Reality frequently and hastily overtakes our Simply Appalling imaginings. According to a recent Supreme Court decision, guns may be allowed in supermarkets but not in federal courtrooms, which are "sensitive." Only last week I wrote that

In my view, my local supermarket is far more sensitive than a federal courthouse, because I go there often and have the increasingly forelorn hope of not being caught in the crossfire between the armed clerk at the checkout counter and the armed robber or the armed irate customer.

Today Mark Mardell of the BBC reports,

Elm Grove, near Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Other customers stare as Nik Clark and Kim Garny do their weekly shop at a large upscale supermarket. It's hardy a surprise as a TV camera is trailing behind their trolley. But people would do a double-take even if the BBC weren't in tow. In some ways Nick wants them to look.

There's a revolver amid the ravioli, an automatic among the avocados.

Like cowboys out of Westerns, the couple carry handguns on holsters on their hips. She has a Smith and Wesson .38 special with a cute pink grip that makes it look almost like a toy. He has a rather more chunky Glock.

Wisconsin Open Carry. Groups like this have been springing up all over the States in the last year and they've been making an impact in the last week or so, getting Starbucks in California to agree people should be allowed into their coffee shops carrying guns. The groups are made up of people who want to make a point about the Second Amendment right in the Constitution to bear arms, by bearing them openly. Some want to make a point and test whether or not private firms like shops and restaurants recognise that right.

Can it be long before we see replacement bullets alongside the batteries and chewing gum at the checkout stand?

Related post
Reversing my opinion on restrictive gun laws (3/04/2010)

Tags: gun control, Second Amendment, gun laws, right to bear arms, Supreme Court decisions, American culture, corporations