Posted on 03/24/2004 10:06:10 AM PST by B4Ranch
Right-to-carry guns is proven way to reduce the crime rate
Web-posted Mar 24, 2004
Some Daily Oakland Press readers had mixed emotions last week when we reported a Farmington Hills woman had frightened away would-be robbers because she was legally carrying a gun. They praised us for printing the story, but wished we'd put it on the front page.
It may be the first such local story we've printed or known of - and that was because the chief of police there wisely brought it to public attention.
The successful threat of a weapon in the hands of a potential crime victim is an event that rarely becomes public.
This surely was not the only such happy ending since Michigan residents were permitted by the state Legislature to exercise a constitutional right to keep and bear arms about five years ago.
Before the law was passed people outside the law enforcement community rarely were granted concealed weapons permits. The main qualification of too many who did get them was political clout of some kind.
Regular people typically didn't bother to apply.
Those in opposition feared we'd set off a bloodbath. Their theory was we'd all become armed and we'd start shooting each other at the slightest provocation.
We even had made some schools "gun-free zones," thus telling violent criminals they're safe. Many school massacres most likely could have been prevented or stopped had someone on the premises been armed.
Guns in the house are not necessarily a great hazard, either. National data at the time of the debate showed just 44 gun-related deaths at home of children under 10.
You can bet opponents of the change would be shouting "I told you so" if it had been followed by so much as an upward blip in handguns involved in crimes, household accidents, domestic assaults and so forth - all the things that were confidently predicted.
One of the reasons nothing changed is because the vast majority of those who were granted licenses under the new law already owned the guns and had been carrying them as they saw fit. They just wanted to be able to go about their business without being lawbreakers.
But elsewhere, widely publicized liberalization of so-called right-to-carry laws actually has been linked to a reduced crime rate. Would-be felons apparently think twice before taking somebody on.
Florida had passed a similar law before Michigan acted and noted a sudden increase in crimes against tourists - people driving cars with rental-company decals or out-of-state license plates.
The assumption is the bad guys figured those drivers would be much less likely to be armed and dangerous than a Floridian.
In Great Britain, the crime rate increased over the decades, tracking right along with a steady crackdown on the citizen ownership and carrying of weapons.
Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer has done us all a favor by reminding us that the right-to-carry law is there and can protect us. And he is reminding would-be criminals of the same thing.
NEIL MUNRO
Silly me! Since I live in Miami Dade County, I naturally assumed that's where you were going. Duh. Orlando is different in just about every way. My daughter lives there and after her wedding in July, will continue to live there. She says she'd never come back to Miami unless it's to see us. We plan on moving out near her sometime in the next several years. Enjoy your vacation. Going to Disney? That's probably the only place in the area that is a true gun control situation and it's because the Disney Corporation all the way back to Walt Disney himself is all about globalism and NWO and an elimination of civil liberties. I haven't seen "Mickey" in years, for this reason.
Polite Society Bump
Florida Statute 790.06 Subsection 12
790.06 (12) No license issued pursuant to this section shall authorize any person to carry a concealed weapon or firearm into any place of nuisance as defined in s. 823.05 [below]; any police, sheriff, or highway patrol station; any detention facility, prison, or jail; any courthouse; any courtroom, except that nothing in this section would preclude a judge from carrying a concealed weapon or determining who will carry a concealed weapon in his or her courtroom; any polling place; any meeting of the governing body of a county, public school district, municipality, or special district; any meeting of the Legislature or a committee thereof; any school, college, or professional athletic event not related to firearms; any school administration building; any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises, which portion of the establishment is primarily devoted to such purpose [BARS no, Restaurants are OK]; any elementary or secondary school facility; any area vocational-technical center; any college or university facility [there is an on going debate at to what a "facility" means; a building? the lunch room? The BIG question is the parking lot, can you leave it in your car? Probably, but I don't want to be the test case!] unless the licensee is a registered student, employee, or faculty member of such college or university and the weapon is a stun gun or non-lethal electric weapon or device designed solely for defensive purposes and the weapon does not fire a dart or projectile; inside the passenger terminal and sterile area of any airport [however FAA Rules say you may not have a firearm on Airport Property at all], provided that no person shall be prohibited from carrying any legal firearm into the terminal, which firearm is encased for shipment for purposes of checking such firearm as baggage to be lawfully transported on any aircraft; or any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law. [This is pretty much ANY Federal building or Federal lands, including, Indian Reservations, Military Reservations, National Parks, National Sanctuaries, etc.]
My family has had weapons on the wall ready to grab on the run since 1648, Ipswich, Massachusetts; my GGGG*fathers' firearms used in New England Indian Wars, St. Anne's War, French and Indian War, Ft. Ticonderoga, Ft. St. Frederick, Crown Point, Battle of Bunker Hill, Saratoga II, War of 1812; from muskets and blunderbusses to Civil War rifled muskets to AK-47's captured from VC's brought home as war trophies- U.S. Constitution indubitably and irrevocably asserted AND confirmed in writing what has been common practice by the PEOPLE going into battle as irregulars or regulars for 350 years the right to bear arms, not to mention right to bear arms by my other Native American ancestors and relatives since 1763 and 1787 by English and US treaty for reservation firearm use.
I suggest putting one of them on your belt.
I'm not into controlling 'the people', so I would only require proof that you know the safety concerns and the legal consquences of shooting a person.
Do that once and then you are free to go. No annual checkups, no fees anymore, just go and be a decent (armed) citizen.
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