Roseburg, Oregon



As though you need another example of how completely demented our country has become over the second half of the Second Amendment the following is an actual product advisory printed on the side of the box for a toy gun, one that's been fitted with a bright orange plug in the muzzle to indicate that it is totally harmless:



Warning: This product may be mistaken for a firearm by law enforcement officers or others. Any person who changes, alters, removes or obliterates any coloration or markings that are require by state or federal law or regulation, in any way that makes this product look more like a firearm, is guilty of a misdemeanor.



Warning: The open display, brandishing, and/or exposing of this product in any "public place" my cause confusion and may be a crime. The term "public place" means any area opened to the public, including but not limited to, streets, sidewalks, bridges, alleys, plazas, parks, driveways, front yards, parking lots, automobiles, whether moving or not, and open buildings. "Public place" includes places that serve food or drink, or provides entertainment, and the doorways and entrances to buildings or dwellings.



Warning: Every person who, except in self-defense, draws or exhibits this product in a threatening manner against another in such a way as to cause a reasonable person apprehension or fear of bodily harm is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a term of not less than 30 days.



Can you imagine if the Red Ryder BB-gun in Jean Shepherd's "A Christmas Story" had been equipped with such a warning? That movie doesn't glorify guns, it glorifies a time when a gun was treated with respect. We had cops with guns back then, too, but they weren't shooting every kid with a desperado fixation.



What's clear is how numb we, as a nation, have since become to killing each other, where "sanctity of life" is just a phrase. So if you think this "shoot-to-kill" mentality of the police is only going to be reserved for dark-skinned people forever then you get what you deserve.



=Lefty=



