A person who most likely should not own a gun

I missed a call on my cell phone the other day. Judging from the area code that it was someone at the, uh, corporate office, I hit the "call back" button a while later and found myself talking to an ex-co-worker who had moved away several months ago.

So this guy is in his car with his wife, and makes small talk until she gets out to go inside a store or something. And then he tells me why he called. He wants to consult my expertise as a lawyer and a gun owner. (This guy has never owned a gun, or even fired one, and I think the only time he's ever held one was this one time he was drunk at my house and I showed him my AK-47). But he is concerned with the "political environment" of the country, and believes he should buy a gun -- before it's too late!

Which is pretty rich, of course. And just as a practical matter, despite Dems pretty much locking up the levers of federal power for themselves, there is no mandate or even widespread support for tightening gun laws. I don't believe it will happen.

But this guy is what you'd call "super-low-info" politically, and I didn't feel like arguing with him, so I gave him some gun advice and let it stand at that. But then he tells me that he needs to finish up the conversation quickly before his wife gets back, because she doesn't "allow" him to own a gun, or even to talk about owning a gun, and if he gets one he'll have to do it in secret and keep it at his friend's house. I was still laughing at least 10 minutes after the call ended.