shooterx10
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- May 8, 2003
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Yah, every else but Socialist Republics of California, New York, etc. 
Gun backers claim momentum among state governments
By James G. Lakely
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Gun-rights groups gained momentum for their cause this year after a series of victories at the state level made it easier to legally carry concealed weapons.
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, a Republican, signed a bill in June that allows residents to carry concealed weapons without applying for a special permit. The new law would also allow permit-holders from any state to freely carry their weapons in Alaska.
The Missouri legislature is poised to soon override the veto of Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, and validate a bill passed this spring allowing the right to carry concealed weapons.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court last month defied a 130-year-old ban on carrying concealed weapons, ruling that "if the constitutional right to keep and bear arms is to mean anything, it must, as a general matter, permit a person to ... sometimes conceal arms" to protect himself.
In May, a new Colorado law took effect that allows "any competent person over 21" who "can show proper training in handgun use" to receive a concealed carry permit. Local authorities report that enrollments for handgun safety classes are "swelling."
And in Minnesota, a liberal enclave historically hostile to gun rights, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, signed a bill in April that made that state the 35th to permit concealed firearms. Before 1987, only 10 states allowed the carrying of a concealed weapon.
All of these laws greatly reduce red tape, no longer requiring individuals to convince authorities they have a compelling need to carry a concealed weapon. As long as they qualify by age, and in many instances complete a firearms course, they get the permit.
Gun-control groups say the passage of these laws doesn't actually reflect the will of the people, citing various surveys that show antipathy or opposition to questions about how they'd feel if their neighbors were armed with a concealed weapon.
They pin the legislative success of these measures on the influence of one source — the National Rifle Association.
"I do think it's a big NRA push," said Jim Kessler, policy and research director for Americans for Gun Safety. "[The states] are where they've set their sights these days. Whenever they make an effort, you're going to feel it."
However, Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president and chief executive officer, said this trend took on a life of its own because for the last few years, "virtually nowhere on the state level has there been an anti-gun bill passed."
"Even in states where they had high hopes, it didn't work out," Mr. LaPierre said. "I think you've literally had a sea change in the issue around the United States. The fact is that all the momentum is on the pro-firearm side."
Eric Howard, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the NRA's crowing is an empty boast, pointing to defeats of attempts to eliminate background checks for firearms purchases in Connecticut and to allow guns to be brought into churches, taverns and stadiums in Georgia.
"They have a very extreme agenda that anybody should be allowed to carry a gun," Mr. Howard said.
That's the thinking of University of Chicago law professor John R. Lott Jr., whose 1998 book "More Guns, Less Crime" concluded that crime went down in states that allowed law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms.
Mr. Lott collected data for all 3,054 counties in the United States from 1977 to 1994 and found that for each year a concealed handgun law went into effect, the murder rate declined by 3 percent, rape by 2 percent and robberies more than 2 percent.
That study has been the subject of some controversy, however. Ian Ayres of Yale Law School and John Donohue III of Stanford Law School produced a study last year critical of Mr. Lott's research methods. By their calculations, there was no credible evidence that the good effects of handgun ownership — self-defense — outweighed the negative consequences of accidental shootings.
Mr. Kessler said his research, still incomplete, tended to affirm that finding.
"My conclusion, looking at crime rates and concealed carry permits is that it doesn't have any affect on crime," Mr. Kessler said. "It doesn't add to crime either. It's basically a wash."
However, Mr. Kessler said he had to agree that bloody streets and "OK corral shoot-outs" that many gun-control advocates predicted when concealed carry laws were enacted haven't come to pass.
"The mainstream media were hysterical when the Florida bill was on the verge of passing" in 1987, Mr. LaPierre said. "They were predicting shoot-outs in the streets. None of it happened."
Indeed, the statistics show that a very small percentage of citizens issued licenses to carry concealed weapons had their permits revoked for committing crimes with guns.
Since 1986, only 0.8 percent of Kentucky's 71,770 licenses were revoked for any reason. The rate was 0.2 percent for the 172,347 Virginians who carry concealed weapons.
The crime report statistics in every state that allows concealed weapons are similar.
"It's common sense," Mr. LaPierre said. "The bad guys could care less. They don't apply for permits anyway. They go about their business breaking laws and carrying on their life of crime.
"If you ask the public if a nurse getting off work late at night should have a firearm to protect herself, the public says yes."
Here is the link.
Gun backers claim momentum among state governments
By James G. Lakely
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Gun-rights groups gained momentum for their cause this year after a series of victories at the state level made it easier to legally carry concealed weapons.
Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, a Republican, signed a bill in June that allows residents to carry concealed weapons without applying for a special permit. The new law would also allow permit-holders from any state to freely carry their weapons in Alaska.
The Missouri legislature is poised to soon override the veto of Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, and validate a bill passed this spring allowing the right to carry concealed weapons.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court last month defied a 130-year-old ban on carrying concealed weapons, ruling that "if the constitutional right to keep and bear arms is to mean anything, it must, as a general matter, permit a person to ... sometimes conceal arms" to protect himself.
In May, a new Colorado law took effect that allows "any competent person over 21" who "can show proper training in handgun use" to receive a concealed carry permit. Local authorities report that enrollments for handgun safety classes are "swelling."
And in Minnesota, a liberal enclave historically hostile to gun rights, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, signed a bill in April that made that state the 35th to permit concealed firearms. Before 1987, only 10 states allowed the carrying of a concealed weapon.
All of these laws greatly reduce red tape, no longer requiring individuals to convince authorities they have a compelling need to carry a concealed weapon. As long as they qualify by age, and in many instances complete a firearms course, they get the permit.
Gun-control groups say the passage of these laws doesn't actually reflect the will of the people, citing various surveys that show antipathy or opposition to questions about how they'd feel if their neighbors were armed with a concealed weapon.
They pin the legislative success of these measures on the influence of one source — the National Rifle Association.
"I do think it's a big NRA push," said Jim Kessler, policy and research director for Americans for Gun Safety. "[The states] are where they've set their sights these days. Whenever they make an effort, you're going to feel it."
However, Wayne LaPierre, NRA executive vice president and chief executive officer, said this trend took on a life of its own because for the last few years, "virtually nowhere on the state level has there been an anti-gun bill passed."
"Even in states where they had high hopes, it didn't work out," Mr. LaPierre said. "I think you've literally had a sea change in the issue around the United States. The fact is that all the momentum is on the pro-firearm side."
Eric Howard, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the NRA's crowing is an empty boast, pointing to defeats of attempts to eliminate background checks for firearms purchases in Connecticut and to allow guns to be brought into churches, taverns and stadiums in Georgia.
"They have a very extreme agenda that anybody should be allowed to carry a gun," Mr. Howard said.
That's the thinking of University of Chicago law professor John R. Lott Jr., whose 1998 book "More Guns, Less Crime" concluded that crime went down in states that allowed law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms.
Mr. Lott collected data for all 3,054 counties in the United States from 1977 to 1994 and found that for each year a concealed handgun law went into effect, the murder rate declined by 3 percent, rape by 2 percent and robberies more than 2 percent.
That study has been the subject of some controversy, however. Ian Ayres of Yale Law School and John Donohue III of Stanford Law School produced a study last year critical of Mr. Lott's research methods. By their calculations, there was no credible evidence that the good effects of handgun ownership — self-defense — outweighed the negative consequences of accidental shootings.
Mr. Kessler said his research, still incomplete, tended to affirm that finding.
"My conclusion, looking at crime rates and concealed carry permits is that it doesn't have any affect on crime," Mr. Kessler said. "It doesn't add to crime either. It's basically a wash."
However, Mr. Kessler said he had to agree that bloody streets and "OK corral shoot-outs" that many gun-control advocates predicted when concealed carry laws were enacted haven't come to pass.
"The mainstream media were hysterical when the Florida bill was on the verge of passing" in 1987, Mr. LaPierre said. "They were predicting shoot-outs in the streets. None of it happened."
Indeed, the statistics show that a very small percentage of citizens issued licenses to carry concealed weapons had their permits revoked for committing crimes with guns.
Since 1986, only 0.8 percent of Kentucky's 71,770 licenses were revoked for any reason. The rate was 0.2 percent for the 172,347 Virginians who carry concealed weapons.
The crime report statistics in every state that allows concealed weapons are similar.
"It's common sense," Mr. LaPierre said. "The bad guys could care less. They don't apply for permits anyway. They go about their business breaking laws and carrying on their life of crime.
"If you ask the public if a nurse getting off work late at night should have a firearm to protect herself, the public says yes."
Here is the link.