Once again you are bringing up the armed cop being there to deal with an unidentified maniac. Again, that is advocating putting an armed cop in every store, on every street corner in every town in America 24 hours a day just in case a maniac appears. Whose going to pay for that? Isn't THAT an absurd and hysterical thing to advocate? Oh my, there are MANIACS out there! Saturate every inch of America with cops!

Sorry. That a.) has NOTHING to do with the situation being discussed (which has to do with pilfering in bookstores) and b.) is one of the most unreasonable and paranoid suggestions I have heard in a long, long while. So stop bringing up your phobia that maniacs are lurking in every store in America and let's talk about the real situation. If this is what you are resorting to you clearly have left the realm of the real world.

Now, knives. Your comment about the knives did NOT discuss keeping them out of the area where kids are playing. In fact you asked me if I didn't use knives where kids play and my response was that I did not and would consider it irresponsible to do so. Have you ever heard of keeping things out of reach of children particularly in the chaos of dozens of kids running and playing? That is the responsible thing to do my friend and yet you are not recognizing that responsible action.

Now, let's get back to the fundamental question you keep avoiding. How does having a gun there deter shoplifting by children? You think 4 year olds don't grab things? Clearly you have never been around kids much! "Mine" is one of their favorite words and I have seen parents realizing halfway to the door that their kid is carrying a train that belongs to the store. Now...why is it appropriate to address this situation with a gun? THAT is the fundamental point you keep dodging in some kind of terror that recognizing reasonable and unreasonable applications of guns is somehow threatening the 2nd Amendment (an issue that has no bearing on this discussion what so ever).

So, let's get this straight: we are NOT talking about maniacs unless you really are suggesting having a cop covering every square inch of America with vigilance 24 hours a day. We are NOT talking 2nd Amendment here or your fetish with guns. Those two things are irrelavent to the discussion no matter how strongly you are terrified of random maniacs and how fondly you fondle you gun. Nor is it relavent that the gun is "an inanimate object" because all objects have a designed purpose and that object's purpose cannot be divorced from the object itself. A gun is NOT a glorified paperweight because paperweights have far less potential to cause bodily harm. Nor are we talking about whether or not hardcover books can hurt people. A silly point to make in the first place which again divorces the object from its designed purpose.

The issue is how a store should respond to children misbehaving and pilfering in their play area. Does the presence of a deadly weapon of ANY sort in a play area constitute a reasonable response to a child's misbehaving and stealing? Is there ANY application of that gun to stop children from pilfering? Is that gun the proper tool to use to deter children? Not maniacs, if you can put aside your phobia for a moment. Children pilfering. Not teens! Preteens at the oldest in that area. There are children from birth to about 12 years old, with their care takers, playing, reading and bonding with their parents/caregivers/eachother. In this context of children and preteens having fun but there being a pilfering problem, what is the purpose of introducing a gun into the situation? So far you have cited no reason to do so other than maniac hysteria and fear of hardcover books.