Concealed Weapons :: essays research papers

Concealed Weapons, Concealed Risk Do you feel safer sitting next to someone carrying a gun? / Many people say no to that question,/ for many valid reasons. Carrying Concealed weapons have nothing to do with your dad or uncle owning many firearms. / This issue relates solely on allowing individuals to carry these weapons/ almost anywhere in the community:/ including football games,/ restaurants,/ stores,/school buildings/ and other many other places where firearms should strictly be prohibited./ There are 7 states in the nation including Missouri/ that does not let any private citizens carry these weapons. Most people who have permits to carry concealed weapons in their proper states are people who are not law enforcement officials/and have limited training and undergo less testing than even the most basic police recruit./ Even law-abiding citizens/ with the best intentions/ do not know how hard it is to use a gun in successful self-defense. Even highly trained police officers often lose control of their weapons; /acc ording to the National Institute of Justice/ an average of 16% of police officers killed in the line of fire/ are killed by a fellow officers bullet. Yet, they are lead to believe/ that if given a dangerous situation/ they will use the weapon with the proper safety and care that law enforcers will. You cannot ignore the fact that out of the thirty-four thousand and forty firearm deaths in 1998,/ only 212 were justifiable homicides out of self defense /by private citizens with firearms. The gun lobby claims that only law-abiding citizens get permits/. According to statistics this is false./ A recent study done by the Violence Policy Center/ demonstrated that in the first six months on 1997, /the weapon related offense rate among Texas concealed weapon license holders/ were more than twice as high as that general population of Texas. / We know that concealed weapon holders are committing crimes/ as a matter of fact/ 946 crimes were committed by Texan Concealed Weapon holders/ in the f irst 6 months of 1997. The full story on this has not yet been told because the Gun Lobby prohibits public accessibility to the lists of concealed weapon permit holders. (www.handguncontrol.com/facts) The carrying of concealed weapons were prohibited/ or severely limited in most states/ prior to the mid-1990s./ Then here comes the National Rifle Association,/ pleading that ordinary people carrying hidden handguns will reduce the nation’s crime rate./ Their first year of this new campaign they were fairly successful,/ and many states changed their laws to allow the widespread carrying of concealed weapons.