Posted on 07/19/2008 3:27:53 AM PDT by rellimpank
Now that the Supreme Court recently — and narrowly — decided that the Second Amendment means what it says, I think I might just have to get a concealed carry permit.
It's not that I have anything to conceal — I don't own a gun.
So, why would I want a permit to carry something I don't have? It seems like a poor decision to invest time and money in the permit process for so little return.
I mean, to get a concealed carry permit in Colorado is an involved process. You must be at least 21 years of age, not be a felon or a drug addict, and not be named in any restraining orders.
Then, you must demonstrate competence with a handgun. Certification classes can last from three hours to a full day.
(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...
Good point in the article. I need to get one (CCW). Been putting it off as where I live and work doesn’t take me into any “high-risk” situations.
Read the news for the last couple years. Malls and chruches in the Midwest have become “High risk places” suddenly.
Any plublic place has always been ‘high risk’. It just becomes more well known after attacks.
We’ll finally have a RIGHT to keep and bear arms when you no longer have to apply to the government for a permit to exercise it, e.g. Vermont carry. Vermonters and Alaskans have the right to carry, nearly everyone else can buy the privilege.
High risk situations occur in the most unlikely places.....
I was car-jacked at a stop sign in my own "nice" neighborhood...by a drugged and drunk felon with a loaded 38...to my temple. He did not live in the area...he came to where the money was....
One might think anti-gun former radio host Alan Berg, who was murdered by right wing extremists, would influence his decision.
Apparently not.
They simply don't do it. It's a procedural ban, not a legal one.
I honestly believe that a permit is an extension of unconstitutional infringement upon the right to bear arms.
It limits those who are economically or constrained by time (need a gun NOW for self defense) to an unbearable and incompetent anti-gun bureaucracy that can delay and dismiss one's civil rights with no accountability or means of viable recourse on the part of those harmed by it.
This is the next step in recognizing the 2nd Amendment for what it is. Destroying the ability of the liberal bureaucracy from using such methods as a means to destroy the 2nd Amendment.
You should all come to PA. No problems here! Guns in towns like mine, and there are plenty of those, are as normal as flashlights.
Yeah--you're both right (and I agree with you). The problem is that I tend to be a "natural born" procrastinator.
Just got my permit last month. Big hurdle here in CA is showing a good cause for carrying. Usually you have to be a merchant, CPA, lawyer, or friend of the Sheriff. I got by with claiming (truly) that I stayed in my RV at high crime areas. Many locals, called “shall issue” states, have no such requirement.
Here’s a handy and informative link to a map showing states of “shall issue,” “may issue,” and the four states and territories with no CCW at all:
On this map, you can click on your own state to see what other states will honor your permit. I’m in process of applying for a Utah permit to expand my CA options; 1/4 the cost, lasts 5 years instead of 2 years, and I can do it all by mail as long as I use a local instructor to get me certified who is certified by Utah.
BTW, my permit lists the specific gun I’m allowed to carry, but you can get a permit before you buy, and then add a gun later for a modest charge.
Good luck.
WOW. (rubbing eyes in disbelief) Someone that actually “gets it.”
Yep, I live in Texas where getting a CHL is about as tough as going bowling for the evening. I refuse. I do not need a State of Texas Second Amendment License. Now that they have passed the “castle doctrine” and it includes your vehicle (wherever you go) I need The Texas Second Amendment License even less.
Folks ask me why I don’t get a CHL and I reply with a question. “ Do you take your First Amendment Permit with you to church on Sunday?”
(blank stare…)
“There is no such thing!” is their usual reply. “Right” I say.
“So why do you need a Second Amendment Permit to take a firearm with you wherever you go?” I ask.
Usually they are stumped right there.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2040419/posts
Amen to that.
IMHO, coming home to an "empty" house is the most common dangerous situation middle-class Americans will face.
I have never seen a statistic about how many have come home to find a burglary in progress, but my sense of it is many more than have been mugged on the street. This is a situation where having a gun "in the house" does you no good at all.
Concealed carry means that every time I enter my house, I have the means to defend myself. It also means that if someone tries to enter, I have my gun with me, not hidden in some dark corner.
WOW. (rubbing eyes in disbelief) Someone that actually “gets it.”
Yep, I live in Texas where getting a CHL is about as tough as going bowling for the evening. I refuse. I do not need a State of Texas Second Amendment License. Now that they have passed the “castle doctrine” and it includes your vehicle (wherever you go) I need The Texas Second Amendment License even less.
Folks ask me why I don’t get a CHL and I reply with a question. “ Do you take your First Amendment Permit with you to church on Sunday?”
(blank stare…)
“There is no such thing!” is their usual reply. “Right” I say.
“So why do you need a Second Amendment Permit to take a firearm with you wherever you go?” I ask.
Usually they are stumped right there.
I agree with you. However, I have a Washington Concealed Pistol Permit because I think that the millions of people holding permits sends a strong message that we take RKBA seriously. More people applying for permits lets the politicians know that they will not get away with infringing our rights any further. Yes, Vermont, and now Alaska have it right. Just as Florida had it right with their "Shall issue" law which led to other states following suit, Now we should work for the spread of Vermont style RKBA laws in all of the states.
I think that secretly (And illegally) carrying a firearm, where permits are available, does not further that goal as effectively as applying for a permit.
There is the preposition that high numbers of CHL's or P's does send a strong message but it is no secret nor is it illegal to take your firearm with you here in Texas. Now, if we can get Open Carry passed here it will be pretty much a wrap. Only Open Carry will show the general Public what the REAL extent of firearm ownership and day to day use actually is. Concealed carry does not do that because it is, well, "concealed." Therefore the masses never know just how many regular "day-to-day" citizens are firearms owners and users.
A WWII GI said that right after the war they had to search a German town for guns, so they just went down to the police office for a list of gun owners, then went house-to-house confiscating what the Nazis didn't - mostly shotguns and target rifles.
At one house, an ex-soldier told the Yanks, "You're doing it all wrong. When we got the lists in Norway, we just said that everybody on the list who didn't come down to the station and turn them in would be shot."
Probably when the govt tries that in the future, they'll just issue a warrant for your arrest and let the traffic cop take the risk of disarming you.
YIKES!!! Sadly, they have likely kept the lists for the original purchase/waiting period for certain guns. By going "through the system" one may be inevitably "stuck in the system".
Good reason to take out brownshirts before they can put them on...
Exactly the case for me in Oregon. I refuse to pay a fee to put myself in that database.
Note that some states chose to exclude concealed carry in their constitutions' declarations of the right to keep and bear arms. I don't know about Texas, but Oregon has no such exclusion (nor does the US for that matter).
Section 27. Right to bear arms; military subordinate to civil power. The people shall have the right to bear arms for the defence [sic] of themselves, and the State, but the Military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power[.]
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