Concealed Carry Laws Protect Private Citizens and Their Loved Ones

By Gary Orlando

New concealed carry laws are sweeping the nation. These laws are being proposed and passed by individual state legislators in order to allow their state’s legal, responsible, law-abiding citizens to carry a concealed handgun for the purpose of self-defense, usually in a life-threatening situation. Concealed carry laws are a fairly new phenomenon, dating back only about 20 years. So why the sudden interest in carrying a handgun? Some believe the reason may be the ever escalating crime rates we hear about in the news, especially in major cities. Many propose the idea that people are just tired of relying on others—including the government—to protect them, especially when that protection often fails miserably. Still others are concerned that recent economic changes have resulted in their safety being in jeopardy. With the drastic governmental cutbacks in law enforcement funds over the last couple of decades, including not hiring new police officers to help bridge the gap in an ever-growing population, something was bound to happen. News items abound each day about bad situations going down and it takes overworked police officers twenty minutes or more to arrive on the scene.

As a result of these disturbing trends, people are legally trying to take matters into their own hands for the safety of themselves and their loved ones. Ordinary citizens are the ones pushing "shall-issue" legislation in their states, along with the help of many organizations. "Shall-issue" laws state that if a citizen passes certain criteria they can be issued a concealed carry permit from their state of residence. These criteria differ vastly from state to state but may include requirements such as:

• Being a resident of the state for a certain number of months
  
• Having no criminal record or history of mental illness
  
• Completing a state-approved training program by attending classes taught by a licensed firearms instructor
  
• Demonstrating range proficiency and understanding of firearm safety regulations with a licensed firearms instructor
  
• Passing an exam and successfully completing the licensing procedure

If you meet the criteria set up by your state’s laws, you can get a permit with no discrimination and no denial. There are currently 35 states that have passed shall-issue concealed carry laws. Opponents of the new wave of CCW laws said "there’ll be shoot-outs in the streets!" and "crime will go up because of all the extra guns available!" Neither of these scenarios have ever even come close to happening, but one major surprise has come to pass in the states that enacted CCW laws—major crime rates have gone down.

Each state’s legislators draft their own laws based on input from many sources, such as their Attorney General, their chief Law Enforcement Training Division, politicians from other states who have been successful in drafting legislation in their own states, The NRA, and other outside experts. Although the very mention of the NRA can be a cause for debate among many opponents of concealed carry laws, the NRA is nothing more than an organized group of legal, law-abiding US citizens voicing their concerns and beliefs about the ever-diminishing rights of Americans to responsibly own firearms.

Concealed carry laws are by no means simple pieces of legislation. They not only determine the criteria an individual must meet in order to carry a concealed handgun, they also spell out how, where, and when an individual can carry his handgun. Many laws also serve to govern the social conduct of the permitted individual, such as describing the situations when he can and cannot use his handgun. For example, the law may make it legal to use the handgun to protect lives and personal property, or it may restrict handgun use only to protecting human lives in a life-threatening situation. Concealed carry laws spell out whether or not it is legal to carry in certain public places like government buildings, school property, state parks, churches, or establishments that serve liquor.

For citizens interested in obtaining a concealed carry permit, the first place to contact would be either the Attorney General’s office or the Department of Justice in your state and learn as much as possible about the laws and requirements covering concealed carry permits. There are many fine certified handgun firearms instructors in most states that can help you get the training and legal understanding that you will need in order to complete the application process for a concealed carry permit.

For more information on concealed carry laws, visit http://www.packing.org, the foremost clearing house of concealed carry laws on the Internet. The website of the federal government's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF), located at http://www.atf.treas.gov/firearms/statelaws/22edition.htm, provides a wealth of information about federal gun laws, as well as general regulations and a listing of individual states’ laws and requirements.