I really got a chuckle out of the editorial cartoon (“Gun free zone”) in the Aug. 23 issue. Even though it was amusing, it teaches a lesson, as it was meant to — and the lesson is a “no brainier” as the old saying goes.

In real life the store owner who places this sign in his window thinks he is doing someone a service – at least he hopes someone thinks he is. Actually he is, of course, the robber.

It reminded me of a news story I read several years ago where a similar looking robber came into a store and approached the cashier and yelled, “Give me all the money or I will blow your head off.” Three seconds later there was a loud boom and the robber dropped to the floor. Two separate patrons had simultaneously shot him — one a man in his 60s and the other in his 70s. I cannot remember if the location was Texas or Florida.

The bank in Chappell Hill, Texas has this sign on his door. It has a gun in a circle, but with no cross out. The sign below it reads, “Lawful concealed carry permitted on these premises. Management recognizes the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as an inalienable right of all citizens. We therefore support and encourage the carrying of licensed concealed weapons.”

He knows which side his bread is buttered on. He figures the potential bank robber does, too.

– Robert Neal