So, I finally used up my free ticket to Universal Studios yesterday. Rode a few coasters but had to be extra careful with my neck, which made them not quite as fun as they used to be (holding you head really, really still while riding makes one a bit dizzier than if you just bobbled around).
However, in order to walk into the joint, the 'security' has to use a stick to look through baggage. I was in cargo shorts which I could have easily packed in 6 magazines, a 1911, and a P3AT and no one would have even known. I could have tucked a brick of C4 in my shorts for that matter.
I didn't carry into the park. Mostly because I know I'm going to be on rollercoasters and getting wet and that's just not conducive to carrying. The other reason is because if the SHTF, in a crowded scenario like that a handgun just isn't going to be effective nor would I likely have a good, clean shot to begin with.
The problem isn't that weapons can be easily brought in and out of theme parks (they are all the time), the problem lies with people accepting the stick in the backpack as 'security'. People think that's all it takes to protect them and their own and that kind of mindset spills over into the rest of our lives. We continue to accept these intrusions into our privacy that are nothing more than an illusion. Again, remind me how using a dowel to poke through a diaper bag prevents Thomas the Thug from carrying a 9 into the park?
I say that these types of false securities harm us more than help by lulling the populace into a false sense of safety. Because people allow themselves to be fooled that they're "safe", they're less likely to look after themselves. Then, when all hell breaks loose, they look for someone else to blame then cry for more illusions from the government so that they don't have to face reality.