I love shooting as a hobby. I go deer hunting every year and shoot targets whenever I get a chance. I'm not a gun expert, I'm not an ammo expert. I shoot a .243, .357/.38 special, .22, and if I want to dislocate my shoulder, I'll shoot the 12 gauge. I love the power, the thrill of hitting a bulls-eye, and if I could hunt every weekend, I would...so long as I am using what I'm shooting...I'm not for killing for nothing but sport. Unless, of course, it's a legitimate population control problem. I've never had to use a gun for anything but targets or hunting, and I hope that remains to be true throughout my life.At first glance, most people are going to shy away from citizens being allowed to carry a concealed weapon. I can say part of me agrees with this. I unfortunately have witnessed the village idiot who thinks he knows everything and anything about guns, and ended up shooting himself in the leg while showing off his 'skills,' or rather lack-there-of. Some people should never hold a firearm. However, some doctors should never have held a diploma or carried an MD at the end of their name. A doctor who is clueless about his practice is just as dangerous as a know-it-all with a gun (I've also witnessed this). One is just more physically apparent than the other; both equally lethal. You don't see laws in place keeping normal people from getting doctorates because of the occasional idiot that gets through medical school. However, you see a LOT of laws keeping normal, level-headed citizens from keeping firearms for defensive purposes. Especially in the no good rotten Liberal ridden flat state of Illinois. (To further assess my endless hatred for Illinois, please see this post.)
More guns circulating means more crime? Right? WRONG. It makes little to no difference, in fact, most of the statistic point the opposite way. Let's see here. The violent crime rate in the state of Illinois is 243% greater than the national average. Now, lets look at Tennessee. The violent crime rate there is 223% greater than the national average. And Texas. In Arlington, Texas, the violent crime rate is 83% above the national average.
James Q Wilson, Ph.D Professor of Political Science at Boston college was quoted saying:
"States that passed these laws experienced sharp drops in murder, rape, robbery, and assault, even after allowing for the effects of poverty, unemployment, police arrest rates, and the like. States that did not pass these laws did not show comparable declines. And these declines were not trivial – he is writing about as many as 1,000 fewer murders and rapes and 10,000 few robberies. Carrying concealed guns reduces – it does not increase – the rate of serious crime, and that reduction is vastly greater than the generally trivial effect of gun-carrying on accidental shootings."
If a criminal wants a gun, he's going to get it, regardless of whether its legal or not. Legality of the firearm makes absolutely no difference. All you're doing is taking the firearm away from the person that is ACTUALLY going to use it for defense. It is proven, and common sense, that a criminal is less likely to attack if someone has the chance of being armed. In this wonderful hate-crime ridden city, I can't even intervene if I were to witness anything just from the stand point that if I do, I am dead. Guaranteed. I'm better off calling the police, and praying for whomever is being victimized. There's being a hero, and there is being an idiot, and in a state that has no concealed weapon permits, the hero option is completely eradicated.John Lott, PhD, Visiting Senior Research Scientist at the University of Maryland at College Park wrote in his book More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun-Control Laws::
"It is a fact that in communities where citizens have been granted licenses to carry concealed weapons and are not restricted from keeping loaded guns in their homes, crime rates drop. Such conditions have proven to be a deterrent to crimes such as home invasions, burglaries, muggings and car-jackings because criminals will not risk being confronted by a victim's firearm. Tightening laws restricting the use and possession of firearms does not protect average law-abiding citizens; it only puts them at greater risk. Enforcing licensing restrictions, trigger locks, and waiting periods makes it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to defend themselves and as a result encourages criminal activity. Only criminals benefit when ordinary citizens are deprived of their right to own a firearm and protect themselves, their homes, and their families."
Let's take this for example. This sheriff has the right idea here. Our justice system sucks. It just does. I just saw another article about a man who loured a woman to his house and then tried to make her his sex slave. He had been to jail three times. Had hundreds of films and thousands of pictures of violent child pornography. After this rape, they decided he deserved a life sentence (wow, really? you think so?) but he's up for parole in 5 years. You know what would have happened if she would have had a gun? He'd be dead. And I guarantee you the next person he's going to rape/kill in 6 years, probably would have appreciated that gesture.
Illinois is flat out unconstitutional. We have the right to BEAR arms. Not just own them. Not just to let them sit and look pretty in our gun safes. This is how they call Illinois gun laws constitutional. We are allowed to keep the guns in our closets, which is pretty much bearing arms. No. We have the right to bear them for traditionally lawful purposes, outside of militia and police. Not everyone is going to go run for their concealed weapons permit. Most people want nothing to do with that responsibility, and that is fine. But like I said before, keeping law-abiding citizens from bearing arms will not keep the criminals from bearing them. In fact, now, more criminals bear arms in Illinois than level headed citizens. Wrong? Just a little bit. I see the outcome to this quite often in the ER, far too often, and frankly, I'm sick of it.
The vague idea of everyone being able to conceal a weapon is terrifying, but when you look at the facts, and truly consider WHO is carrying those firearms, the initial thought is misleading. You're more likely to die in a car accident tomorrow than to get shot accidentally, or even purposely, by a law abiding citizen who is carrying a concealed weapon. I may be speaking just for myself, but I'd rather die from an accidental misfire from a concealed weapon, than a thug who wanted nothing but my ATM card. Just saying.
