Paranoia and guns don't mix

Some of the paranoid-delusional folks of Utah persist in raising a fuss about guns in public whether on the city bus or on the college campus.

Roughly 10% of Utah adults have a Utah-issued permit to carry a concealed firearm. Because their guns are usually concealed, nobody knows what portion of that 10% actually carry on a regular basis. (It oughta be all of 'em! They are, after all, trained to be safe and certified by the FBI as good and decent people.)

Assuming all permit holders carry a concealed handgun all the time they are clothed, all of the hoplophobes in the State must surely be scared to death that a tenth of the adults they see on the bus or in the Walmart are armed. However, the hoplophobes rarely see any of the omnipresent guns and thus happily and ignorantly go about their otherwise paranoid day.

But, let just one of those responsible gun owners carry his/her gun on the outside (yes it's legal Utah and many other States) of his/her sweater instead of inside, the hoplophobes start getting those panic attacks and start reaching for Xanax, Clozaril and 911.

So, is the problem really the gun or is it the twisted perception of the gun by those prone to mental illness -- the people who, when seeing or thinking of guns typically imagine themselves committing evil?

The answer, it seems to me, is simple: Keep guns out of the hands of hoplophobes and other crazy people. Then, leave the rest of us alone!