep track of your serialized gear at all times.

    • Hey, I have the same LaRue sniper sticker on two of our vehicles, and a TSRA magnet on the truck.

      I don’t care who sees what, really, but I do wear my most radical and clever tshirts mostly at the family get togethers in the country. They amuse my son and nieces and nephews, while also indoctrinating them–not that they need it. They’re good kids. Making them laugh is one of the best things in life, and they make me laugh til my face hurts. We also like to pool our guns and take the kids shooting. Nothing more fun.

  15. Along the same lines of this post, I donate to several 2A orgs and those contributions are tax-deductible. Still, I do not take the deductions. I’d rather pay a few more tax dollars than have my return flagged by the vermin at the IRS.

    • I registered as an Independent to help avoid audits. Plus, I’m legitimately an indie, although a pretty damn right wing independent.

      • I’m registered as “Unaffiliated,” because I despise Democrats and don’t trust MA Republicans even though I vote for them (my town is Red, baby, and both my state rep and state senator are A-rated Republicans). I had to register as unaffiliated since it’s illegal in MA to be independent — in any way.

        • Ralph, something isn’t playing, here. I claim all those deductions, but there is no way the IRS has any idea what my donations went to without auditing, and they never have. Seems to me like, if you made those donations, you would know better than to claim that. “cash donations for which I have receipts” covers all manner of possibilities, the IRS has no idea and does not ask who you gave that money to.

  16. Thing is, do I really want to forewarn a criminal that I as a homeowner may be armed?

    If someone decides to rob my home regardless of anything, do I want them to be in the mindset of willing to shoot anything / anyone they come across inside, right from the start?

    I’d say no. Not because it makes it easier to shoot them, but because it makes them less likely to shoot me.

    • On a purely practical level, I feel like it’s also advertising to criminals that you have a gun on premise for them to take. It might deter someone from breaking in while there are a couple cars parked in front of the house and the lights on, but if they decide to case the place out and wait for everybody to leave, they know there’s probably a few hundred dollars worth of easily moved hardware inside. It’s even worse with a car, because it’s a lot easier to break into.

  17. After getting a side view mirror smashed in the parking lot while I was an undergraduate by what I suspect was a disappointed Ohio State fan, I don’t even put college stickers on my car anymore.

  18. I had a couple of shirts with the Mauser and FN Herstal crests printed on them ’cause I thought they’d be a cool, one of a kind thing to have. The handful of times I’ve worn them in public, only people in their mid 40’s and up have complemented me for it. I’ve had quite a few college age guys look at the Mauser emblem/coat of arms and ask “What soccer club is that?” which was met with a hearty laugh. Aside from those shirts, no other advertising on my part. I’ve always played my cards close to my chest, but being a gun owner in a heavily anti state amplified that instinct.

  19. Yep nobody knows nothin”. I belong and go on numerous gun blogs/sites/facebook groups. Most want me to post pics of guns. Ain’t ever gonna’ happen…

    • +1

      That’s why I don’t comment here under my actual name and you’ll never see me in any of my articles. ‘Cause concealed means concealed.

      • +2. Grey man rules. Here in Kali…

        Not because I have anything to hide, or paranoid about NSA, blah blah, its just one less thing to worry about,
        No bumper stickers, no special license plate so less likely that wannabe anarko-kid or SJW keys my car, to save the whales.

        And thats an older utterly reliable and unremarkable on the outside commuter car that no one is gonna want, that I’ll let get dusty rather than wash weekly, so its that much less likely some tweaker busts a window for ‘valuables’.

        I use a generic gym bag as range bag just so my neighbors here in Kali semi affluent boomer neighborhood, dont shriek in feear, seeing “NRA” or the like, while cwrrying it from front door to the car, on the way to the range.

        And for sure never use real name online, for anything remotely non-pc, discussions, opinions, much less “GUNS, OMG!” for if the current crop of thought police on the left want to, they can and will stoop to any means, to deny a job, advancement, health care plan, etc, much less the vanishingly small chance I might find myself in court on a gun related issue…

        Who would have ever imagined, in 2008, that POTUS would use the IRS to intimidate a bunch of peaceful seniors advocating for less taxes, limited government, and voters rights? Who would have ever imagined that DEA and FBI would illegally surveill all citizsns, and provide warrantless evidence o local cops, with the instruction to lie about the source, and make up a story (parallel construction) on something like the guy stopped by NJ highway cops, because he had a CCW in another state?

        Dont get me started on the press, like the “community paper” that printed out names and addreses of CCW holders…

        No I dont trust prosecutors, politicians, lawyers, the press, or any part of state or fed.gov with the facts, or believe in their integrity in use of same, especially in the proven misuse of same by ends-justify-the-means morality of the left and Democrat center. Privacy laws, HIPPA regs, notwithstanding.

        • One of Nixon’s Articles of Impeachment was the attempt to use the IRS to go after his political enemies – the commissioner told him to go pound sand.

          Obama actually succeeded, and hardly a word from anyone…

  20. I have a 2nd A coffee thermos and a “5.55x45mm” tshirt, but that’s it. And, the tshirt is pretty much code, if you know, you know, if you don’t, you don’t…

    Though, I don’t wear the shirt much anymore.

  21. ” . . . no strident pro-2A T-shirts, bumper stickers or ballistically-oriented warning signs for me. I prefer to walk softly and carry a big Wilson (so to speak). You?”

    Egg Zachary

  22. 100% agree with lawyer! No gun or conservative related stickers, signs, etc. I drive a Volvo with a support education license plate.(Completely Vanilla Soccer Mom Vehicle). I do this for a couple of reasons. One I’m not a threat to police. Two who breaks in to soccer mom cars. Three if jury saw my car they would think “Vanilla Soccer Mom Vehicle….probably a Starbucks drinking liberal democrat.” With my vehicle pictures and me saying “Officer please help me I’m afraid of my life, please protect me and arrest the guy/girl.” Then lawyer up…..I doubt the prosecutor would even waste time taking me to trial because the case is a defense attorney’s dream.

  23. Some one told me once that a Beware of Dog sign was an admission that you know your dog is vicious. When I did martial arts in my younger days the sensi told us to be careful of wearing t shirts with martial arts logos. I have been contemplating having my next few year book photos for faculty with me wearing a gun logo shirt. Maybe Every2ndCounts or Walther.

  24. A bit off the subject of guns, but the funniest bumper sticker I ever saw was some time ago when you were always seeing bumper stickers that said something like, My other car is a Ferrari”
    I was stopped behind an old Volkswagon mini van, that was beat to hell, really looking terrible. The bumper on the back said “My other car is a piece of shit too”

    • “The bumper on the back said “My other car is a piece of shit too””

      Yep. One of my faves.

      ‘EVERYTHING’ off my cars. No dealer name, sports teams, cutsie crapola, nothing.

      Inside is kept clean and vacuumed. At night when pulled over, first thing I do is turn interior light on and hands at 10 and two on the steering wheel. Legal Glock 23 in holster under seat. 2 Glock 22 mags in glovebox.

      Haven’t had a ticket in 12 years.

  25. My current vehicle has freedom/liberty-themed stickers (e.g., “Got Liberty”, “Galt’s Gulch”) but no firearms stickers anymore. I still have family in NJ and I’ve heard enough tales of PotG being pulled over for DWFSOYC (driving with firearms stickers on your car), so I changed the focus a bit.

    I still wear themed T shirts and polo shirts as [hopefully positive] conversation starters, though. Anything “racy” (like my target with bullets holes that says “group therapy” is saved for matches and classes.

  26. The only thing on my vehicle is the lettering for my primary business and a sticker for my startup business. The house looks innocuous from the outside, the only 2 gun related tshirts I have is a Double-Tap Garage / Open 24 Hours- “We Deliver!” and an Ares Armor / Liberty T-shirt given to me by Jeremy and I only wear them on billiards night at the house anyway. I’ve been told the tats, shaved head and Proto-Viking beard do tend to make me look edgy since I squint because I have shitty eyes. I also gravitate towards black tshirts and that puts me in the class “To be careful around” from gas station gangsters looking for an easy mark.

  27. I had a larger magnetic decal that looked like a band-aid over some damage from someone who wasn’t paying enough attention to avoid sideswiping me. I think someone has stolen it while I was traveling.

  28. This is why almost all of my firearms are as they were when they came from the factory. (My AR is the exception). I tricked out shotgun will be used in a case to say that you just wanted to kill. Now if I had large amount of property my sign’s would read as follows “No trespassing, violator’s will be shot, survives will be arrested” Clear warning, but not homicidel. IMHO.

  29. I was driving behind a truck recently that had a “I carry a gun because a cop is too heavy” decal right next to one that read “WARNING: I do dumb things”. I’m not sure I’d advertise those next to each other.

  30. I don’t want anything on my vehicles. I don’t even want the selling dealer’s decal on it because it tells others where I might live. When I worked, they “insisted” that I put a magnetic sign on my company car door identifying my employer. I wouldn’t do it and got raked over the coals for it. I didn’t think it was safe to drive through dangerous coal country back roads identifying myself as an insurance company claims employee.

    • A mile down the road from work toss the magnetic signs behind your seat. Put ’em back on before you drive into work.

      QED

  31. There is no better way to make yourself a target of police harassment than to advertise gun stuff, especially things like H&K or M-4 related stuff that could make a cop curious if you have an assault weapon in the car (and a busted tail light)

  32. The reality is that they really are out to get us many of us are in hiding because we realize how bad it really is having to drive into enemy states far to often they can always manufacture a cause to search you and your property

  33. I’m already “that guy” so I really don’t care… If you know damn well I’ll shoot you if your force me to do so, don’t force me to do so… Advertising that I will shoot your sorry ass on a shirt is the closest thing I get to prevention in anti-OC Floriduh.

    Concealed only. By permit only. Print and you go to prison.

    Since The State forces me to bait criminals, ending with pulling a trigger in a public place to defend myself, I prefer to advertise in the only way I can to PREVENT having to pull a trigger in a public place. Anti-OC laws are designed to generate exactly this liability by giving the carrier no way to prevent or discourage the assailant. It forbids de-escalation and/or prevention altogether by simply letting the gun be seen. Allowing the gun to be seen is the best way to prevent needing to use it.

    No. I don’t give one flying fuck what anyone has to say about it.

  34. I was grey before grey was cool. A career in the military followed by a second In corrections in “enemy” territory was enough to impress upon me the utility of keeping a low profile. I didn’t even like the base stickers back then. Same goes for the wardrobe too. Now days the hair style and facial hair also says just some old guy. Probably a hippy too haha but my posture and alert appearance don’t project victim either.

    • You learned a lesson many military guys with “0311” or Molon Labe bumperstickers never learned, which is why you probably have a career while the proud EGA bumperstickers with “terrorist hunting licenses” were fighting in court.

  35. When I was younger I was a large bodybuilder/powerlifter. I walked around in a tank-top in warm weather too.Now I would never do that(I’m old and look like crap). I think a lot of younger types feel the same way about gun rights. I went through a period of time where I was quite open(and confrontational). Not now…I guess I finally grew up LOL and SD3 I’m not jewish and I don’t hide my Christian beliefs or my interracial marriage or 2 brown sons. YMMV

  36. I have a few tongue-in-cheek gun shirts I wear on occasion, i.e. the Black Rifle one from ENDO.

    http://www.endoapparel.com/ar-15-black-rifle-t-shirt/#TriBlack

    Rockers what I’m getting at, gun guys laugh, hipsters & liberals are confused.

    I don’t wear shirts that say the brand of a manufacturer or “We Don’t Dial 911”. Too obvious from a tactical sense. Also, I don’t have stickers on the windows of my house that say “Protected by 2nd Amendment Security” or whatever. That’s basically an advertisement to gang members to go “Hey, free guns!”.

    And certainly not on my car. I didn’t spend tens of thousands of dollars on it just to destroy it with bumper stickers. I don’t care what your political views are but bumper stickers on a vehicle make me cringe. That poor paint. My HOA requires a sticker for parking. I have it scotch-taped to the inside window. Oh, and also having a 2A sticker on your car is an invitation to thieves, and also it gives cops undue cause for alarm.

  37. Right now I am wearing the Magpul 10th anniversary shirt, hands down the most comfortable shirt I have ever worn. On my body or my vehicle I like to show support for the 2nd amendment. Usually just discretely, a gem tech logo, Daniel defense, FNH, nothing too in your face. I would like a “MK18 inside” sticker for my truck but I never would put one on. I am probably more proud to show my 2A support because of my kids, I want them to know how important it is and to never be scared to defend or vocalize their future rights.

  38. Dead thread, but I forgot I have the Gonzales flag Come and Take It plates on my car. It’s the original cannon version–just an innocent historical flag, don’t mean nothin’ ;).

  39. I used to be more in your face about gun ownership, and just about everything else, but then I grew up. The most I advertise now is drinking out of a Knights Armament beer kozie when I grill, and occasionally showing up with on of their SR-25 magazine flasks full of scotch if the company is good enough.

  40. I don’t think a jury would ever consider me the quiet, retiring type when it comes to guns.
    Actually, I would hope for the opposite.

    Still, no strident pro-2A T-shirts, bumper stickers or ballistically-oriented warning signs for me.
    Why advertise you have guns for the crooks to steal?

    I prefer to walk softly and carry a big Wilson (so to speak). You?
    I prefer being the gray man.

  41. You guys are just weird. I buy nice cars, which I like the looks of, and keep them clean and neat. No bumper or window stickers for ANYTHING! Makes you look like a bum.

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