After visiting the post office, I was returning to my car when a man with angry and aggressive body language accosted me and said “Stop touching my car” and “Don’t touch my car,” followed by hurriedly checking his door locks (all were locked) and the fuel inlet cover (securely closed) on the car parked next to mine. I continued toward my car and said, “I never touched your car. I never even looked at it.” I started my car, exited the parking space and left immediately. I was glad to be safely gone.
Later, I felt greatly relieved that he was unarmed.
That’s not the case at the neighborhood military recruitment center in Vancouver, where the “open-carry” crowd of grandstanding volunteer super patriots assemble weekdays displaying an American flag and loaded firearms on their belts. I asked one of them what it was all about. He said they were “protecting the recruitment center from terrorist attack.” I asked, “What does the defense department think about what you are doing?” He answered, “They don’t want us here. But the guys inside, they appreciate us.”
I regarded the situation as unnecessary vigilantism. I wondered what form of protection they intended. No terrorists were seen, but I recoiled (no pun intended) from the thought of the shootout that these self-appointed vigilantes may have been contemplating.
