Man has his gun robbed... ...at gunpoint

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I don't think that was Heinlein's point.

He generally meant that the bad guys and thugs would fear for themselves more if everyone was armed to some extent.

Kinda like invading a country with no weapons at all (and you have them), or invading a country that has weapons which you also have. The latter may ward off violence itself.

The victim was robbed OF HIS GUN.

The gun was STOLEN.

The gun was not "robbed".


The gun didnt loose its property.

That's what he means.

He's being a word usage martinet.

1. Having lived in the US all my life I must have missed all the encouragement of arrogance, stupidity, and ignorance.
2. Handguns are most commonly carried concealed in public even in states where open carry is lawful. Since I'm not paranoid or have criminal intent, concealed or openly carried handguns have never made me feel intimidated.
3. Really it's easy; if you're so afraid of us dangerous armed Americans just stay on your side of the Atlantic since no firearm ever made can send a bullet across the ocean.

In this one small town I lived near the local constable had his gun stolen by some local toughs,then they tied him to a tree and went joy riding in his car.Talk about embarrassing.That was one of the weirdest small towns I've ever seen.Every Sunday the mayor would set the dump on fire.Then the smoke could waft thru the town like insence.Wonder why the kids had such low test scores at school.

"An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life."
-Robert A. Heinlein

It may be that the gun he was showing to his cousin wasn't loaded and he wisely assumed that the gun in the robber's waistband was loaded.

I am trying to visualize how this would happen and the gun not being loaded seems most likely. The headline of "open carry" has the implication of it being loaded but that's just somebody's choice for how to word the story, not proof that it was.

I am wondering why a man not actually holding a gun in his hand would feel confident approaching a man who is. It isn't reported in the story but is plausible that the robber overheard something that made him confident he was approaching somebody with an unloaded gun. Maybe the guy said. "don't worry, it's not loaded" to his cousin before showing the gun. That's just my guess but it does make the story more sensible.

Whilst I also disagree with Thomas who seems to be relying on caricature, I am reminded of this:

... therefore, let's seize everyone's guns and only permit the government to have them.

Typical communist diatribes.

That's the traditional gun grabber line from way back. That proved unworkable so they've taken the divide and conquer tactic of only wanting to regulate (i.e. ban) the more dangerous "assault weapons". When that fails to produce the desired results, like it of course will, then further restrictions will follow...........

"like America where arrogance, stupidity and ignorance is encouraged" How rude.

And Wow! After hearing about all those abused by the Church (black?) in Ireland for so many years I was sure you were going to say Ireland (where Christians kill each other with bombs and guns) instead of America. Isn't this also where the merchants helped to starve the Irish during the potato shortage? And isn't America where they escaped to? What nice traits the folks in GB have developed.

I suggest you might look less the fool if you keep your comments to what you know and the inequities around YOU, instead of pointing the finger.

Exactly.



Ouch... "lose". A gun loosing its property would probably eject its clip, though it could also be considered a reference to being fired ("loose a couple of shots").



I'd go with "grammar pedant" myself, but I like your phrase. With a splash of vodka, I could be a word usage martini instead.

Was gonna say "a grammar nazi"- but it was a vocabulary issue, and not a grammar issue. And "nazi" is a bit strong- and the word is thrown around a little too loosely these days anyway. So I went with that phrase.

And I can see that you're also a spelling um..um... a spelling Fascist as well!

Lol!

In this country, the word 'cowboy' is synonymous with cavalier, reckless behaviour.

Wars are rarely fought for 'clever' reasons. Christians in Hibernia don't 'kill each other' primarilly because they are christian but because of their background and due to which are percieved to have different loyalties owing to the Northern Ireland sovereignty question. The fact that one side is a different christian denomination from the other is more of a historical fait accomplis than the sole reason for the antagonism. Its a very complicated, centuries old scenario that can not be crystallised solely either to religion or nationality but a unique and bizarre mixture of both. In any case, I don't and never expect foreigners to understand it. Heck, most people living in the British isles don't understand it.

Anyway, i digress. Of course America as either a society or nation was never always this brazen and arrogant, but never in its short history has it been in charge of so much political and economic power. To borrow a simile it is like a young child that has found its father's gun. Granted. a very fat and bulky child, stinking to high heaven of cheese snacks with burger relish running down his lips, but a young child nonetheless.

About the potato famine refugees that is a fair point, but a sizable proportion of those people also went to England and Australia as well. Anyway i was more talking about America in the context of how it is now, particularly in the post-british empire world and as it is percieved to be the world's 'top dog'. That is the arrogant America of which i speak.

It has that meaning just about everywhere, not just in Ireland or wherever this country is.
Do you have a point to make?

All possible scenarios, but all inconsistent with the way the story was portrayed in the headline and the OP post, which was really my point.