"The responsible gun owners that I know (and I bet most in the country are the same way), will not act any different if we have Constitutional Carry or not."
This morning when I went online to read the dreaded hometown newspaper, my eyes came across the featured op/ed article. It was penned by the paper's editorial board. Topic? The bread and butter "hate" topic of not only the Minneapolis paper, but also many other rags across our fruited plains as well. Guns. In particular, gun grabbing.
This morning's editorial dealt with the upcoming Senate vote on the Conceal Carry Reciprocity bill. Why it is important to defeat it. For those who don't know or don't remember, this is the same bill which recently passed the House. For those who have a gun permit and travel quite a bit (like OTR truckers), this bill fixes a huge problem. Why? If you ever go online and check out the conceal carry website, as to which state's permits are recognized in which other state(s), it is like solving a Rubik's Cube. It puts our truckers at risk of being outside the law for no reason other than a technicality.
Why in the world would our paper be against such a common sense law? Well, we are afraid that some other "mouth breather" state from the south would hand out gun permits like candy. And then we could have some "hillbilly" type coming up north to Minnesota and shooting up the joint. News flash to the Strib's gun grabbing editorial board. After just renewing my Minnesota license and then getting a Florida license, I had to jump through twice as many hoops to get the Florida license. True fact.
Then I thought deeper about this op/ed article. Tried to take any and all emotion out of my response. It then hit me like a bolt out of the blue. I agree with them. Absolutely and whole heatedly. We really don't need this silly Conceal Carry Reciprocity bill. It should be replaced with another bill. Like the Constitutional Carry bill.
Because our Second Amendment states in no uncertain terms, that our right to bear arms "shall not be infringed". Bingo. The Constitutional Carry bill would do away with any gun licensing requirement in any state. If you want a gun, go buy one. Just know that if you misuse that gun, or if you are a felon, or have some other legal or medical reason why you should not own a gun, it is on you to self regulate. Plus, I am all for making the sentences for the illegal ownership or misuse of guns much stiffer.
Here is the irony. The responsible gun owners that I know (and I bet most in the country are the same way), will not act any different if we have Constitutional Carry or not. They will store their guns properly, never mix guns with booze, and practice "duty to retreat" when carrying and confronted with danger outside of the home. And they will stay trained in the proper use of their guns.
One final word. As we know from reading or listening to the news, this seems to be an open season on our law enforcement officers. Almost twice as many cops have been killed in the line of duty as this time last year. And it is not just one state - it is many states. If an illegal gun owner is going to kill a well trained peace officer who is armed, what are your chances in your own home with no protection? Most states have the Castle Doctrine in their law for a reason.
A postscript. Every chance I get, I thank a cop for keeping us safe. And I mean it. Most cops are decent and law abiding. Our sheriff's department back home has very high standards. Our sheriff would expect no less. The deputies truly want to protect and serve the community we all live in. And each day, every day, they operate at the tip of the spear. That is something I never forget.
Every state, as well as Washington, D.C., allows concealed carry in some form, and nearly every state has some restrictions on where its residents can carry the weapons.
ReplyDeleteThe strongest concealed carry laws, in the country require applicants to demonstrate good cause or a justifiable need for a permit.
Thirty-eight states generally require a state-issued permit to carry concealed weapons in public.
The remaining 12 (Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming) don’t require a permit.
Opponents argue that national reciprocity would enable the least restrictive requirements to apply to the entire country, thus undercutting the most stringent laws in some states.
Only if all states agreed to the most stringent requirements would this national reciprocity work.
But then, one would have to have a good cause or justifiable need and that goes beyond the 2nd Amendment, I think.
Regarding whether the Police prevent crime......
In 1972, with funding and technical assistance from the Police Foundation, the Kansas City Police launched a comprehensive, scientifically rigorous experiment to test the effects of police patrol on crime."
What they found, in a nutshell, was that police presence had essentially zero impact on crime.
Time and time again, across study after study, the answer is the same: decentralized, distributed, real-time response to crime is the only truly effective solution.
In other words: stopping crime depends upon YOU stepping in and doing it yourself.
Call the police, yes: call them to come investigate, verify, and document that you did not criminally assault, batter, or kill the criminal you've already defended yourself from!
So carry your gun if it makes you feel safer. I sold all of mine. I didn't feel safer carrying, know they are useless in the closet or gun safe and was uncomfortable and concerned I would overreact to a situation.
And more weapons on the market thanks to congress...
ReplyDeleteThe 2016 NDAA allowed the release of 10,000 M1911 .45 caliber pistols to be released via a pilot program, but provisions in the bill didn’t mandate the transfer of the guns to the Civilian Marksmanship Program. The new bill, passed by Congress and expected to pass the Senate, would allow the CMP to sell the pistols to civilians.
And if you can't score one of these, build one!
FOR THE PAST five years, Cody Wilson has applied every possible advance in digital manufacturing technology to the mission of undermining government attempts at gun control.
First he created the world's first 3-D printed gun, a deadly plastic weapon anyone could print at home with a download and a few clicks.
Then he started selling a computer-controlled milling machine designed to let anyone automatically carve out the body of an untraceable AR-15 from a semi-finished chunk of aluminum, upgrading his provocations from plastic to metal.
Now his latest advance in home firearm fabrication allows anyone to make an object designed to defy the most basic essence of gun control: A concealable, untraceable, and entirely unregulated metal handgun.
Wilson's mission has never been to merely exploit loopholes in America's existing gun control regime.
As a radical libertarian, he's sought to demonstrate that technology is rendering all government obsolete.
"This is a way to jab at the bleeding hearts of these total statists,"
God, how we love our guns.