I am skeptical...
Q. Maryland government shouldn't trust people carrying guns around.
A. Maryland residents who are law-abiding can easily get CCW permits in VA and FL. These Maryland permit holders are trusted by those states - why shouldn't our state trust them?
Q. I'm against guns. I don't think people should be allowed to have them.
A. What other human rights are you against? Do you believe in freedom of speech?
Q. Guns are evil.
A. How can an object be evil? Are hammers evil? Pencils? Tables?
Q. Guns are dangerous.
A. They better be - that's an important function. However, accidents with guns are very rare.
Q. But don't we have to have gun free zones for schools and bars? Guns have no business being there.
A. "At first it sounds like good public policy to ban firearms in establishments that serve liquor. Further scrutiny however reveals that any gun free zone, including schools, restaurants, bars and government buildings offer criminals the freedom to kill with impunity." "Posting signs designating an area as "gun free" does not keep criminals from entering with a gun; they invite criminals who know nobody can stop them." "Few remember the school shooting in Pearl, Miss., that took place in October 1997. This episode came to a close when Pearl High School Assistant Principal Joel Myrick sprinted a quarter mile to retrieve a handgun from his car and confronted the shooter who was unwilling to continue the attack against an armed victim." from: The False Hope Of Gun-Free Zones By Gerard Valentino CNSNews.com Commentary, December 16, 2004
Q. I don't trust people with guns.
A. There are more guns in the US than there are cell phones. Do you trust people with cars? kitchen knives? hammers? crescent wrenches? screwdrivers? baseball bats? pencils? - each of those tools can be just as lethal as a gun.
Q. Ordinary citizens shouldn't carry guns.
A. Criminals carry guns. Do you prefer that criminals have the advantage and law-abiding citizens be defenseless?
Q. Police should take care of crime, not citizens.
A. Police are not even required to respond to 911 calls, and if they do respond it is likely to be only after the crime has been committed. Citizens can prevent crimes.
Q. Permit holders should not be allowed to carry concealed in places that serve alcohol.
A. I suppose you would like a sign on your front door that says "No one here is armed and capable of resisiting" ?
Permit holders are not allowed to drink while carrying. If they go out to eat at a place that serves alcohol you would prefer that they draw and handle their gun in the parking lot and then leave it unattended in their car? It is better for everyone if they keep it holstered, concealed and under their direct control.
Q. Before people are allowed to carry guns they should undergo lengthy training requirements and proficiency testing to learn safety and the law.
A. While extensive training is desirable in theory, in practice requiring it disarms some of those who most need the protection of a gun. A woman who is stalked by an ex may not find a class or the time to take it - she may need protection immediately. Some 30 states require only any NRA class completion and have found their permit holders are very safe and responsible.
Q. Police need to know who is armed and who is not when they do a routine traffic stop. The permit holder must immediately identify himself/herself as a CCW permit holder to the officer.
A. Police have nothing to fear from the law-abiding permit holder whether s/he informs the officer or not. It may just give the police a false sense of security. The criminal will carry a gun without a permit and will not tell the officer.
Q. If CCW permits are 'shall-issue' then even the town drunk will have one.
A. Alcoholics and drug users are not permitted to buy guns; and are also prevented from getting CCW permits.
Q. With both the criminals and citizens armed it'll be like WWIII - mayhem and blood in the streets.
A. All crime has gone down in every state immediately after passing shall-issue concealed carry laws; and crime rates stay lower. Instead of causing shootouts, shall-issue concealed carry simply makes criminals think twice before trying anything.
Q. More guns will mean more crime.
A. Read "More Guns, Less Crime" by John R. Lott, Jr. His intensive study of the crime rate of every county in the U.S. found that guns in the hands of the law-abiding cause crime and violence to decrease. "An armed society is a polite society."
Q. Imagine road rage when citizens are armed!
A. It's funny. A friend who travels a lot noted that in NYC where guns are illegal minor traffic problems led frequently to shouting matches and violence. On the other hand, in Miami, FL where there is a shall-issue CCW law, people were very polite and did not fly off the handle over traffic problems.
Q. Didn't a 1995 University of Maryland study find that handgun homicide rose after shall-issue?
A. "Advocates of gun-control advocates sometimes cite a 1995 study of concealed-carry policies by three researchers from the University of Maryland. The study looked at five urban areas and found that in four of them, the handgun homicide rate rose after a concealed-carry law had been enacted. But David McDowall, one of the authors, says that the small set of data limits the conclusions to be drawn from the study. He also states that there is no evidence permit holders commit crimes. The study is a classic illustration of how changing the parameters of a "before-and-after" analysis can change the results. For each city, McDowall and his colleagues averaged the yearly crime rates from 1973 until the year before the law went into effect, and compared that figure to the average rate of all subsequent years. If, instead, we compare the year before the law went into effect with the most recent year for which we have complete data (1994), then the homicide rate declined in three of the five cities. " - David Kopel http://www.policyreview.org/jul96/labs.html