Anti-Gun Pessimism
I've always thought that it must take an amazing amount of pessimism to believe that allowing law-abiding citizens to arm themselves could actually increase crime rates. To accept the gun control dogma of the 90's, you had to believe that people in general are evil, and that the mere act of putting a gun into a normal person's hands turns the person into a homicidal maniac.
I just could never accept that. I think most people are good, and the few who really are evil wouldn't just give up and play nice even if you could somehow find an effective way to disarm them (they'd just stab people instead*). I think this is a much more optimistic way of looking at human nature, and any credible research that has been done in the last two decades supports this view. It has been proven that allowing people (who meet certain reasonable qualifications and are not convicted felons) to carry concealed handguns in public leads to substantial decreases in violent crime. Law-makers and U.S. citizens in general have finally accepted the overwhelming evidence, and concealed carry laws for pistols have progressed by leaps and bounds in recent years.
Unless you live in Illinois or Wisconsin, the two states in the country where concealed carry is still illegal as of this writing, I can guarantee you that you have on many occasions interacted with people who were carrying guns in ankle holsters or purses. And you didn't even know it. I'm willing to bet they didn't shoot you, although they may have held the door for you or said "good morning". These people aren't out to get you - you don't need to be afraid of them. They are all around you, and in the unlikely event that some really bad shit goes down, these people just might save your life.
The police will be miles away.
*These are separate links. Stories are from the UK/Ireland. If you want more BBC news has tons of them.
I just could never accept that. I think most people are good, and the few who really are evil wouldn't just give up and play nice even if you could somehow find an effective way to disarm them (they'd just stab people instead*). I think this is a much more optimistic way of looking at human nature, and any credible research that has been done in the last two decades supports this view. It has been proven that allowing people (who meet certain reasonable qualifications and are not convicted felons) to carry concealed handguns in public leads to substantial decreases in violent crime. Law-makers and U.S. citizens in general have finally accepted the overwhelming evidence, and concealed carry laws for pistols have progressed by leaps and bounds in recent years.
Unless you live in Illinois or Wisconsin, the two states in the country where concealed carry is still illegal as of this writing, I can guarantee you that you have on many occasions interacted with people who were carrying guns in ankle holsters or purses. And you didn't even know it. I'm willing to bet they didn't shoot you, although they may have held the door for you or said "good morning". These people aren't out to get you - you don't need to be afraid of them. They are all around you, and in the unlikely event that some really bad shit goes down, these people just might save your life.
The police will be miles away.
*These are separate links. Stories are from the UK/Ireland. If you want more BBC news has tons of them.
posted by jester at 2:27 AM
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