I participated in a discussion about concealed carry laws recently with several non-gun types following the narrow defeat of Prop.B in Missouri.
These were nice folks who, in their ignorance, just repeated some of the more common HCI type soundbites. You know: Dodge City bloodbaths, shootouts over minor fender-benders, senior citizen drive-by's at the Wal-Mart parking lot, etc..
They were willing to acknowledge that criminals who already had guns (illegally!) were a high risk factor. The common concern was that concealed carry laws would increase the number of firearms on the streets (legally) thereby increasing the possibility of an exchange of gunfire in their midst.
I pointed out that despite such claims by gun control advocates, the experience of all the states that have concealed carry laws proves otherwise.
Furthermore, only a small percentage of eligible citizens acquire such permits, AND (this is where I need some help) there is probably a significant number of Otherwise Law Abiding Citizens that carry a handgun without benefit of any legal sanction. My point being that the number of firearms in the public domain was probably greater than anyone cared to admit, and whatever comfort they took from this false sense of security, that the number of guns around them was in some way minimized was a sham.
I remember reading once (I can't remember where) that someone once estimated that as many as 700,000 OLAC's were carrying handguns in NYC, a la Bernard Goetz.
I admit that before Louisiana passed a concealed carry law and I acquired mine, that I occasionally carried a handgun illegally when I felt that my personal safety might be at risk.
I can't bring myself to believe that in places like NYC, LA or DC, where carry permits are virtually impossible to get, that a significant number of OLAC's don't carry anyway, risking criminal prosecution against fears for their own safety.
Does anyone out there know of any authoritative studies conducted on this subject? I can see that a major obstacle to conducting such a study would require that the subjects confess to breaking the law, so I don't know how anyone could come up with any reliable figures, but I've been surprised by the wealth of information I've encountered on TFL before.
These were nice folks who, in their ignorance, just repeated some of the more common HCI type soundbites. You know: Dodge City bloodbaths, shootouts over minor fender-benders, senior citizen drive-by's at the Wal-Mart parking lot, etc..
They were willing to acknowledge that criminals who already had guns (illegally!) were a high risk factor. The common concern was that concealed carry laws would increase the number of firearms on the streets (legally) thereby increasing the possibility of an exchange of gunfire in their midst.
I pointed out that despite such claims by gun control advocates, the experience of all the states that have concealed carry laws proves otherwise.
Furthermore, only a small percentage of eligible citizens acquire such permits, AND (this is where I need some help) there is probably a significant number of Otherwise Law Abiding Citizens that carry a handgun without benefit of any legal sanction. My point being that the number of firearms in the public domain was probably greater than anyone cared to admit, and whatever comfort they took from this false sense of security, that the number of guns around them was in some way minimized was a sham.
I remember reading once (I can't remember where) that someone once estimated that as many as 700,000 OLAC's were carrying handguns in NYC, a la Bernard Goetz.
I admit that before Louisiana passed a concealed carry law and I acquired mine, that I occasionally carried a handgun illegally when I felt that my personal safety might be at risk.
I can't bring myself to believe that in places like NYC, LA or DC, where carry permits are virtually impossible to get, that a significant number of OLAC's don't carry anyway, risking criminal prosecution against fears for their own safety.
Does anyone out there know of any authoritative studies conducted on this subject? I can see that a major obstacle to conducting such a study would require that the subjects confess to breaking the law, so I don't know how anyone could come up with any reliable figures, but I've been surprised by the wealth of information I've encountered on TFL before.
