A pseudo-official looking Concealed Weapon Permit badge
At times it is easy to feel that the gun-grabbers are winning and that our second amendment rights are being steadily whittled away.
There is, sadly, some measure of truth in that perception, some of the time. But the gun grabbers aren’t getting it all their own way (but please don’t get complacent!).
In addition to two recent favorable Supreme Court decisions, there’s been a quiet grass roots revolution going on for the last 25 or so years, whereby states have been reversing a century or more of restrictive laws constraining our ability to carry concealed weapons. In 1986, only eight states had ‘shall issue’ laws obligating law enforcement authorities to issue concealed carry permits, and one additional state allowed concealed carry without any permit being needed at all.
Since that time, the number of shall issue states has been steadily increasing, leaping up to 30 by 1996 and continuing on to 37 by 2006, with now three states also allowing concealed carry with no permit at all. Another two states have fairly administered ‘may issue’ type laws whereby law enforcement has discretion in who they will and won’t issue permits to, leaving six ‘may issue’ states who tend to never issue permits (for example, California and New York are ‘may issue’ states) and two hold outs that refuse to ever issue permits – Illinois and Wisconsin.
Just this week it seems that Wisconsin is now moving from the hall of shame to the hall of fame, and is poised to join 40 of the other states with a very positive ‘shall issue’ law. If we include the two fairly managed ‘shall issue’ states, that leaves only seven states that remain resolutely gun unfriendly.
Yay to Wisconsin and its residents. More details here.
Regarding your request to not get complacent, the other side seems to be paying attention and understands that if there will be nothing available to carry due to the federal level (and some cases city level), state carry laws won’t matter.
The other side is strong in the media and in the education system which influences the attitudes of tomorrow’s voters. While the state successes show an effective NRA there, as a passive observer from a distance, I see no influence in the general media or in education.
Hi, Frank
Your points are excellent. Indeed, it could be said that the gun grabbers are executing a classic flanking attack on both sides.
Firstly, what use are our concealed carry permits if federal laws make handgun ownership close to impossible?
Secondly, what use are our current small victories if the gun grabbers are brainwashing the next generation of voters/citizens into a rabid hatred of all things to do with firearms and self defense? Yes, I know the term ‘brainwashing’ seems extreme, but think about what has happened at our schools. Less than 50 years ago most high schools and colleges had gun clubs and/or ROTC and/or on-site gun ranges. Now, if you as much as draw a picture of a gun on a piece of paper you risk expulsion. How did this change occur?
We are terribly vulnerable in every respect, and our gains at state level should give us renewed energy to protect and consolidate these wins, rather than now allow a false feeling of complacency to descend upon us.
Thanks again for your comments
CT.
[…] The good news is this appalling incident is less likely to happen much more in the future, because it occurred in Wisconsin, which last month passed a law allowing its citizens to get concealed weapon permits. […]
[…] been a steady restoration of concealed carry rights, state by state, and as our earlier article on the steady improvement of state concealed carry laws shows, we have gone from only eight states permitting concealed carry in 1986 to now only one state […]