How often do you speed? Drive without your seatbelt on? Change lanes without using your turn signal? Follow the guy in front of you too closely because he's not going fast enough for you?
Those are all examples of breaking the law, not bending the rules - yet otherwise "law abiding" citizens break them all the time. (Granted they're not a felony but you get the point)
One thing comes to mind when I think about this topic: Suzanna Gratia Hupp/ Luby's Cafeteria in Killeen TX. She had left her handgun in her car to comply with Texas state law at the time which forbade carrying a concealed weapon and as a result her parents as well as 22 other innocent people died.
Granted we can carry a concealed weapon now, but with restrictions that mean we may as well just leave the gun at home. Im not going to leave a firearm in my vehicle for some scumbag to steal. 99.99% of the places posted 30.06 do not have facilities to secure my weapon when I enter their free victim zones, and my employer does not provide security to keep me safe from lunatics who threaten to blow up the facility I work at.(Don't laugh, its happened 3 times in the past year).
I make it a point to stay away from intrinsically unsafe areas such as Fair Park in Dallas - I'd rather walk thru downtown Fallujah, Iraq wearing a shirt that says something negative about the predominant religious figure there than walk thru that neighborhood.
However, I do find myself at times required to go places that I deem unsafe that restrict my ability to carry my pistol. Do I carry past 30.06 signs on occasion and ignore my employer's no-gun policy? YOU BETCHA! Does this make me a criminal? No it does not.
I know, your sitting there thinking "surely he jests, he breaks the law, that makes him a criminal!" That's the beauty of our legal system and that nifty document known as the United States Constitution - until Ive been found guilty in a court of law I am INNOCENT, and therefore not a criminal. I'll take my chances in the court room before I will with my life.
Just my 2 cents
Jason