Update on guns in Omaha mall

This is a follow-up to my post about concealed weapons being banned in the Omaha mall.

Well, a blogger has posted pictures of the signs at Omaha's Westroads mall that state that concealed weapons (or even openly carried ones, I suppose) are were not allowed in the mall.

Here's an amusing tidbit, however... a further along, he shows pictures of the same spot - where the signs were removed. Good call.

Perhaps the most moving point is in a further blog post on the same site. Here is copied a first-hand account of the shooting. The kicker is this - the man has a gun but, despite having taken the training class, has not bothered to get the "concealed carry" permit. His reason? He isn't allowed to carry at all in the places where he would need it the most. That came back to haunt him that day in Omaha...

I do not have a Concealed Handgun Permit. I have completed the training class, but I keep putting off applying for the permit because I think it is useless. In the places I would need a gun most, I am not allowed to have it. I will not be a person living in fear and not go to Van Maur because they don’t allow guns.

My point that Open Carry needs to be easier in Omaha, and places like Westroads need to take down their “no guns” signs.

If I had my gun deeply concealed, I wouldn’t have been able to draw it very fast. However, If I had open carried, I could of drawn instantly.

Either way though, I could have drawn and taken a clean shot. However, in both cases, regardless of the laws, I am not allowed to carry a gun at all in Westroads Mall. If the laws did not oppress my rights, I would carry a gun most places (except work). I would certainly have had it in the mall as mall shootings have been on my mind since the incident at a mall involving a shotgun back in February.

My wife is somewhat cautious about guns as is my sister-in-law. After this event, both are now pro-guns. In addition, I will never again be caught without a gun.

I later learned from the news that people were shot at customer service (to my right) and the children’s section (in front of me, off to the left). This means it was only luck this guy did not target me, as I was closer to him than some of the people he shot. I have a second chance at life.

[snip]

I were allowed to carry a gun, I would have and I would have used it. That is a hard fact. I am not trying to be a hero and say that I would have tried to save lives. I am saying that I was trying to save my life, and if my family was there, their lives as well. There is nothing "hero" about what I am saying, it's about survival.

Doesn't that about say it?