For as long as I can remember people have been putting up signs trying to convince “bad guys” that their house is a bad place to rob—”Beware of Dog” figures prominently in this history, with honorable mention to “Never Mind the Dog, Beware of Owner” and even “This House Protected by Smith & Wesson”. But despite efforts by both pro-gun and anti-gun activists over the years, there has been a real shortage of private residences bearing a “This is a Gun Free Home” sign, or any close equivalent.
The Rake magazine even published a PDF of a sign you could use. I did see it on the door of one friend—for the first party he held under the new law.
Some of the more cynical among us think this may be because, deep down inside, even the strongest anti-gun activists know it’s a bad idea to advertise to the criminals that you’re not prepared to defend yourself.
Recently, apparently as a side-effect of the debate over commercial posting in Minnesota (the sign is in the form legally required for that; it’s not required for residential posting), at least one household has taken the extraordinary step of prominently posting an anti-gun sign. (I’ve blocked out the house number on the door; while I doubt seeing it here would lead any criminal to attack them, I don’t want it to be even a possibility.) (Click on the photo to see a larger image showing the whole front of the house with the sign.)
Or maybe not? I suppose they could mean only to discourage others from bringing guns to their house; they could be armed to the teeth themselves for all I know. Naaaah, probably not.
While I think their position on handguns for self-defense is wrong, I’m still pleased to see that there’s at least one household that behaves as if it really believed the anti-gun rhetoric I hear preached so often.
That leaves only a few hundred thousand other anti-gun people not living up to their principles. Come on, guys, get with it!