Concealed Carry
To carry or not to
carry, that is the question. This is one of the few issues
in which I agree with the conclusions of those on the
left. There is little practical point in owning a pistol,
unless one is planning to carry. Where I disagree with the
left, is in my belief that it should be a normal, non
threatening, and positive thing to have regular decent
people arming themselves. We are, after all, a republic,
in which the people are presumed to be responsible, as
well as being the true source of the government, and the
owners of the nation.
I should first mention that concealed
carry is now legal in my home state of Wisconsin, and
about time. Open carry has been legal, without a permit,
for some time. I have carried openly in the countryside,
as I am legally permitted to do, and have carried
concealed on a few occasions, when I thought it necessary
because of some temporary circumstances in my life. Among
the fifty states, all now have provisions for concealed
carry, while seventeen of these issue on demand permits;
twenty five do not require any permit at all. What is
meant by on demand, is that permits are issued without
question, requirement to show need, or discretion in
issuance. In these states, a concealed carry permit is
issued on demand, in the same way as a driver's license.
There are also eight discretionary
states. In these states, there is a provision for the
licensing of individuals to carry, but there is no
requirement for the licensing authorities to do so. In
theory, this means that you have to justify your need to
carry, In practice, this generally means that you have to
be wealthy, part of the system, connected, be owed a
favor, or have something to hold over an official with
authority to grant a permit. In some cases, it may depend
upon where in the state you live, with issuing authorities
(usually the Sheriff) of some counties being more friendly
than those of others. At best, this is as unequal way of
granting permits for what is supposed to be an
uninfringable right; at worst, this is an
institutionalized system of favor granting for
governmental officials. At it's very worst, as in the
early days of it's existence in New York and Chicago, this
is a system for granting members of criminal organizations
the advantage of carrying arms, while disarming their
potential victims.
In states where concealed carry
has been legalized, two things have been completely
predictable. The first is that the anti gun left will
rally and rant against the impending violence, and crime
wave which the new legislation will bring. The second is,
that the first never comes to pass, and that crime
inevitably goes down, while individual security goes up.
This will be the extent of my comments on the social and
legal aspect of concealed carry. I go into a bit more
detail, and justification, in my essays on the right to
keep and bear arms. Instead, this essay is meant to
address the practical, and technical side of personal
carry.
Concealed carry is not practiced by
hunters, sportsmen, target shooters, the military, or in
most cases, the police. This is what makes the whole issue
so important to those who do not care for the idea of
private gun ownership, and who are particularly appalled
at the idea of someone actually using a gun in self
defense. In the places where gun ownership is permitted,
but carry is not, the situation resembles that of being
allowed to own a car, but being forbidden to take it out
on the road. This would limit the appeal of car ownership
to racers, tinkerers, and collectors. Most people would
see no reason, and have little desire to own a car, since
prevailing laws would make them unable to use one in any
practical way. Indeed, this was the situation, regarding
firearms, everywhere, except for the state of Vermont,
and few of the western states, up until a few years
ago.
Passing legislation to remove concealed
carry restrictions on citizens takes firearms out of the
specialized world of the hunter, sportsman, and "gun nut",
and sets them comfortably within the main stream. It makes
the ownership of a pistol, something for everyone to
consider. The decision to carry is much easier to make
these days, with so many states issuing permits, many of
which are shall issue states. It is now possible for the
average citizen, with concerns about personal safety, to
provide for his own security without being thought of as a
nut, and without risking arrest.
Anyone who regards the citizens of this
nation as being in agreement with anti gunners, need only
look at firearms statistics. Over half the households in
the nation own some sort of firearm; the average firearm
owner possesses four guns. Those that assume the average
citizen depends on the police for protection should note
that, after the September 11th attacks, pistol purchases
went up over 500%. A similar jump in numbers occurred
after the peaceful protests of the BLM terrorist
organization which resulted in a number of large cities
burning. There is also the famous court case, in
which a woman who sued the DC police for taking over two
hours to respond to her call of an intruder entering her
house, was told that the police had no responsibility for
the safety of individual citizens. She was beaten and
raped; the police arrived just in time to do nothing.
Similar incidents have occurred in nearly every major
city, though Chicago had a couple of particularly
notorious cases. Who or what the police are responsible
for, I can not say, but it is certainly not us. While it
is true that all of the pistols in the world would not
have been able to protect the people in the World Trade
Center from the oncoming aircraft, had several, or even
one, of the passengers on board been armed, the whole
story would very likely have been different.
Wisconsin retains its right to
open carry, and its preemption statute. Suddenly Wisconsin
is one of the better states in regards to supporting the
gun rights of its citizens. With Wisconsin now having
shall issue concealed carry, even Illinois was forced to
recognize this right. In July of 2013, amazingly,
Illinois, the home of Obama, Hillary Clinton, the Daleys,
and numerous other criminals and scoundrels allowed normal
law abiding citizens to carry canceled. Citizen concealed
carry is now the law in all fifty states, though there are
still some pockets of preferential treatment in the may
issue states.
There is a
possibility that shall issue will be passed in
Massachusetts (presently, non residents can get a permit,
but residents can not), New York State (but not nyc), and
California. It may happen by default in Rhode Island, and
the the pistol bans in DC, and Chicago have finally
been declared unconstitutional.
For years there
seemed to be no hope for the degenerate states of new
jersey, and maryland. Yet several high profile Supreme
Court cases will likely be decided this summer that will
finally put an end to the blatantly unconstitutional
firearms restrictions that have hamstrung the subjects of
those states for a century. This will likely put an end to
the discriminatory practice of may issue CCW.
State of concealed carry in the
states
The following is as accurate as I was able
to make it as of January, 2015.
71% of the US population lives in "Right To
Carry" (25 Constitutional, and 17 shall issue)
states. |
|
27% in "Right Restricted" (8 "May Issue")
states. |
0.2% in "Right Denied" DC. |
The map shows 50 states, which does
not include the dc area. As of this writing H.R. 218 has
given a defacto permit to carry to all active and
retired police officers, through out the nation.
290809777
|
State |
Population
|
Open
Carry |
Preemption |
Banned
Arms |
License |
Rights recognized
(25)
|
Alaska |
648818
|
Yes |
No |
None |
None |
Vermont |
619107
|
Yes |
Yes |
None |
None |
Arizona |
5580811 |
Yes |
Yes |
None |
None |
Wyoming |
501242 |
Yes |
Yes |
None |
None |
Montana |
917621 |
Yes |
Yes |
None |
None |
New Hampshire
|
1287687 |
Yes
|
No
|
None
|
None
|
Maine
|
1305728 |
Yes
|
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
West Virginia
|
1810354 |
Hunters only |
Yes Except pre99 |
None
|
None
|
Mississippi
|
2881281 |
Yes
|
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Missouri
|
5704484 |
In Most Areas |
Yes
|
FA
|
None
|
Kansas
|
2703507 |
In most cases |
No
|
FA
|
None
|
North Dakota
|
633837 |
Yes (unloaded) |
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Arkansas
|
2725714 |
In certain areas |
Yes
|
None
|
Pistol caliber FA |
Idaho
|
1366332 |
Yes
|
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Oklahoma
|
3751615 |
Yes (some
exceptions) |
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Georgia |
8684715 |
In vehicle, or
hunting |
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Alabama |
4500752 |
Yes (except rally) |
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Iowa |
2944062 |
In Certain Areas
|
Yes
|
FA
|
None
|
Indiana
|
6195643 |
No
|
Yes except pre94 |
sawed off SG |
None
|
Kentucky
|
4117827 |
Yes
|
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Ohio |
11435798 |
Yes (many places) |
No
|
None
|
None
|
South Dakota
|
764309 |
Yes (some
exceptions) |
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Tennessee
|
5841748 |
No (some
exceptions) |
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Texas
|
22118509 |
No
|
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Utah
|
2351467 |
Hunters only |
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Shall Issue States (17)
|
New Mexico |
1874614 |
Yes
|
Yes
|
None
|
None
|
Connecticut |
3483372
|
No |
Yes |
New AR, New FA |
AR, FA |
Colorado |
4550688
|
In Certain Areas |
Yes |
None |
None |
Florida |
17019068
|
No |
Yes |
None |
None |
Illinois** |
12653544 |
No |
No |
FA |
all allowed firearms |
Louisiana |
4496334
|
Yes |
Yes |
FA, except war relics |
None |
Michigan |
10079985
|
No |
No |
FA |
None |
Minnesota |
5059375
|
No |
Yes |
FA, some pistols, AR |
None |
Nebraska
|
1739291
|
Yes (most places)
|
No
|
None
|
None
|
Nevada |
2241154
|
Yes |
Yes except pre89 |
None |
None |
North Carolina |
8407248
|
Yes |
Yes |
None |
FA |
Oregon |
3559596
|
Yes |
Yes (except carry) |
None |
None |
Pennsylvania |
12365455
|
Yes (some exceptions) |
Yes (except carry) |
None |
None |
South Carolina |
4147152
|
No (some exceptions) |
Yes |
FA |
None |
Virginia |
7386330
|
Yes (some exceptions) |
Yes except pre87 |
Certain shotguns |
None |
Washington |
6131445
|
Yes (some exceptions) |
Yes |
FA |
None |
Wisconsin |
5472299 |
Yes |
Yes |
None |
None |
Rights infringed (8)
78406558 (27%)
|
california** |
35484453
|
In certain areas |
Yes |
AR,FA, some handguns |
None |
Delaware |
817491
|
In most areas |
Yes, except pre85 |
FA |
None |
hawaii** |
1257608
|
No |
No |
FA |
All allowed Firearms |
Maryland |
5508909
|
No |
Yes |
some handguns |
None |
Massachusetts |
6433422
|
No |
Yes |
None |
All firearms |
new jersey** |
8638396
|
No |
No |
FA, AR |
All Allowed Firearms |
new york** |
19190115
|
No |
Yes, many exceptions |
FA |
All Allowed Firearms |
Rhode Island |
1076164
|
No |
Yes |
FA |
None |
Fascist States (1/2) 563384
(0.2%)
|
dc** |
563384
|
No |
NA |
All firearms |
NA |
**These are the worst places in the nation,
in regards to firearms law. Though some do issue
discretionary permits, this is generally laughable, and
can be considered as a perk or a favor for those who are
connected or of the chosen class. They also have
significant gun bans.
Present initiatives
State |
Currently |
Proposed |
Prospects |
Florida |
Shall Issue |
No Permit Required |
fair |
Louisiana
|
Shall Issue |
No Permit Required |
Poor |
|