Jill Zimmerman: A potential Fair nightmare
Regarding the April 13 letter “State Fair shootout”: I agree completely.
Allowing residents of our state to walk among crowds at the State Fair with a concealed firearm is unnecessary and highly dangerous. If we do not allow people to enter with such weapons then even people who like to carry such weapons can feel safe; no one will have a concealed weapon. Allowing this to happen is pandering to a dangerous lobby of the citizenry.
I can tell state officials that I will not attend the next State Fair because of this foolish choice. If we who believe as I do do not enter and save the price of admission and other costs, we will then learn which is more powerful: guns or the money not spent.
Remember that at a recent gun show at the State Fairgrounds, a police officer in line to enter carrying his loaded rifle accidentally discharged it, harming one or more innocent bystanders. If that can happen to a trained police officer, it can happen to anyone.
Making a firearm commonplace in your life is only playing with fire. Just ask all the people shot with a weapon that “wasn’t loaded.” Mistakes with handguns turn a pleasant situation into a nightmare.
Jill Zimmerman
Durham
This story was originally published April 22, 2015 at 5:21 PM with the headline "Jill Zimmerman: A potential Fair nightmare."