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| Hey Bob, we're being evicted ! |
Yesterday, according to The Blaze, the Oakwood Apartments in Castle Rock, Colorado has informed their tenants that if they own firearms, they will either need to relinquish those firearms, or move from the complex. There are some people in the apartments who are on fixed incomes, and finding another apartment could be difficult. This is also a problem for those who are hinters and live in the apartments, not to mention those who carry concealed weapons permits. The article is being reported on a number of blogs. Most people who have sympathies with the preparedness community are concerned about such a trend.
I am of two minds about this. On the one hand, we have the onerous trend that the places in which guns and people with guns may be shrinking, and that without these weapons, some of our weakest citizens may have difficulty defending themselves in dangerous times or emergencies. On the other hand, I have been a landlord. I also see the view of the landlord whose idea may be that I own this property, don't I have the right to tell those who might be my tenants that I want to limit things like domestic shootings, barricaded people in bathrooms with the SWAT team outside putting my apartment's address in the news and making it tougher to rent to nice families in the future ? I can remember in the past that there was one tenant family we had for whom I would like to have restricted firearms while they were there. All the others used good judgment with everything, and I think could have handled it. This issue pits gun rights against property owners rights, and so it's an interesting issue to watch.
Another issue is that if you remove your weapon from the safe in your apartment and give it to a relative or a mini-storage for safe keeping, doesn't it actually make it tougher for you to police and keep safe your gun. The farther your weapon is from you, the tougher it becomes to prevent others from its use and misuse.
In general if you wish to keep your firearms, the best course may be to own your home. Of course, this does not mean that attempts will not be made to restrict firearm or ammunition ownership within your town or municipality. I'm interested in hearing all of your views on this issue. Thanks for all the great and supportive e-mails over the last few days or so.
Here are references for this blog post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3052079/posts?page=85
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/08/07/colorado-apartment-building-tells-tenants-they-have-to-get-rid-of-their-guns-or-leave/
