The only way to stop a bad guy
with a gun is a good guy with a
gun: UNIVERSAL CCW LAW
David Chicarelli
Background Info
• CCW = Carrying Concealed Weapon
• All 50 states allow some form of CCW: Illinois was the last state to
adopt CCW law last summer
• What is it? After undergoing a rigorous handgun safety class including
several hours of range time, an individual can, assuming a clear
background check, apply for license to carry a loaded firearm for
protection.
• Each state has different training requirements for what’s necessary to
obtain a permit, but most are very similar.
• Presently, the issuance of such permits are a matter of state control;
however, several states have reciprocity agreements with other states
or recognize other state permits.
What are the problems with the
present reciprocity arrangement?
• Reciprocity agreements are very convoluted and constantly changing
and some states don’t have reciprocity, but honor the CCW permit of
another state, but that state may not reciprocate.
• What does this mean? Individuals who cross state lines have to stay
abreast on the changing laws on carrying the firearm in each of the
states they enter assuming they can carry there in the first place.
• Because these laws change frequently, they are likely to inadvertently
violate the law when they were following the law of the state in which
they reside or, were following a previous version of the CCW law in
the state they were in.
• The main issue is with those states that do not acknowledge the
permits of the other states for no apparent reason. Political.
Gun Data and Evidence
• There are well over 6 million CCW permit holders in all 50 states.
• The US is the most armed country with 1 gun per person.
• In 2007 U.S. citizens owned 270 million of the world's 875 million
known firearms. About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns
manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United
States. Only about 12 percent of civilian weapons are thought to be
registered with authorities.
• In 2009, the estimated total number of firearms available to civilians
in the United States increased to approximately 310 million: 114
million handguns, 110 million rifles, and 86 million shotguns.
Gun Data Cont.
• Per capita, the civilian gun stock has roughly doubled since 1968, from
one gun per every two persons to one gun per person.
• Retail prices of guns vary widely, from $75 or less for inexpensive,
low-caliber handguns to more than $10,000 for higher-end, standardproduction rifles and shotguns.
• What does this mean? If someone wants a gun, they will get a gun.
• The best way to curb the negative aspects of guns is to fully regulate
them and to ensure a legal avenue to own and register them.
Gun Violence Facts
• The decline in gun homicides comes as U.S. firearm sales are
skyrocketing. After holding stable at 8.5 to 9 million checks from 1999
to 2005, the FBI reported a surge to 10 million in 2006, 11 million in
2007, nearly 13 million in 2008 and more than 14 million last year, a
55 percent increase in just four years.
• The highest gun homicide rate is in Washington, D.C., which has had
the nation’s strictest gun-control laws for years and bans concealed
carry: 20.50 deaths per 100,000 population, five times the general
rate.
• The lowest rate, 1.12, is in Utah, which has such a liberal concealed
weapons policy that most American adults can get a permit to carry a
gun in Utah without even visiting the state.
CCW and Gun Violence
• Valid studies of the effects of more concealed weapons permits on
firearms deaths could be obtained by studying shooting deaths that
involved only concealed-carry permit holders.
• Such data is not collected by most law enforcement agencies and not
compiled nationally. A national CCW bill could force each state to
compile these statistics so we could have a better idea. Presently,
figures are all over the place.
• Law enforcement agencies also do not collect information on the
number of times civilians use firearms to defend themselves or their
property against attack.
• So what do we know? Concealed carry states on average had lower
violent crime rates (22%) than states that did not have such laws.
Vehicle: The Right-to-Carry
Reciprocity Act of 2013 (H.R. 2959)
• The bill would allow any person who is not prohibited from
possessing or receiving a firearm under federal law and who has a
valid, concealed firearm permit to carry a concealed handgun in any
state that issues its own residents permits to carry concealed
firearms. Persons carrying a handgun in another state pursuant to
H.R. 2959 would be subject to the laws of that state with respect to
where concealed firearms may be carried.
• H.R. 2959 would not create a federal licensing system, nor authorize
the federal government to interfere with the powers of the states to
set standards for the issuance of carry permits, nor establish federal
standards for carry permits, nor override state laws allowing for the
carrying of firearms without a permit. Rather, it would simply require
the states to recognize each others’ carry permits.
My Proposal
• H.R. 2959 is similar to what I want; however, I feel like it is unlikely to
succeed with the Democrats. I propose an amendment to the bill.
• I would like for the bill to be amended requiring either: a. a
mandatory 3 day wait period for all firearm purchases and/or b. a
portion of the revenue generated from the issuance of these permits
should go to firearm training and education programs and mental
health services for the states.
• Additionally, the states should be compelled to gather statistics on
infractions or violence specifically at the hand of CCW permit holders.
• I believe these amendments would make the bill far more palatable to
the Democrats in both the house and senate.
Arguments
• The Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment protects
an individual right to keep and bear arms for defensive purposes. In
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Court ruled that “the
inherent right of self-defense has been central to the Second
Amendment right” throughout U.S. history, and that the Second
Amendment protects “the individual right to possess and carry
weapons in case of confrontation.” In McDonald v. City of Chicago
(2010), the Court ruled that the protections of the Second
Amendment extend to infringements under state and local laws.
Arguments
• The Seventh and Ninth Circuits, among other courts, have affirmed
that the individual right protected by the Second Amendment
includes the carrying of firearms in public for self-defense. In the
2012 case of Shepard v. Madigan, authored by Judge Richard
Posner, the court ruled that the “confrontations” of which the
Supreme Court wrote in Heller “are not limited to the home.”
The court accordingly held, “A right to bear arms thus implies a
right to carry a loaded gun outside the home.”
Arguments
• Statistics are not readily available for every state, but those that
are tend to show that citizens with carry permits are more lawabiding than the general public. In Florida, the state that has issued
the most concealed firearm carry permits—due to its large
population and the relatively early date of its Right-to-Carry law—
only about 0.01 percent of permits issued have been revoked
because of firearm crimes by permit holders. Other states that
keep such statistics have had similar experiences.
• Texas conducted a study and found that less than 1% of the crimes
are committed by CCW holders.
Arguments
• The right of self-defense has been recognized in law for centuries.
The Second Amendment guarantees the right of the people to keep
and bear arms for “security.” The laws of all states recognize the right
to use force in self-defense. The Supreme Court has recognized that a
person “may repel force by force” in self-defense, and is “entitled to
stand his ground and meet any attack made upon him with a deadly
weapon, in such a way and with such force” as needed to prevent
“great bodily injury or death.” Beard v. United States (1895).
Arguments
• This bill recognizes both the increased popularity of concealed carry
and the increased mobility of the U.S. population. The current
patchwork of state and local laws and reciprocity arrangements can
prove daunting and confusing for even the most conscientious and
well-informed concealed carry permit holders. People carrying in
good faith and strictly for defensive purposes have been arrested and
subjected to prosecution for inadvertent violations, sometimes as a
result of voluntarily disclosing their possession of firearms to law
enforcement officers.
Policy Paramours: Sponsors
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Richard Nugent (R-Florida)
Co-sponsored Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act
Opposes restricting gun purchase & possession.
Votes to loosen restrictions on interstate gun purchases.
Nugent is a member of the Tea Party Caucus and believes that Communists
are a "national security threat.”
• NRA Grade: A+
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Jim Matheson (D-Utah)
Voted YES on prohibiting product misuse lawsuits on gun manufacturers.
National cross-state standard for concealed carry.
Voted to teach kids Eddie Eagle GunSafe's lifesaving message. “The NRA’s
Smokey the Bear”
• Allow veterans to register unlicensed guns acquired abroad.
• Ban gun registration & trigger lock law in Washington DC.
• NRA Grade: B+
Republicans on Board
• Most.
• The most anti-gun Republican is Mark Kirk of Illinois, the only
member of the GOP to vote for the assault weapons ban and
for the ban on high-capacity clips. Additionally, he was the
only Republican to vote against an expansion of concealedcarry rights.
Democrats on Board
• Sen. Jon Tester (MT)
• NRA Grade: A
• Supported nationwide concealed-carry reciprocity H.R. 822, the National
Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2011.
• Co-sponsored D.C. Personal Protection Act to repeal an assortment of
draconian gun laws in the District of Columbia.
• Voted yes on Department of State’s International Aid bill to prohibit foreign
entities (such as the United Nations) from regulating or taxing Americans’
firearms.
• Voted yes on allowing firearms in checked luggage on Amtrak trains
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Rep. Ron Kind (WI)
NRA Grade: D
Co-chair of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus;
Voted yes on Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act;
Supports nationwide concealed-carry reciprocity;
Co-sponsored Firearms Interstate Commerce Reform Act;
Co-sponsored D.C. Personal Protection Act.
Governmental Stake Holders
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Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
National Governors Association
Department of Justice
Border Patrol/Homeland Security
Sen Committee on the Judiciary’s Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee
FBI
Sherriff’s Offices
Mayors Against Illegal Guns
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Non-Governmental Stake
Holders
Congressional Sportman’s foundation,
Cease fire
NRA
The Second Amendment Foundation
Opencarry.org
Violence Policy Center
Gun/ammunition manufacturers
CCW instructors
National Shooting Sports Foundation
Independent Firearms Owners Association
Liberal Gun Owners Association
National Association for Gun Rights
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence
Marketing
• The law should be marketed not as anything new, just an efficiency
bill to make the present laws more uniform.
• Get stake holders to rally around the bill, especially the Democrats.
• Use the powerful NRA lobby.
• Blast the decrease in crime vs. increase in permit/gun sales statistics
on various news outlets.
References
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/09/us-usa-guns-illinois-idUSBRE9680ZB20130709
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http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/03/21/number-of-concealed-carry-permits-grows-to-13500/
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http://www.nraila.org/news-issues/fact-sheets/2013/hr2959.aspx?s=&st=&ps=
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http://www.nbcnews.com/id/34714389/ns/us_news-life/t/record-numbers-licensed-pack-heat/#.U0LfqMcRG4
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http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/08/28/us-world-firearms-idUSL2834893820070828
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http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/hotline/2009/07/defeat-of-thune-amendment-runs-afoul-of.php
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http://www.gunsandammo.com/2012/09/12/8-surprisingly-pro-gun-democrats/
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/do-concealed-weapon-laws-result-in-lesscrime/2012/12/16/e80a5d7e-47c9-11e2-ad54-580638ede391_blog.html
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http://www.beaufortobserver.net/Articles-NEWS-and-COMMENTARY-c-2012-12-22-264494.112112-Texasstudy-Concealed-carry-permit-holders-commit-less-than-1-of-the-crimes.html
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http://www.beaufortobserver.net/Articles-NEWS-and-COMMENTARY-c-2012-12-22-264494.112112-Texasstudy-Concealed-carry-permit-holders-commit-less-than-1-of-the-crimes.html