Listening to Bret Michaels sing �Every Rose Has Its Thorn� at the Sundown Salute in Junction City over the Fourth of July holiday, I noticed a man sitting five seats down from me in Heritage Park with a handgun on his hip.



It did not make me feel safer.



Did it make those attending the Smoky Hill River Festival less comfortable or more comfortable to see people walking through the gates carrying handguns?



Kansas� concealed-carry and open-carry laws are supposed to make the average citizen feel safer.



Presumably, that�s because if someone starts shooting, �the good guys� might shoot back.



It didn�t happen that way during the demonstrations in Dallas when five police officers were killed by a sniper.



�It�s logical to say that in a shooting situation, open carry can be detrimental to the safety of individuals,� Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings said.



With all of the people carrying guns in Dallas, law enforcement couldn�t tell the good guys from the bad guys.



Is that any different with Kansas� gun laws?



Law enforcement officers are trained, when they see a deadly weapon, to stop the threat. �Wound� is not in their vocabulary.



Eventually, in the situation I observed, a Junction City police officer went over and started visiting with the man with the holstered gun.



Personally, I kept one eye on him during most of the concert. It made me more nervous when he started drinking a Coors Light, but he had only one.



Under the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act, almost anyone who has not been convicted of a felony can carry a concealed weapon and, in many cases, carry a firearm openly. A firearm is defined by Kansas law as �a pistol or revolver which is designed to be fired by the use of a single hand and which is designed to fire or capable of firing fixed-cartridge ammunition; or any other weapon which will or is designed to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive and which is designed to be fired by the use of a single hand.�



The law reads: �The availability of licenses to carry concealed handguns under this act shall not be construed to impose a general prohibition on the carrying of handguns without such license, whether carried openly or concealed, or loaded or unloaded.�



That, of course, does not apply to a Kansan traveling to other states where a concealed carry license is required.



I got my first handgun for Christmas.



When we (my older brother J.D. and me) were little, we got so excited Christmas mornings we usually woke up really early.



Usually, so the adults could catch an extra wink or two, we could each open one gift before everyone else was up.



There were usually two gifts wrapped exactly alike that contained similar gifts, one for him and one for me.



One year, we opened toy guns and we had a blast. A precursor to Nerf guns, these shot what resembled the erasers on the end of No. 2 pencils.



The next year, we opened tie clasps, which were not so much fun.



Over the years, my experience with guns evolved from a BB gun, (with which we at least scared the sparrows), to a 4-10, to a .22 rifle, to a 20-gauge shotgun (which actually did kick like a mule) to handguns.



It has been said the broad side of a barn is pretty safe with me behind the trigger, but we learned one valuable lesson about guns early in life: a stupid mistake with a gun, no matter how small, could be fatal.



A gun is always treated like it is loaded even when the magazine is out because there could still be a bullet in the chamber.



Has everyone else carrying handguns learned that lesson?



When lawlessness got out of control in the Old West and the good guys didn�t wear white hats and the bad guys black ones, law enforcement often posted signs declaring, �Leave Your Revolvers At Police Headquarters.�



My concern isn�t that someone might be hiding a .380 in an ankle holster or a .44 magnum on a belt, but that any person with any gun has knowledge and experience using it.



�Oops� with a gun is not acceptable. But apparently it�s not a crime in Salina, as no charges were filed in two recent cases in which guns accidentally were discharged.



� Reporter Tim Horan can be reached at 822-1422 or by email at thoran@salina.com.