Concealed or Visibly,Should Adults Have the Right to Carry a Handgun; in Canada?

Did you Know?

Carrying a concealed handgun in public is permitted in all 50 states of the United States of the Americas, as of 2013, when Illinois became the last state to enact concealed carry legislation. Some states require gun owners to obtain permits while others have "unrestricted carry" and do not require permits.42 states have "shall-issue" laws where police do not have discretion in issuing concealed weapon permits as long as individuals meet minimum requirements, such as a minimum age, no prior felony conviction, and no recent commitments to a mental institution (as of Mar. 14, 2014). Eight states have "may issue" laws where concealed weapon permits are approved based on the discretion of local police departments or governments.

The National Rifle Association gave presidential candidate Barack Obama an "F" rating based on his voting record on guns. The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence also gave President Obama an "F," in part because he signed the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 which included an amendment to allow the carrying of firearms in national parks.

Between May 2007 and Mar. 11, 2014, at least 14 law enforcement officers and 622 other people were killed nationally by private individuals legally allowed to carry concealed handguns.

Seven states allow carrying a concealed weapon on public college or university campuses, 21 states ban concealed weapons on campus, and 22 leave the decision up to the individual college or university.

Proponents of concealed carry say that criminals are less likely to attack someone they believe to be armed. They cite the 2nd Amendment's "right of the people to keep and bear arms," and argue that most adults who legally carry a concealed gun are law-abiding and do not misuse their firearms.

Opponents of concealed carry argue that increased gun ownership leads to more gun crime and unintended gun injuries. They contend that concealed handguns increase the chances of arguments becoming lethal, and that society would be safer with fewer guns on the street, not more.

The Facts:

·       Permitting concealed handguns increases crime. In the United States of the Americas, states that passed "shall-issue" laws between 1977 and 2010 had a 2% or more increase in the murder rate, and at least 9% increases in rates of rape, aggravated assault, robbery, auto theft, burglary, and larceny, according to an Aug. 2012 paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.  A 1995 peer-reviewed study of five urban cities, published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, concluded that gun homicide rates increased "on average by 4.5 per 100,000 persons" following the enactment of "shall-issue" laws. A May 2009 peer-reviewed study in Econ Journal Watch found that "shall-issue" laws were associated with increased numbers of aggravated assaults between 1977 and 2006.  Los Angeles Police Department Chief Charlie Beck said, "I have seen far too much gun violence in my lifetime to think that more guns is a solution... a gun is more likely to be used against you than you use a gun in self-defense.

o  Carrying a concealed handgun increases the chances of a confrontation escalating and turning lethal. A Nov. 2009 peer-reviewed study published in the American Journal of Public Health found that someone carrying a gun for self-defense was 4.5 times more likely to be shot during an assault than an assault victim without a gun. According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, "members of the public who carry guns risk escalating everyday disagreements into public shootouts, especially in places where disputes frequently occur—in bars, at sporting events, or in traffic. For example, on Jan 13, 2014, a retired police officer with a legally concealed handgun shot and killed another man during an argument over text messaging in a movie theatre.

o  Even in the United States of the Americas, Second Amendment rights have limits. The entire Second Amendment states: "a well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." It does not mention concealed handguns. US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the court's 5-4 majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller: "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited… the majority of the 19th-century courts to consider the question held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues." In May 2014 the United States of the Americas Supreme Court declined to hear Drake v. Jerejian, a case challenging New Jersey's issuance of concealed weapons permits only to citizens who can prove a "justifiable need."

o  Concealed carry application requirements and background checks do not prevent dangerous people from acquiring weapons. Between May 2007 and Mar. 11, 2014, 14 law enforcement officers and 622 other people were killed nationally (not in self-defense) by private individuals legally allowed to carry concealed handguns. Between 1996 and 2000, the Violence Policy Centre states that concealed handgun permit holders in Texas were arrested for weapon-related offenses at a rate 81% higher than the rest of the Texas population. In 2007 the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reviewed a list of concealed gun permit holders in Florida and found that 1,400 had pleaded guilty or no contest to a felony, 216 had outstanding warrants, and 128 had active domestic violence injunctions.

o  Criminals are more likely to carry a gun if they suspect that victims may also be armed. Felons report that they often carry firearms to deter victims from resisting. According to a survey of incarcerated felons by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, 75% reported carrying a gun while committing a crime because "there's always a chance my victim would be armed."

o  Public safety must be left to professionally qualified police officers, not private citizens with little or no expert training. Some states, such as Georgia and Maryland, do not require any training before receiving a concealed carry permit. In Alaska, Arizona, Wyoming, and Vermont, a permit is not necessary to carry a concealed gun. In states that do require training, it can be inadequate. For example, while Wisconsin requires that concealed weapons permit holders have training, there is no minimum training time requirement.  Mark Schauf, Police Chief of Baraboo, WI, said, "as police officers, we're required to have training before we get our weapons and a certain number of training hours throughout the year. If we have to be trained, it would only make sense that a person in public would want to be trained, as well."

o  Concealed weapons laws make the non-carrying public feel less safe. A Mar. 10, 2014 poll of Illinois citizens concluded that 52.3% of the public felt less safe following the July 2013 passage of a law allowing citizens to carry concealed handguns in public. A July 2013 peer-reviewed study of 1,649 students at 15 colleges published in the Journal of American College Health stated that 79% would not feel safe if faculty, students, and visitors carried concealed weapons on campus. An Apr. 2010 poll of registered voters across the United States found that 57% feel less safe after learning that concealed guns may lawfully be carried in public.

The Rise of the Radicals.

There are entirely reasonable and legitimate arguments made for allowing properly trained and vetted citizens to carry a concealed handgun in public.

However, that is the catch phrase. “Proper Training”=a police or military force; not a bunch of hot headed, vigilantes, yahoos.  But those arguments always stumble over an equally legitimate counterpoint: that putting more guns out onto the streets will result in people double-tapping each other over fender-benders, high-stakes sporting events or — just to pluck an example out of thin air — random encounters with talkative strangers in a park.

But then also; one would like to think that police officers; who have; presumably; been screened, and trained, “In Firearm Safety” would know that Talkative Strangers Need Not Be Confronted With A Gun. In this case, they’d be disappointed.

During the Early days of The United States of the Americas; especially in “THE WEST”Vigilance committees were voluntary associations of men (rarely including women) who worked together to combat genuine, exaggerated, or imagined dangers to their communities, families, property, power, or privileges.

These short-lived organizations usually had formal hierarchies, strictly defined chains of command, written bylaws, and paramilitary rituals. Their Leadership typically drawn from the elite of frontier society included local businesspersons, plantation owners, ranchers, merchants, and professionals. The Members recruited from the middle strata. The targets of their wrath generally singled out from the lower classes, and marginal groups.

Vigilantes blacklisted, harassed, banished, flogged, tarred and feathered, tortured, mutilated, and killed their victims in short-they were; and ARE terrorists

The term vigilante, of Spanish origin, means "watchman" or "guard." Its Latin root is vigil, for "awake" or "observant." Vigilantes have also been known as "slickers," "stranglers," "mobs,"

It Would Be Possible; to design a system of background checks, psychological screening and firearms training that would be (mostly) effective at keeping handguns out of the hands of the macho, the short-tempered or the unstable.

Proponents of concealed carry need to offer some reasonable assurance that concealed carry laws won’t result in idiots with more firepower than brains blowing each other away.

The heavily funded NRA has filed many cases against small municipalities and local sheriffs nationwide, trying to pick off safety laws individually. That strategy failed when it sued to allow gun sales to minors, to overturn a limit allowing one gun purchase per month

The ruling is yet another setback for the NRA, which filed a brief supporting Peterson. The NRA has pursued a strategy of using litigation to eliminate gun-safety laws one at a time, which increases the sales and profits of the arms industry that funds the NRA. The strategy backfired because the lawsuit focused on the narrow issue of permits for non-residents, and blew up into an expansive ruling limiting gun rights. The ruling is a precedent in all federal courts.~~Al (Alex-Alexander) D Girvan