Concealed Weapons permit
At this time people speak for and against these type of permits for obvious reasons. Tragedy brings out many emotions and we need to consider what will protect children and be open to those ideas. We need to sit down and discuss all options. Can we get rid of guns entirely? No that would not be realistic.
If guns are taken away from the law abiding citizens then the only people left with guns would be criminals and police. Obviously they would not comply with any laws that were passed. Those people involved in these terrible tragedies each time have ignored a long list of laws so having more law would not have stopped them although people will argue that since guns are so easy to purchase it would reduce crime and incidents like this if guns were not so easy to buy. Private gun sales are another issue and almost impossible to control. Guns are not controlled like cars although maybe they should be. Even if they were you still have a wide range of guns without serial numbers so when someone has mal-intent they are going to commit the crime no matter what.
Getting your permit is a big responsibility. Think about it very clearly because when you carry a loaded weapon you have the ability to take life and if you pull the weapon you need to be ready to use it. Personally if I were armed and I were in a corner store and someone came into the store to rob it I would let them and I would not draw my weapon. It's just money and on top of that it is insured. The most they normally get is a few hundred dollars and it is not worth the fight, the court drama nor is it even worth the time you would waste with interviews with the police so just leave it alone. I personally would even give the person the money in my wallet. If you do shoot someone you will need to live with that the rest of your life. You need to think about the person as a person. This man may be someone's father, brother or son. Sure if he was going to kill you or someone else you can protect yourself or others by using deadly force if that is the last resort. Many people escalate or increase the chances of problems if they verbally get involved and make the person more angry than they already are. The physiology of people that are threatening you sometimes is briefly touched in concealed weapons classes but it is not a topic that is given any type of time so consider all the affects of your actions on your life and the life of the family of the person you shoot. Police officers that are entirely justified in taking life many times still go through great emotional trauma after killing a person. It is nothing like the movies, it changes you and it affect you.
Besides learning the laws of where you can and cannot carry, you need to learn to use the weapon effectively. Now using it effectively under stress is an entirely different issue. Police go through years of training and when they have a confrontation where they draw their weapons they react differently many times missing the subject they are aiming at entirely. Part of this is nerves, part is adrenaline and this is with all the training they have. The concern many people have is if there is someone shooting a weapon do we really need more people out there with more bullets flying around going who knows where? This is a valid concern. On the other hand if you can take the shooter out before he or she kills more people would that be a good or bad thing? Most of the time the conflict is over by the time the police show up hence they make a case for arming the public.
Keep in mind whatever weapon you have not only can cause damage to the armed person that is threatening you but this same gun when aimed at the subject will sent a projectile sometimes through walls or even through a person and into another person. The bullet may end up going across the street and killing a child if you miss the shot. This is a serious consideration that you need to think about. If you are in a busy area with people you need to think about this and even when you are in an area that does not have lots of people it is still a possibility that the bullet may not go where you intend it to go.
Besides learning where you cannot carry your weapon like courts, airports and other specific places but you also need to learn to think ahead and plan for the possibility that you may end up killing someone. If you do there is a strong chance that you can go to jail even if the shooting was justified. Most of the time the police will arrest or detain everyone that was involved in a shooting and sort it out later. If they determine that you did not need to use deadly force you may be put in jail or even prison. Your entire life will change. Would your wife be able to support the family with you in jail? Are you willing to take this risk? When a shooting occurs you should call the police. Be very careful what you say on the 911 call. If the person is still alive you need to request an ambulance. Keep it simple and only give the information that is needed to get help to respond. Do not say "I just shot someone" but rather "Someone has been shot" I am not telling you not to cooperate with police but you need to know that "Anything you say CAN and WILL be used AGAINST you." So wait and speak with your lawyer before speaking with the police.
It has happened time and time again where facts get mixed up and the wrong person goes to jail or gets blamed. One of my friends was arrested by a policeman and the policeman wrote him up for a DUI and cuffed him when in fact it was a different man that was drunk that had hit him (Car) so when they sorted it all out in court my friend got off and the court paid for the tow truck, his 2 days of lost work and the policemen came to his house to tell him he was sorry. This is the exception but thing like this do happen.
Some people feel that if more people are armed the community will be a safer place because the response time of the police taking so long that they normally respond after the shootings happen. They use incidents like the one in Colorado where a man opened fire on the crowd in a Church and one of the women in the congregation was armed and stopped the rampage in its tracks by killing the armed man. The use statistics that show when a state passes concealed permit legislation crime goes down in those areas and up in areas that don't have concealed permits. They say that making more laws against guns will not solve the problems because the people involve in these horrible shootings never obey the law anyway so it would not make a difference. Those involved in shootings like these broke long lists of laws that were already on the books. Passing more laws is not the answers. Enforcing current ones is and education. The points about schools having armed guards or even armed teachers have also been brought up and are being discussed.
Others say why would anyone need to buy or have the right to buy armored piercing rounds? This is a very good question. The right to have weapons in our homes has been deemed a personal right and not just for the National Guard or local militias but personally do we need assault weapons? Many of the people that are pro gun rights will say that once we start limiting the rights that it is only a matter of time before we loose the right altogether.
So you get the training, you go out and practice shooting, you have the new gun and the holster so when do you carry the weapon? My advice is this: If you go to court because you shot someone and they ask you why you had the gun on that particular day they can trick you into saying something that might get you in trouble. The best answer is this: "I carry my weapon at all times where I can legally carry it." This way they are not going to trip you up and try to say that you planned to carry the weapon for a specific purpose on a specific day. Now if you decide you are going to have a few beers and go out dancing my advice is to leave the gun at home locked in the safe. I still carry a pager many times I meet police and the fire department on site in the middle of the night. This is one reason I never drink. Another is that I have 5 kids and anyone of them can call me at any time of the night to come and get them and I will be there and I will not be too drunk to drive ever because I have never been drunk. My Dad drank all the time and I said I would never be like that. I saw how it tore the family apart and weakened their marriage. I don't think that having a few beers is evil, it is just not for me. I don't even like to take medicine that makes me drowsy for fear I could not be responsible in a time of need.
Get a gun safe and lock your guns up while you are not using them. Children and guns do not mix. I do however advocate responsible education with children. You want them to respect guns instead of having a horrible fear of them. I have taken my kids shooting and we set up a table and we make sure there is back stop of dirt or a berm or in a Shooting facility. Then before we even touch the guns we go over the rules. You don't have to use the same ones but they are prudent. No more than one shooter at a time, you always aim downrange, never aim and shoot into the air and never, never, never turn around with a gun so the barrel could pass by anyone even if your finger is off the trigger. With the safety on we put the guns on the table and walk step by step what is the proper way to hold the gun. We all wear ear protection. My kids like shooting the 22 pistol and rifles the best. There is no kick, the sound is not loud like larger guns and what I like about those is that the ammo is not expensive. Going over the safety rules for guns is very important. If someone wants to see my weapon I unload it then hand it to them.(Still never aiming at them or others) Good concealed weapon classes go over these items. During the 1980s we had a friend of the family who was a sheriff at the time who shot himself in the foot while cleaning his weapon. Accidents happen therefore always take the rounds out of the weapon before handling it, before cleaning it and before handing it to anyone. Learn how to use the safety. Take a hunters education class in addition to the concealed weapons course. They spend quite a bit of time on safety.Take a first aid course from the American Red Cross and take a CERT class and in both of these classes you will learn valuable information about how to react in emergencies.
You need to be very careful when buying a weapon that you will use for hunting, target shooting and especially one that you will be carrying concealed. There are guns on the street and guns that are available for purchase in gun stores that cost very little. Remember the old saying "You get what you pay for". Years ago I purchased a couple of these cheap guns and found that one of them almost fell apart in my hand while shooting it. I was very lucky it did not blow up in my face. If you pay $100 for a gun then you better do the research and find out how they can sell these weapons so cheap without cutting corners and then you will see the reality of it. I know of a few specific brands that cost very little and they not only jam more often but they are not safe. Another google search will allow you to find out quickly which brands these are but I would suggest that if you are serious about getting a concealed weapons permit that you purchase a decent reliable weapon. I will give you an example: A Ruger revolver is very reliable, revolvers do not jam. It only has 6 rounds and a decent weapon like this will cost you around $300 used. A Semi Automatic 45 will also cost you $300+ and a really good one will be around $1,200 going with a good midrange one at around $600 will get you a decent gun. Pick up some gun magazines and go to gun stores and talk to people there. Guns are tools and can be used for good or bad. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Another word of advice is to get to know the weapon you will carry very well. If you buy a short concealed carry 45 many times it is much harder to hit a target with such a weapon than it is to hit a target with a full size 45 (1911 model) I learned how to shoot in the Army Military police so I got very used to the old 1911 type weapons. Don't just get the new gun and expect it will work when you need it. Also learn how to clean it and take care of it because a weapons that is not maintained will not only jam but will not be reliable when needed.
During the war in the Philippines solders were getting attacked by natives that were high a natural drug that they used and when they attacked and the solders shot them with a 38 caliber the round would go into them or through them and they would keep coming, often they would die later but not before having killed one or more solders. The change was made to the COLT 1911 45 caliber semi automatic weapon which has larger round but the velosity was a bit slower so it had knock down power. Many say that if you shoot someone with a 32 or a 9mm or a 38 they have a chance of going to the emergency room but if you shoot them with a 45 caliber then they normally go to the morgue. This knock down power allowed the solders to stop the attackers in their tracks because it would knock them back. Later these weapons made their way into civilian sales and now we have more guns than anywhere in the world. My boss says if it were possible he would click his fingers and make hand guns disappear and the world would be a safer place and this is true but realistically that is impossible. People now are even making their own guns and in some areas people will use a tube or pipe with a nail and an old fashioned setup to shoot one round at a time and the concern is these are not safe at all for the person shooting it or for those around him or her.
Many of us remember the old Death Wish movies and we understand the anger and the mentality that Paul felt. I have had 2 cousins murdered, one shot and my Aunt's grandson was also shot and killed. So violence comes close to home in our family. We wish someone had been there to protect my cousin even if it would have been a concealed weapons permit holder and yet vigilante killings are not the answer to the violence. Many of the problems with mental illness are not made better with poor home situations and violent video games. My wife and I allowed video games although we set rules about the killing games and I would much rather prefer them to be jumping, hopping and trying to get points with cartoon games that for them to be playing killing games that can harm the mind and soul. So our home environment, what we learn in school, what we learn at church all affect us in good and bad ways. Spend time with your children and don't just ignore them. Sure we need to keep track of people that are not mentally stable and we should not issue them concealed weapons permits but in the majority of the cases we are not dealing with people that ever even applied for concealed weapons permits. The people that break the law with such a high disregard for the law normally don't ever try to get permission to carry a weapon legally.
You need to be very careful when buying a weapon that you will use for hunting, target shooting and especially one that you will be carrying concealed. There are guns on the street and guns that are available for purchase in gun stores that cost very little. Remember the old saying "You get what you pay for". Years ago I purchased a couple of these cheap guns and found that one of them almost fell apart in my hand while shooting it. I was very lucky it did not blow up in my face. If you pay $100 for a gun then you better do the research and find out how they can sell these weapons so cheap without cutting corners and then you will see the reality of it. I know of a few specific brands that cost very little and they not only jam more often but they are not safe. Another google search will allow you to find out quickly which brands these are but I would suggest that if you are serious about getting a concealed weapons permit that you purchase a decent reliable weapon. I will give you an example: A Ruger revolver is very reliable, revolvers do not jam. It only has 6 rounds and a decent weapon like this will cost you around $300 used. A Semi Automatic 45 will also cost you $300+ and a really good one will be around $1,200 going with a good midrange one at around $600 will get you a decent gun. Pick up some gun magazines and go to gun stores and talk to people there. Guns are tools and can be used for good or bad. Guns don't kill people, people kill people. Another word of advice is to get to know the weapon you will carry very well. If you buy a short concealed carry 45 many times it is much harder to hit a target with such a weapon than it is to hit a target with a full size 45 (1911 model) I learned how to shoot in the Army Military police so I got very used to the old 1911 type weapons. Don't just get the new gun and expect it will work when you need it. Also learn how to clean it and take care of it because a weapons that is not maintained will not only jam but will not be reliable when needed.
During the war in the Philippines solders were getting attacked by natives that were high a natural drug that they used and when they attacked and the solders shot them with a 38 caliber the round would go into them or through them and they would keep coming, often they would die later but not before having killed one or more solders. The change was made to the COLT 1911 45 caliber semi automatic weapon which has larger round but the velosity was a bit slower so it had knock down power. Many say that if you shoot someone with a 32 or a 9mm or a 38 they have a chance of going to the emergency room but if you shoot them with a 45 caliber then they normally go to the morgue. This knock down power allowed the solders to stop the attackers in their tracks because it would knock them back. Later these weapons made their way into civilian sales and now we have more guns than anywhere in the world. My boss says if it were possible he would click his fingers and make hand guns disappear and the world would be a safer place and this is true but realistically that is impossible. People now are even making their own guns and in some areas people will use a tube or pipe with a nail and an old fashioned setup to shoot one round at a time and the concern is these are not safe at all for the person shooting it or for those around him or her.
Many of us remember the old Death Wish movies and we understand the anger and the mentality that Paul felt. I have had 2 cousins murdered, one shot and my Aunt's grandson was also shot and killed. So violence comes close to home in our family. We wish someone had been there to protect my cousin even if it would have been a concealed weapons permit holder and yet vigilante killings are not the answer to the violence. Many of the problems with mental illness are not made better with poor home situations and violent video games. My wife and I allowed video games although we set rules about the killing games and I would much rather prefer them to be jumping, hopping and trying to get points with cartoon games that for them to be playing killing games that can harm the mind and soul. So our home environment, what we learn in school, what we learn at church all affect us in good and bad ways. Spend time with your children and don't just ignore them. Sure we need to keep track of people that are not mentally stable and we should not issue them concealed weapons permits but in the majority of the cases we are not dealing with people that ever even applied for concealed weapons permits. The people that break the law with such a high disregard for the law normally don't ever try to get permission to carry a weapon legally.
Many of us remember the old Death Wish movies and we understand the anger and the mentality that Paul felt. I have had 2 cousins murdered, one shot and my Aunt's grandson was also shot and killed. So violence comes close to home in our family. We wish someone had been there to protect my cousin even if it would have been a concealed weapons permit holder and yet vigilante killings are not the answer to the violence. Many of the problems with mental illness are not made better with poor home situations and violent video games. My wife and I allowed video games although we set rules about the killing games and I would much rather prefer them to be jumping, hopping and trying to get points with cartoon games that for them to be playing killing games that can harm the mind and soul. So our home environment, what we learn in school, what we learn at church all affect us in good and bad ways. Spend time with your children and don't just ignore them. Sure we need to keep track of people that are not mentally stable and we should not issue them concealed weapons permits but in the majority of the cases we are not dealing with people that ever even applied for concealed weapons permits. The people that break the law with such a high disregard for the law normally don't ever try to get permission to carry a weapon legally.
