Last Sunday, my wife and I, along with a couple of friends, visited the Festival of Arts, something we’ve done for over 30 years. This time, however, as I entered the grounds, an employee asked to look in a bag I carry my duty weapon in. I told him I was an off-duty LA County Sheriff’s lieutenant, was armed and showed him my ID. After he checked with his supervisor, I was told I couldn’t enter with my weapon. Though they checked people’s bags, no metal detectors were used, and no one was being patted down, meaning someone could easily have entered with a concealed weapon. While inside the Art Festival, I didn’t see any armed security who might be able to thwart an assailant with a gun. To borrow an analogy, Festival operators were potentially allowing wolves in amongst the sheep while keeping the sheepdogs out.
In light of recent mass shootings in Gilroy, Dayton and El Paso, not to mention the hundreds of mass shootings in recent years at every type of venue, I find it ill-informed and irresponsible to exclude armed peace officers from any gathering, public or private. These are the people who could potentially stop an attack in what is now the new normal.
Ed Hummel, Rancho Palos Verdes
