When it comes to gun fights, things are pretty quiet on the Potomac these days. Democrats, cowed by the National Rifle Association's political clout, have no taste for pushing gun control up the agenda. And even if they did, the landmark 2008 Supreme Court ruling that the Second Amendment provides a right for individuals to own guns largely leaves them disarmed.
The states, however, are another matter. Gun rights activists have taken their national victories not as a reason to pat themselves on the back, but as reason to push forward with an agenda that ranges from radical to idiotic.
USA TODAY OPPOSING VIEW:
Last month, for instance, Wyoming joined Arizona, Alaska and Vermont to become the fourth state to allow concealed firearms with no permit whatsoever. Also last month, Mississippi removed most of the exceptions to its concealed weapons law, allowing people to take guns to sporting events, and into bars, churches, schools and colleges, among other places. Just this month, North Dakota joined more than a dozen other states that have said an employer cannot ban an employee from bringing a weapon to work, so long as it is kept in the worker's vehicle.
Editor's note
An earlier online version of this editorial stated that Wyoming, instead of Mississippi, had removed most of the exceptions to its concealed weapons law. The error was caused by a technological glitch and the text has been amended. Even if you view this as a legitimate exercise of personal freedom, it's hardly wise, or without limitations on the freedom of others. Take the rights of property owners, for instance. Under many of these laws, businesses cannot object to someone bringing a weapon onto their premises.
Pennsylvania, meanwhile, is on the verge of becoming the latest to join the craze of states passing laws described as "stand your ground" by supporters and "shoot first" by critics. These give people who use deadly force in public places many of the same protections they might have in defending their homes from an intruder. They remove an individual's obligation to retreat from a threatening situation if such an option exists. And in many cases they provide a legal defense should he or she kill or injure an innocent bystander by mistake.
What we are seeing is a systematic campaign for a doctrine of guns anywhere, anytime and in the hands of just about anyone, without consequence for irresponsible actions. When the gun lobby first started winning concealed carry laws about two decades ago, it said that vigorous background checks and permitting procedures should be maintained, and that some places should remain gun-free. Having won such laws in most states, it is now working to undo those parameters.
The gun lobby is also going after the two states (Wisconsin and Illinois) that do not allow concealed firearms, and the nine that leave the issuance of a permit to the discretion of law enforcement. In its one major foray into Congress recently, gun extremists fell just two votes shy in the U.S. Senate on a 2009 bill that would have forced any state to recognize a carry permit issued by any other state. That measure a monumental infringement on states rights and local governance, to say the least would have forced urbanized states dealing with gangs, drug lords and other violent criminals to essentially adopt gun rights deemed appropriate in more rural states.
These are precisely the kinds of results that opponents of gun rights predicted during the multi-decade debate over the confused meaning of the Second Amendment. From a constitutional perspective, the Supreme Court may have gotten it right. But from a standpoint of public safety, lawmakers are getting it very wrong. A right to keep and bear arms should come with restraints that equally protect those who have no interest in owning them.
Several states are passing Stand Your Ground laws and loosening their concealed carry laws, making it easier for people to defend themselves and thats a good thing.
USA TODAY OUR VIEW:
Consider what happens when decent people cant protect themselves.
Amanda Collins was a student at University of Nevadas Reno campus in 2007. Even though she had a concealed carry permit, she was unarmed the night she was brutally raped by James Biela. She had left her gun at home because she was scared of what could happen to her if she was caught disobeying the laws prohibiting firearms on campus.
Amanda feels certain she could have used her gun successfully that night. I would have at some point during my rape been able to stop James Biela, she said.
Amanda has reason to be confident. There are women today who have escaped the ugliness of rape because a gun was nearby. Take the Missouri teenager who was rescued by her handgun-wielding mother one night last year. Craig Kizer jumped on the sleeping teenager but was forced to flee the house after the teen grabbed a knife and the mom entered the room with a firearm, police said.
Stand Your Ground laws have passed in many states, giving homeowners added legal protection when they use guns defensively. These laws, coupled with those recognizing the right of people to defend themselves with firearms outside the home, are saving lives.
Anti-gun extremists always claim that allowing citizens to carry guns will result in random shootouts. But the truth is that these Chicken Little predictions never materialize.
Take El Paso, which was ranked by CQ Press as Americas safest city in 2010. El Paso is situated in a very pro-gun state where people can easily carry concealed firearms. Residents there live quite peacefully, despite being located across from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico a town with very stringent gun control laws and one of the highest murder rates in the world.
Restricting firearms only makes us less safe. So lets applaud the almost 7,000 Americans a day who use firearms in self-defense to deter criminals
The states, however, are another matter. Gun rights activists have taken their national victories not as a reason to pat themselves on the back, but as reason to push forward with an agenda that ranges from radical to idiotic.
USA TODAY OPPOSING VIEW:
Last month, for instance, Wyoming joined Arizona, Alaska and Vermont to become the fourth state to allow concealed firearms with no permit whatsoever. Also last month, Mississippi removed most of the exceptions to its concealed weapons law, allowing people to take guns to sporting events, and into bars, churches, schools and colleges, among other places. Just this month, North Dakota joined more than a dozen other states that have said an employer cannot ban an employee from bringing a weapon to work, so long as it is kept in the worker's vehicle.
Editor's note
An earlier online version of this editorial stated that Wyoming, instead of Mississippi, had removed most of the exceptions to its concealed weapons law. The error was caused by a technological glitch and the text has been amended. Even if you view this as a legitimate exercise of personal freedom, it's hardly wise, or without limitations on the freedom of others. Take the rights of property owners, for instance. Under many of these laws, businesses cannot object to someone bringing a weapon onto their premises.
Pennsylvania, meanwhile, is on the verge of becoming the latest to join the craze of states passing laws described as "stand your ground" by supporters and "shoot first" by critics. These give people who use deadly force in public places many of the same protections they might have in defending their homes from an intruder. They remove an individual's obligation to retreat from a threatening situation if such an option exists. And in many cases they provide a legal defense should he or she kill or injure an innocent bystander by mistake.
What we are seeing is a systematic campaign for a doctrine of guns anywhere, anytime and in the hands of just about anyone, without consequence for irresponsible actions. When the gun lobby first started winning concealed carry laws about two decades ago, it said that vigorous background checks and permitting procedures should be maintained, and that some places should remain gun-free. Having won such laws in most states, it is now working to undo those parameters.
The gun lobby is also going after the two states (Wisconsin and Illinois) that do not allow concealed firearms, and the nine that leave the issuance of a permit to the discretion of law enforcement. In its one major foray into Congress recently, gun extremists fell just two votes shy in the U.S. Senate on a 2009 bill that would have forced any state to recognize a carry permit issued by any other state. That measure a monumental infringement on states rights and local governance, to say the least would have forced urbanized states dealing with gangs, drug lords and other violent criminals to essentially adopt gun rights deemed appropriate in more rural states.
These are precisely the kinds of results that opponents of gun rights predicted during the multi-decade debate over the confused meaning of the Second Amendment. From a constitutional perspective, the Supreme Court may have gotten it right. But from a standpoint of public safety, lawmakers are getting it very wrong. A right to keep and bear arms should come with restraints that equally protect those who have no interest in owning them.
Several states are passing Stand Your Ground laws and loosening their concealed carry laws, making it easier for people to defend themselves and thats a good thing.
USA TODAY OUR VIEW:
Consider what happens when decent people cant protect themselves.
Amanda Collins was a student at University of Nevadas Reno campus in 2007. Even though she had a concealed carry permit, she was unarmed the night she was brutally raped by James Biela. She had left her gun at home because she was scared of what could happen to her if she was caught disobeying the laws prohibiting firearms on campus.
Amanda feels certain she could have used her gun successfully that night. I would have at some point during my rape been able to stop James Biela, she said.
Amanda has reason to be confident. There are women today who have escaped the ugliness of rape because a gun was nearby. Take the Missouri teenager who was rescued by her handgun-wielding mother one night last year. Craig Kizer jumped on the sleeping teenager but was forced to flee the house after the teen grabbed a knife and the mom entered the room with a firearm, police said.
Stand Your Ground laws have passed in many states, giving homeowners added legal protection when they use guns defensively. These laws, coupled with those recognizing the right of people to defend themselves with firearms outside the home, are saving lives.
Anti-gun extremists always claim that allowing citizens to carry guns will result in random shootouts. But the truth is that these Chicken Little predictions never materialize.
Take El Paso, which was ranked by CQ Press as Americas safest city in 2010. El Paso is situated in a very pro-gun state where people can easily carry concealed firearms. Residents there live quite peacefully, despite being located across from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico a town with very stringent gun control laws and one of the highest murder rates in the world.
Restricting firearms only makes us less safe. So lets applaud the almost 7,000 Americans a day who use firearms in self-defense to deter criminals
