First off, I don't wear Ray Bans.
However, I think your response demonstrates my point. (BTW, I wasn't angry when I wrote the last post--just playing my favorite game of "turn-about.")
One of the things I've learned on boards like this is that the guys all feel they're the heroes and the good guys. However, taking a map of the USA, you'll find half of the states are blue. To 50% of the population firearms hobbyists are paranoid whack-jobs.
The concept of assessing is not a shift from yellow to orange. It's a commitment to a lifestyle. I sit in a restaurant in the position of the best visual advantage. I look at the crowd. Then I order a sandwich.
I'm not playing a uber game of Wolfenstein, I'm being aware. And ordering that sandwich.
The problem with some of the key points in this thread is that assessment has become a murky mix to approval. The guys in baggy pants might be musicians on their way to a gig. And as I have stated, those "bikers" might even be ministers on the way to a Bible class.
From there it's a banana-peel slip to
who should be watched and why.
But there's a mirror to that idea that many firearms hobbyists do not wish to see.
That being, to others, they are the ones to be watched. In fact, I've read quite a few threads in gun forums on "mall ninjas."
At the end of the day, it is not the job of a self-appointed hobbyist to judge my clothing, my mannerisms, my movements or even my political affiliation lapel pin.
In fact, we have discussed the word "hinkie." If I saw some mall ninja wandering around in poor fitting clothing using surveillance techniques to watch the crowd, I'd call the real police.