Woman Posts Yard Sign to ‘Out’ Neighbor as Concealed Carry Licensee

Hoplophobe Kimberly Edson of Savage, Minn., note to criminals she is unarmed.
Hoplophobe Kimberly Edson of Savage, Minn., note to criminals she is unarmed.
NRA-ILA
NRA – ILA

Charlotte, NC –-(Ammoland.com)- Few of the anti-gun movement’s positions are as self-defeating and mean-spirited as the impulse to “out” others for the choices they make about their Second Amendment rights.

Most of them try to justify prying into this private activity under the mismatched rubric of the “public’s right to know,” as if private individuals become public figures merely for the exercise of a fundamental right. In recent years, newspapers have published databases of Right-to-Carry and pistol permit holders, feigning interest in “public safety.”

Yet their true motivations were more candidly illustrated recently by the comments of D.C. Councilmembers at a public hearing on D.C.’s new concealed carrying permitting law. “Who cares about the confidentiality of a gun owner? We don’t want it … ,” Councilwoman Yvette Alexander said, arguing to make permit holder information public. Fellow Council member David Grosso — who also expressed his preference for “no guns at all” in the District — concurred:  “[A]t least we’ll all know who it is, and we can treat them differently ….” 

In fact, such tactics are so counterproductive to public safety that even law enforcement officials from anti-gun  jurisdictions have opposed the release of gun owner data, including most recently District of Columbia Police Chief Cathy Lanier. Making the anti-gunner’s hypocrisy even more transparent, they claim on the one hand to support stringent storage requirements and “lost or stolen” reporting mandates in order to diminish the effects of firearm theft. Yet at the same time, they call for making firearm ownership or licensing information public, in effect providing criminals with a roadmap of which homes do (and presumably don’t) contain guns, so they can plan their predations accordingly.

Now, according to ABC affiliate KAAL-TV, Kimberly Edson of Savage, Minn., has taken the impulse to “expose” gun owners in her community to a disturbingly personal level. When Edson discovered that Matthew Halleck, a former Parent Teacher Student Association president and father of two, drops his children off at school while lawfully carrying a concealed firearm, she sprang into action.

Edson initially called the police to report that Halleck was carrying a firearm near the school, but was enlightened by law enforcement officials that Halleck was well within his rights. The officious Edson then responded by surreptitiously taking a photo of Halleck walking with his child, blowing it up to poster-size, and crudely pasting it on a yard sign displayed in her front lawn. The photo is accompanied by a caption that states: “This man carries a loaded gun around your children every day.”

When interviewed by KAAL, Edson justified her actions by stating, “Since we don’t have a way to stop him, we felt it was important to notify the neighborhood and the parents that there is an armed man in their presence.” Displaying a narcissistic disregard for the rights and choices of others in a pluralist society, Edson added, “I have a responsibility to help create the kind of community I want to see.”

Edson’s professed concerns are particularly absurd when one considers how unremarkable Halleck’s actions are. According to census data, along with right-to-carry permit statistics from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, on average, nearly one out of every 20 Minnesotans over the age of 21 is licensed to carry a concealed firearm.

Woman Posts Yard Sign to 'Out' Neighbor as Concealed Carry Licensee
Woman ignorant of the law, Posts Yard Sign to ‘Out’ Neighbor as Concealed Carry Licensee

Further, the elementary school in question is located in a densely populated residential neighborhood. Polling data suggests, meanwhile, that nearly half of American homes contain firearms, so several of the homes in the neighborhood surrounding the school likely contain firearms as well. Additional data showing “Personal safety/Protection” as the number one reason for Americans to own guns suggests that some of those firearms might even be loaded and ready for immediate use.

Edson could, of course, be strikingly ignorant (or willfully in denial) of the prevalence and purpose of lawful gun ownership in America. On the other hand, her actions could also simply lay bare a virulent bigotry towards gun owners devoid of any rational basis or legitimate concern for the safety of children.

As for Halleck, he hasn’t let Edson’s bizarre and un-neighborly behavior alter how he protects himself and his children. When interviewed by KAAL, Halleck called Edson’s sign “ludicrous.” Regarding the public debate over the choice to carry a firearm, he stated, “If it heightens the awareness for folks out there that are confident enough, and see the changes in the world to add an extra layer of protection, I encourage people to do it.”

About:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org

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TRUTH BE TOLD

Who cares about the confidentiality of a gun owner? We don’t want it … ,” Councilwoman Yvette Alexander said, arguing to make permit holder information public. Fellow Council member David Grosso — who also expressed his preference for “no guns at all” in the District — concurred:  “[A]t least we’ll all know who it is, and treat them like crap…..

HOW LONG WILL IT BE TILL I READ ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE THIS BEING SHOT….. OH PLEASE OH PLEASE
you put my life on the line Im gonna put yours there too….

TRUTH BE TOLD

Liberals just cant stand not making your business their business….

Hope shes in the new and it has criminals and gun play…. and her

TRUTH BE TOLD

Sign says w arrow: she lives alone and has no way to protect herself and a neighbor who wont help

Maybe some criminal will rob her now that he knows she hates guns…. serve her right

SCUM BAG

tenringrob

During firearm season, butcher your deer in the open in your back yard. Drove my nosy, bitchy neighbor crazy. Take your long gun on a daily walk to your car daily ( cased and unloaded of course). Tomorrow is election day, get out and vote. If you don’t vote, you deserve what you get and you have no right to complain.

roger

What a sorry IGNORANT piece of S##T she is !

justtryit

Obviously, this epitimizes the cliche’ “It’s only a life support system for a P****”!

george

Is this woman for real? Does she not watch T.V.? or does she have her head firmly up her but? However She does have the right to express her own opinion … On the other hand (a matter of when not if) she or her family are attacked or their home is invaded, I know she’ll yell and cry poor little me just as loud as she is making a fuss about a law abiding person carrying a fire arm for protection if not a lot louder! (WAKE UP YOU IDIOT!)

dave

Best thing to do is to ignore the lard ass cow. People like her can’t stand to be ignored. That’s the best revenge.

Jack

Just get a picture of her, blow it up and post it in your yard: This lady is a C%$#.

Tamara

Well, being the sarcastic person I am, I would have to plant a sign in my yard saying how ‘my neighbor is against guns, so when deciding whose home to rob, consider also, I will not offend her by coming to her aid with my gun, have a nice day!’. Been said better..just a thought.

Lava

Does she go to that school (as a parent or a student)? Can we prove she carries a knife or scissors? I would put up a sign saying “This woman carries a sharp pair of scissors around your children.” Point out to her every carpenter (he carries a hammer around your children), gardener (he carries a shovel around your children!) and other tradesman until she gets sick of it.

james

Was thinking about calling myself a private courier, they deliver packages of all sorts of valuable items.
Make it a proprietorship and carry that way, part of my job.

Idadho

Somebody needs to sprinkle a few empty shells near her property from time to time. Give her little more excitement in her life.

Rich

Post a sign in his yard that states his neighbor is unarmed and helpless and that he would never defend her against aggression.

ccwtrainer

Edison does not live in Savage, MN but in Rochester. Perhaps you meant she is a savage living in Rochester? In Minnesota, we do not have a “concealed carry” law. We have a “carry law”. How one carries is totally up to their good judgment and common sense. Also, permit holder data is private under state law. Edison has no First Amendment right to violate the law. Even the First Amendment has some restrictions. I have openly carried my .357 where ever I go for 11 years, 3 months and 29 days (approximately) and have never met such a foolish… Read more »

Jim

Halleck should put a large sign in her yard saying rob my neighbor first–she does not have a gun!

Bama Bill

She is too dumb to survive! When TSHTF, she will be one of the first to have rioters at her door. Now ever burglar knows her house is a “Gun Free Zone”. I would not defend her, as she might sue me afterwards. The “Wolves” have to survive, and the “Sheeple” will be their first targets. Same as in the wild.

NormB

OR, you could do something like this: https://flic.kr/p/oUNhku

durabo

I’ll LMFAO when SHE is the target of a home invasion!

Jesse Scott

Some fools need a cause, any cause, to make their otherwise pointless lives mean something (but only to themselves).

TSgt B

Is Minnesota an “open carry” state? If so, if I were he I’d make it a point to carry every firearm I could carry on my daily, hour-long walk up and down the sidewalk in front of her house.

Hoosier

If I were Halleck, I’d spend a lot of my time out of my house walking across in front of her house carrying a sign that says her house would be a good one for those interested in criminal offenses.

johntheDeerking

may I suggest a sign in your yard with an arrow, and saying THAT HOUSE IS A GUN FREE ZONE.

TEX

You can just look at the fat faced bitch and tell she is the Gladys Kravitz of the neighborhood ! She probably peeks through the window blinds all day ! Every neighborhood has one !

Bp. David

Now doesn’t she look like a Little Debbie munchin’ welfare crack ho Obummer voter! If I was the neighbor, I’d post the sign in MY yard that reads: “My neighbor is against guns. She has none to protect her home against burglars or rapist (fat chance on the rape part), and to honor her feelings, I promise to NOT use my guns in her defense!”

Eric

She violated his right to privacy. She is also an idiot.