If you believe passionately in political correctness and cannot 
bear to see it used as a weapon in a war against the idiots who 
originated the whole politically correct idea, do please leave 
now.  And you needn't return.  Folks with no sense of humor 
give me a severe pain somewhere south of my belly button.
 
I hold a concealed handgun license in the State of Texas.  I 
am also licensed as a concealed handgun instructor in Texas.  
Contrary to the belief held by most residents of the other 49 
states, Texas has some of the strictest gun laws on the books 
anywhere outside of New York City.  I mention this only to 
illustrate that I have absolutely zero criminal history in a 
state where at least ten percent of the population can expect 
to spend a year or more in a penal institution at some point in 
their lives - and it seems that more than half of the population 
has something to be found in the way of criminal history, 
whether violent or otherwise.
 
This makes me a minority!  
 
Forget that I'm a woman (we are 52 percent, after all, even if 
it isn't fashionable to mention it).  Forget that I'm a small 
business owner.  I am not a criminal.  I own - and carry - a 
gun!  Voila!  I am a genuine, card-carrying minority.
 
It gets worse.  I am a minority who is hated and feared by the 
majority.  
 
It's a very good thing I don't have children.  If I had kids, 
the venerable American Medical Association would advise you to 
ask my children (if you were too embarrassed to ask me) about 
the guns at my house - and forbid your children to play with 
mine if mine were to answer the "gun question" in the affirmative.  
Oh, yes.  Absolute fact. And you don't even want to contemplate 
the lawsuit that would have occurred the first time that happened 
to any child of mine!  Luckily for those hapless parents, it won't 
ever happen to me or to my non-existent kids.  You may not be that 
fortunate.
 
Nevertheless, I am a full-fledged victim of discrimination.  
Yes, you heard me right, folks.  I am a victim of discrimination 
every bit as severe and as real as that which was directed at 
people of color in the 1950s.  I am discriminated against 
because of my deeply held belief that self-defense (and defense 
of the genuinely helpless) is my right and my sacred duty.
 
How does this discrimination work?
 
Well, aside from complete morons like the American Medical 
Association (who don't even pretend not to discriminate), it 
works like this:
 
Texas law states that a business owner may forbid firearms 
carry even by licensed individuals on his/her premises if they 
are posted properly.  Fair enough.  That's just freedom, no 
matter how vehemently we may disagree with the businessperson's 
decision to totally exclude firearms (except, of course, for 
the firearms belonging to those individuals who will ignore 
the law, anyway).  However, Texas case law has also established 
that a gun owner is responsible at all times for properly 
securing his or her firearm.  
 
Add to that the fact that the Attorney General has ruled that 
the business owner's "premises" specifically excludes parking 
areas - and we have come to the crux of the problem.
 
Because of the Attorney General's ruling, there is no 
immediately apparent problem.  In fact, in theory at least, 
there is no problem.  I disarm in the parking lot, lock my 
firearm in my vehicle, and go transact my business, right?
 
Are you out of your bloody little minds??
 
Does anyone here really believe that a locked vehicle is secure? 
 Boy, have I got a news flash for you!  It takes less than five 
seconds to enter one - and that's if you're polite enough to 
avoid breaking the window.  The younger the perp, the faster the 
job.  And if you think you might have a rough time with the law 
if your firearm is stolen and used to commit a crime, you don't 
even know what a rough time is until that firearm is stolen by 
a minor in Texas!
 
In practical fact, therefore, a business owner who excludes 
firearms excludes me - because, idiot that I am, I do honestly 
try to obey the law.
 
So I am a genuine victim of discrimination.  I belong to a 
class of people who are being deliberately excluded from a 
fairly large number of businesses in my state.  This class of 
people consists of those who (a) have no criminal history, (b) 
obey the law even when it's silly, and (c) carry a firearm for 
self-defense - and, just incidentally, for defense of that 
business owner's business, although he is obviously too 
ignorant and frightened to see it that way.
 
Now let me get to the fun part of this article.  
 
The very liberals who want to take your guns wrote the strict 
laws against discrimination in this country!  
 
What is happening is actually against both state and federal 
law.  So what can be done to redress the situation?  Well, 
obviously, the business owners can grow up and stop being 
scared of law-abiding citizens, but it won't be quite that 
easy.  For example, carry is forbidden inside any U.S. Post 
Office, which would almost be a funny knee-jerk reaction if 
it weren't so awfully pathetic.  
 
Carry is also forbidden in the secure parts of a commercial 
airport.  I may disagree, but I don't see that changing any 
time soon.
 
On top of that, there are even one or two prohibitions I 
actually do agree with - like hospitals.  Defending my life 
inside the halls of a hospital - at the expense of countless 
helpless patients (when the oxygen system in the walls goes 
bang!) - is not a picture I like to contemplate, and it would 
kill me just as dead, anyway.  So that particular prohibition 
makes sense.
 
There are effective ways to deal with the problem, though, and 
they would allow for pretty much all circumstances.  What about 
business owners actually providing security for customer's  
firearms?  Why not?  They provide wheel chair ramps, don't 
they?  And Braille™ markings on elevators!  If the disabled 
are a class of people, then so are we!
 
It isn't necessary to go to any great expense for this.  A bank 
of lockers in a small alcove near the business entrance would 
work.  The gun owner steps into the alcove, disarms, locks his 
handgun up and pockets the numbered key.  When his business on 
the premises is concluded, he steps into the alcove, opens his 
locker and re-holsters the firearm before departing (the key 
is retained by the lock for the next user).  The firearm is 
reasonably secure for the duration, and folks are not running 
around the paranoid business owner's premises with firearms all 
day long.  Problem satisfactorily solved - and cheaply, too.  
These locker systems are used in most post offices today (for 
small parcels), and airports (a larger type, for luggage), so 
they are available and fairly inexpensive.  On top of that, the 
business owner can charge a dime or even a quarter for the rent 
of the locker.
 
Everybody wins!    
 
Now is anyone so foolish as to believe that business owners are 
going to do something so logical without having their figurative 
heads knocked together??
 
Don't answer that question.  The foolish optimism of my fellow 
man never fails to astound me.  Take it on trust from your 
cantankerous old grandma' here - it ain't gonna' happen!
 
So what can we do?  Well, my friends, that is exactly why we 
have a civil court system in this country.  That's why we have 
civil rights attorneys, too.  If we have to put up with them 
(apologies to attorney friends), then we might as well use 
them!
 
Let me issue a challenge here.  Are any Texas concealed handgun 
licensees reading this?  Write me!  Let's get together and plan 
a class action civil rights lawsuit right out of the 1960s!  If 
you climb on board, I'll donate your next renewal class for 
nothing - you will need just your fee to the state!  It's a 
contribution I would be pleased - and proud - to make to this 
effort.
 
Are there any readers licensed in other states?  Any 
instructors?  Go for it in your state!  
 
Are there any Second Amendment friendly attorneys out there?  
Step up and volunteer to take these cases on contingency!  
I'll do your classes free, too, if you live in Texas.  
 
Let's get some real class action suits going, people!  Let's 
use the system for ourselves this once! 
 
It can be done, and it can be won, first in state - and then 
in federal - court.  
 
The simple truth is that if you aren't willing to fight for 
your rights, you deserve to lose them.