The Truth About Gun Control by David B Kopel

Author:David B Kopel [Kopel, David B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-59403-713-9
Publisher: Encounter Books
Published: 2013-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

RIGHT TO CARRY

By the early 1970s, the legal carrying of handguns for protection in public places had been suppressed in most states. The typical system was that carrying required a permit; the permit required “good cause” in the view of government administrator; and ordinary citizens who merely wanted to protect themselves were almost never considered to have good cause. About a half-dozen states were exceptions to this general rule.

Starting in Florida in 1987, state after state enacted licensing-reform laws. The laws prevented abuse of discretion by using objective standards. If an adult passes a fingerprint-based background check and a safety class, then she “shall” be issued a concealed-handgun carry permit. Today in 41 states, a law-abiding, competent adult has a clear path to a lawful concealed carry.

So in those 41 states, when Americans go to a shopping mall, a restaurant, a park, or most other public places, they are in a place where some people are lawfully carrying firearms.

Whether licensed carry causes a statistically significant decline in violent crime is a subject of scholarly debate. The evidence is overwhelming that there is no statistically significant increase in crime. In every state where “shall issue” has become the law, it has disappeared from the gun-control debate within a few years. Most Americans have acclimated to an environment in which public carrying of defensive handguns is common, safe, and unremarkable.

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