CHILLING EFFECT OF GANG FEAR: PLUMBER PACKS HEAT.Byline: Joseph Honig Local View IF you have just the slightest notion how L.A.'s homicidal hom·i·cid·al adj. 1. Of or relating to homicide. 2. Capable of or conducive to homicide: a homicidal rage. gang wars may affect peace-loving noncombatants, consider this: My plumber now carries a gun. He's no sharpshooter. No Wyatt Earp The references in this article would be clearer with a different and/or consistent style of citation, footnoting or external linking. Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp . He lives and works far from inner-city battlefields. He's never fought over a parking space and isn't known to explode when the world doesn't turn his way. Nonetheless, he is packing. He's heeled. Strapped. This middle-age, bespectacled soul keeps some sort of automatic pistol - I didn't ask make and model - in his toolbox or glove compartment glove compartment n. A small storage container in the dashboard of an automobile. Also called glove box. glove compartment Noun a small storage area in the dashboard of a car Noun . Always. Now, the plumber is not a stupid man. He knows the odds of some thug carjacking The criminal taking of a motor vehicle from its driver by force, violence, or intimidation. The u.s. justice department categorizes the crime of carjacking as a "completed or attempted Robbery of a motor vehicle by a stranger his aging truck are about impossible to none. He reads. He has some college. He was smart enough to get into a recession-proof business. But these days he gives off a decidedly wacky vibe. As if dangerous possibilities follow him around the city. As if stray bullets might rocket from the headlines through the walls of his home. As if he has decided, once and for all, that push has come to shove in our golden town and it may soon be open season on tradesmen. And there is no talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to him. For I know my plumber all too well. I know his cholesterol problem. I know his golf handicap A golf handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability. It can be used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms. . This is a result of having bought a home with antique pipes. Recently, he came clean about the weapon. "I just sense I need it," the plumber said. "I don't want to have to plead with some gangbanger gang·bang·er n. 1. Slang A member of a violent street gang. 2. Vulgar Slang One who takes part in a gangbang. to let me live." Never mind that he's breaking gun laws every day. Never mind that his customers are mostly solvent and sane. If he's working for felons, they are probably white-collar crooks. The plumber says he doesn't feel safe without that pistol. Worse, the longer he carries it, the more horrifying urban scenarios he imagines. He fears drive-bys while lounging at Starbucks. He believes crack-starved triggermen could mistake his truck for an undercover police unit. He worries about a major earthquake, dreaming that hordes of have-nots may storm his gated community gat·ed community n. A subdivision or neighborhood, often surrounded by a barrier, to which entry is restricted to residents and their guests. . Luckily, the plumber is unconcerned about curious children getting close to his gun. He divorced years ago and lives alone. Getting caught with the firearm fazes him even less. "Look, he told me, "this is California. I have no record. You ever hear of a rap star spending more than a few hours in jail for a gun in his Range Rover? Maybe in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . But not here." This from a man whose brother is a cop in some sleepy Southwestern town where they arrest speeders for fun. This from a troubled, anxious, ordinary working stiff who watches television and believes the terrible body count on ghetto sidewalks could easily spread to Encino or Brentwood. Pure nonsense to anyone who knows anything about gang murder. Still, there is something terribly disturbing about the plumber's decision: A mild-mannered guy who's never been the victim of violent crime wants to be Rambo with a wrench. In his warm, splendid city he sees terror. Meanwhile, life goes on, commerce persists and an otherwise quiet, unassuming 45-year-old man doesn't realize he's armed and dangerous. Even though he is. |
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