Saw a guy today sitting by the kids play area at the mall

[DFW]

40. These days, when I'm back in Texas (which is rare enough)

I have yet to see a civilian carrying a gun.

Of course, I rarely leave Dallas, and am usually either at the airport, the house, or the office. Three gun-free zones, although now, it's probably allowed outside of security at the airport.

We take our vacations in Massachusetts, and usually only visit relatives in northern Virginia, Washington, DC, New Jersey and California. Every now and then, we are in Charleston, South Carolina (never seen one there, either), Orlando, New York City and Chicago. I don't recall seeing any civilians carrying guns there, either.

I guess we've been lucky. Over here, of course, anywhere west of the Ukrainian border (if by land--the Middle East if by sea)), it's extremely difficult (Germany, eastern Europe) to nearly impossible (Netherlands, Scandinavia) to get a permit for a private handgun, and even hunting rifles are only obtainable under a telephone book of rules and regulations. If not followed, the authorities will be there within HOURS, and yes, they WILL take your gun(s) away, permanently.If you fail the psych evaluation, you get denied the permit for at least a decade. Loonies and guns do not mix here, although with the loosening of land borders, guns do tend to stream in from places with porous Russian borders (Baltics, Poland, Romania). That goes for as-good-as-Russian borders, too, such as Belarus and Moldova.

Curiously, near my office in Paris, where I was today, for decades, there has been a gun shop on a corner of the Rue Vivienne, across from the Stock Exchange. There were two French cops there today, talking with someone they obviously knew and were friendly with (another off-duty cop, maybe?). They sell all kinds of guns there, from what I can see through the window, but I never see anyone going in or out. Either the place supplies local cops, or it's owned by John Wick.