Bar shooting: "No guns" sign fails to save the day

by Jeff Thomas

Look what we have here.

One of those magical signs that stops anyone with a gun from entering.

The sign's great powers were set up to keep people from bringing guns into any place posting it - the anti-gunners' version of kryptonite.

Criminals check your gun into your glove box before entering. And by the way, for all the robbers out there: if your mask blocked your vision on the way in and you missed the sign, should the business owner point to it, the Bloomberg rules dictate you must put your gun away, apologize and quietly walk out trying not to disturb anyone.

Just another stellar idea by those who think like Anti-Gunner in Chief and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg .

Let's get serious now.

The fact of the matter is four people were shot on April 1, inside this bar in Lima, Ohio, that posted this sign. No one died and by local media accounts, all will survive.

Police arrested 19-year-old Michael G. Thompson charging him with illegal possession of a gun inside a liquor permit premise, a third-degree felony. Thompson was one of the injured and still has a bullet in his hip.

Police also are seeking another man, 22-year-old Dominique Durr. He faces the identical charge as Thompson, who is his cousin. He also has a criminal history that would bar him from obtaining a concealed carry license.

Police said a gun recovered following the shooting was stolen. A detective said Thompson can be seen in a video from the bar surveillance camera holding a gun. Thompson also is facing a felony concealed weapons charge from an arrest during a traffic stop several weeks before.

While police continue to sort out the shooting and look for a motive, what is clear from this shooting is the signs anti-gun lawmakers wanted and believe, like some business owners, prevent criminals from entering do not. The only people these signs prevent from entering with a gun are law-abiding citizens who follow the rules and go through an exhausting process to obtain a concealed carry license by taking a class and passing a background check.

These signs do nothing to stop the thugs from carrying guns or accomplishing their agenda to kill. These signs only make it easier by virtually eliminating the chance the criminal may face armed resistance.

It's up to business owners whether to post the signs. They must be aware these signs often serve as nothing more than big welcome signs to armed criminals, telling them there are no guns inside and they will not be risking their lives robbing such places.

While I support a business owner's right to run the business anyway he or she chooses and would never tell that person he or she cannot post these signs, I will tell them that if they do, my friends and I will choose somewhere else to visit.

Make no mistake, the true premise behind these signs derives from an anti-gun agenda that attempts to chip away at the right to carry a gun for self defense. Many business owners were sucked in with this scare tactic. And even worse, many have yet to see the light of day.

While the anti-gunners believe these signs make the world safer, I'll bet you some people at Oikos University in California, Chardon High School in Ohio and Virginia Tech wish the no-gun policies and signs were not in place the day their loved ones were prevented from defending their lives and died.

Jeff Thomas is a concealed carry instructor and NRA certified firearms instructor.