In an era in which most public authorities are trying to promote an active lifestyle by encouraging people to use the stairs, the sign shown here (from Toronto’s Union Station) is, at first glance, rather jarring.
Of course, context matters — the sign makes a lot more sense once you realize that it’s posted at the bottom of an escalator, one that leads down from the train platform to the arrivals waiting area.
I spotted this sign on a recent visit to Creighton University, in Omaha. Jarring, for a Canadian, since in Canada it goes without saying that you’re not allowed to carry a handgun onto a university campus, or just about anywhere else for that matter.
The sign is also an interesting indicator of a conflict between regulatory authorities (in fact, the last line of the sign says so specifically). The state of Nebraska does issue concealed-carry permits. But Creighton is effectively saying that on their property, guns aren’t welcome, regardless of what the state says.
Also shocking to a Canadian: the no-gun rule is, you know, just another rule — nestled in amongst signs forbidding smoking and telling you where to park.
Normative Signs: The Poetry of "Ought" 