[hackerspaces] Firearms in Hackerspaces?

[Matt Joyce]

I think it's important that people remember that first and foremost
all hackerspaces are communities.  Each hackerspace is different as
the community is different.  And the aggregate values of that space
are defined by the people that comprise the hackerspace.

There is nothing wrong with not holding the same values as other
hackerspaces and their members.  Nothing at all.  But, it is right to
accept that we are a varied global community and we will not always
agree.

Now some motherly advice.

Be respectful of the things you find in others that you disagree with.
 Engage them with an open mind if you feel you wish to engage them on
that topic at all.  And be courteous always, as it costs you
absolutely nothing to do so.  There is nothing wrong with disagreeing.
 In fact, you should challenge yourself every day by living with those
you disagree with.  You learn more about yourself and your own beliefs
by having an open dialogue with the people you do not understand than
those that you do.

hackerspaces are a meeting grounds for new ideas.  I hope that
regardless of our values individually or as communities we are always
open to the ideas we do not agree with and are willing to accept them
as the tremendous resource that they are, rather than a threat to
ourselves and the things we value.

-Matt



On Mon, Jan 14, 2013 at 4:13 PM, Al Billings <albill at openbuddha.com> wrote:
> Phil,
>
> My hackerspace is in Oakland, one of the roughest cities on the West Coast.
>
> That said, if I knew someone was carrying a gun into the space as a matter
> of course, I'd be raising the issue with the other members. First social
> intervention and then, later, maybe asking them to find themselves a better
> home. I don't need to be around geeks with guns. Thanks.
>
> Al
>
> --
> Al Billings
> http://www.openbuddha.com
> http://makehacklearn.org
>
> On Monday, January 14, 2013 at 12:54 PM, Phillip Rhodes wrote:
>
> I don't know about other spaces,but ours is in a city (Durham, NC)
> that has a bit of a reputation for crime
> and violence, including in the downtown area near our space. It's not
> uncommon to leave the space late at
> night and hear people rustling around in the dumpsters out back, or to
> be accosted by random people looking
> for handouts, etc. Now I have no *particular* reason to suspect that
> any of those people would ever turn violent
> but there have been a couple of times when I've left the space alone,
> in the wee hours of the morning, and found
> myself wishing I was carrying, just in case. (as an aside, I don't
> have my CCW permit and I almost never carry
> my pistol and I've never taken it to the hackerspace).
>
>
>
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