Concealed Carry

A couple of days ago, Rep. Richard Hudson (R) of North Carolina re-introduced a bill now named The Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2017.  It provides that all states must recognize a concealed carry permit or license issued by any other state; in much the same way that each state recognizes the others’ driver’s licenses.  Among other advantages, this legislation takes away the possibility of prosecution for unlawful carry from persons traveling interstate who mistakenly carry a concealed weapon in a state that does not have a reciprocity agreement with their home state.

I urge everyone who agrees with national concealed carry reciprocity to write their senators and congressmen in support of this legislation.  Too many otherwise law abiding citizens have been prosecuted for the “crime” of believing their carry permit was valid in a place where it was not.

There is no need to justify carrying a concealed weapon.  The Second Amendment plainly states that the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.  The only valid limitation on that right is that the citizen should not have a criminal record.  The bulk of our law recognizes no other reason for limiting an American’s constitutional rights.

In the United States, possibility exists everywhere that we may need to defend ourselves from criminals, lunatics, or terrorists.  There is no place, urban or rural, where you are completely safe from robbery, burglary, gang/drug motivated crime, murder, rape, home intrusion, carjacking, or being shot by someone because they don’t like your skin color or the god you worship.  Anyone who denies that fact has their head buried in the sand.

If you are elderly, disabled, or female, you are at greater risk of victimization.  Therefore, you, especially, need to be able to extend the distance and level of force with which you can engage a threat.  In other words, you need to get a gun and become proficient with it.  Following that, you must learn to:

• ·         Be alert.
• ·         Be aware of your surroundings.
• ·         Be armed at all times where it is legal.
• ·         Be willing to act to defend your life and the lives of others.

The ability of our public officials to stop “the bad guys” before they harm us is limited. Please help Rep. Hudson to help us protect ourselves. 

January 7, 2017:  I am not comfortable with leaving this post the way it is without telling you that there is an additional reason to get a concealed carry licence or permit that I did not mention.  Personally, I carry concealed, in part, because Michael  Bloomberg, Barack Obama, John Kerry, the Clintons, Nancy Pelosi, Dianne Feinstein, and "Chucky" Schumer want to tell me that I can't.