Gun Rights

Carrying a weapon is an enormous responsibility. Training courses spend a considerable amount of time discussing the many aspects of liability, should one actually use a handgun, even to defend oneself. Although state laws vary, any use that is allowed is solely as a last resort, when one fears that life is in danger, when escape or retreat are not options, and warnings are given and ignored. (Wikipedia) As defined by most states; concealed-carry is the right to carry a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner. (Wikipedia) This allows legislation to take discrestion away from law enforcement in determining who receives a concealed weapons license and requires the state to allow virtually anyone who is not a convicted felon to carry a loaded handgun. Under this system, the background check required of applicants for CCW (concealed-carry weapons) licenses is supposed to screen out people with violent crime histories, but it cannot screen out all criminals or people with violent tempers or bad judgements. (Weil)

Permissive concealed-carry laws do not reduce gun violence. They arm people and put them into a position to increase gun violence. From 1992 to 1998, the violent crime rate in the strict and no-issue states fell thirty percent, while the violent crime rate for the eleven states the had liberal CCW laws (where law enforcement must issue CCW licenses to almost all applicants) during this entire period dropped only fifteen percent. Nationally, the violent crime rate fell twenty five percent. The decline in the crime rate of strict licensing and no-carry states was twice that of states with lax CCW systems. This indication shows there are more effective ways to fight crime than to encourage more people to carry guns. (no author) The permissive laws are basically allowing anyone and everyone who has not yet done something wrong, carry a gun legally. Which means when that person decides to do something wrong, they will be legally armed (until they commit the crime) with permission from their state.(no author) If people are armed, tragedies like the Long Island Railroad shooting (in which Colin Ferguson killed six commuters and wounded nineteen in December 1993) would be avoided. Not to say that all people will obey the law and leave there guns at home, but it will narrow down the possibilities of terrible situations. There is no evidence that armed citizens are able to prevent such tragedies as this from occurring. The police reported that there have been people legally armed by their state, witnessing a massacre, who chose not to respond for many different reasons. The choice between living another day and fighting back with lethal force do not weigh out evenly. In most states, you may only use lethal force when it is the last option you have when your life is being threatened. It is not legal to stop crimes that involve other people not pertaining to you and it is not legal to try and stop a crime in progress in public even if you are involved. It would be better to let trained law enforecement officers handle situations like these, not everyday people trying to become a hero for the evening news. (no author) Deciding when it is appropriate to respond with deadly force and responding effectively is difficult even for trained police officers. One survivor of the Long Island Railroad shooting, a vietnam veteran, said that, "even with all of my combat experience and weapons training, if I had been armed, there was nothing I could have or would have done." (no author 2) Few people would ever know when one's response with a deadly weapon might actually escalate a situation that law enforecement could have taken control over before the situation turned into something worse. (Hawkins) Too often, innocent people get caught in the cross-fire or an undercover cop gets mistaken for a criminal, even when well-trained officers are involved. The idea that poorly trained, self-appointed vigilantes are running through our streets lookin to become heroes should not make anyone feel any safer. (no author 3)

CCW license holders are labeled

as law abiding citizens and are given a right to carry a weapon. Unfortunately, not all law abiding citizens stay that way. Terry Ratzmann was a law abiding citizen until he went to a church service March 12, 2005 at the Living Church of God at the Sheraton hotel in Brookfield, Wisconsin. He killed eight people, including himself, and wounded four others. Gun advocates counter that had others at the church service been armed, they could have stopped Ratzmann. Keep in mind that Ratzmann fired twenty two shots in just one minute while taking a brief couple of seconds to reload two more clips. There would not have been much time to react with deadly force while trying to run for cover. Furthermore, another gunman could have well drawn fatal fire from Ratzmann or have hit innocent crowd members by accident in the process of retaliation.(Ludwig) Just two days later in Tyler,