David Bottomley's Blog

I am a passionate defender of freedom, both in and out of the workplace.  I am a big believer that hiring talented, trustworthy, high performance employees and treating them with respect is a recipe for a successful company.  In an environment such as that, you invariably will have far greater overall productivity and mutual respect between employer and employee than you do in locked-down environments where employees are treated like prisoners. I also do not believe in wielding information technology as a weapon- dictating which web sites employees may or may not visit, or who they may or may not email or call or message.  If you hire intelligent employees, who respect the company that they work for- they will work just that much harder because they realize that their employer treats them like an adult.  Those employees who abuse freedom should not be employees in the first place.  In today’s world, there is no clear delineation between work and home....

I live in Indiana, a state which has allowed those with a state issued 'License to Carry Handgun' to do so since 1980. The law makes absolutely no distinction on carrying openly or concealed. Since I got my permit at the age of 18, I have carried a firearm through the years, both openly and concealed. The obvious reason someone would want to carry a firearm is to provide for the protection of themselves, their family, and fellow citizens who they may be in a position to come to the aid of. Not, frankly, unlike law enforcement. Also, citizens who choose to shoulder the responsibility of carrying a firearm are, simply by doing so, reducing crime. Those who carry concealed are contributing to the deterrence that affects a would be criminal's decision to commit a crime- especially violent crimes like robbery, rape, and homicide. Someone contemplating committing a crime will obviously think twice if he is concerned that people around him might have firearms, and thus be ab...