Dodge City is one hundred fifty-four miles from Wichita. I mention this because they are geographically near one another, but historically they are much further apart.
Back in the "Wild West," an era of which we seem to be doomed to repeat the syndicated version. Those quick-draw, rootin' tootin' pistol packin' days of yore are in which so many tiny brained infants seem to believe we would all be better living.
Except these waifs tend to forget that even back in the days of Tombstone and Dodge City, there were laws. Laws that restricted the carrying of firearms. It was customary in most of these frontier enclaves for visitors to stop on their way into town and hand over their shootin' irons to the local sherrif's office, hotel or other designated dropoff point. The trouble that roiled up at the OK Corral all those years ago came about when cowboys who met these restrictions with vague indifference were forced to hand over their guns. To the law. The marshal didn't take kindly to strangers coming into their town and shooting up the residents after they got a snootful.
Fast forward to modern day Wichita, just a short piece down the trail, a hndred forty years ago from Dodge City. Early this past Sunday morning, seven people were shot in a saloon (club) and two more were trampled as patrons fled the scene. Why are people still going to saloons, night clubs, speak easies, taverns or pubs with guns? Looking to stir up a little trouble like back in the olden days? Chances are back in the olden days, those guns would have been locked up at the sherrif's office or under lock and key at the hotel until folks had their good times. Maybe a fistfight or two. Maybe somebody would end up spending the night in jail.
But nobody would end up at Boot Hill.
Too many dumb people with guns, thinking they're livng in the past.
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