Here in MA your handgun MUST be conceled, but there are a few different "classes" of licences which regulates what you can carry. Me, I was smart got the class A and can carry any thing but AK-47

 

Law makers are watching other states very closely, and all the fears mentioned here have not come to pass in any of the states that allow concealed carry. The figures I last got from the feds showed that of many thousands of issued permits in the country, less than 1/1000 % have had any legal assessment for misuse, and even fewer have been revoked. Having a concealed weapon does not make somebody a raving nutter - the majority of persons who react badly to situations, and have flaring tempers cannot get a licence, because of their violent history. I teach firearm use safety and law, and will not pass someone (in other words, issue them with a training certificate, needed to apply for a permit) unless they actuall know the law, and know where they cannot carry. None of the persons I have dealt with, concerning issuance of firearm permits has ever been investigated for wrongful use, of been revoked.

That is a pretty good track record..

Also, Having lived in Southern Colorado for a while, I got to know the people there who carry all of the time - dtpatt2, you will be interested to know that hundreds of the residents south of Denver have held concealed weapons permits for many years, myself having been one of them. I am still a member of a shooting club, based in Castle Rock, that has 400 members, most of whom are local, and all having concealed weapon permits. So you probably see armed people all of the time, without realizing it. But the crooks know this, and stay away.

Theo

 

When I was a kid my dad used to take me with him on hunting / drinking expiditions he always wore a side arm and I believe you still can here in Wis. I havent been into it for several years , grew up with lots of different weapons and I am quite profficent, but I wonder how long before they take the right to bear/ own arms. They seem lately to be ripping up our constitional rights in the name or terrorisim these rights were hard won but apparently they see them as a threat , wonder why?

 

well i cant conceal my mod 629 im only 5'7" 150 lbs but i take it every where i go. and if you ever go into grizzly territory its pretty much common sense to pack a pistol with some power not pepper spray and here in the middle of griz country anything less than a 44 is suicide. JMO

 

Im in the same boat, mt4rusty. I carry my pepper spray, which I have used just once, and my S&W 629 DX .44 Magnum. Which I have never used. At first I never trusted the spray, I have new respect for it. However, I don't think its really feasible if you had to use it in a situation where the wind was blowing, a common thing here. I don't intend to conceal my firearm, if I have to use it, I want it out as quickly as possible. Yes I have taken a safety course, I teach hunter safety classes here in Billings. I have taken Handgun safety classes too.

Someone mentioned that some people get out of hand when they drink and some people have short fuses too. Those kinds of people are the types that would not get approved for a CWP.

I like to talk about gun control to anybody that curiously asks. Florida is one of the best examples I can think of when it comes to CWP. Prior to 1986 they had the highest crime rate in the nation, something like 11.8 per 100,000 compared with 7.8 per 100K for the rest of the country. After they instituted the law(1987), by 1993 their crime rate had fallen to 8.7 with the rest of the country at 9.3. This is similar to what happens around the rest of the country when CWP laws are implemented. THink about California's crime problem. I don't have any stats so I won't bore you.

Somebody also asked if anybody had ever been in that kind of danger. I have, when I was 14 we moved onto the Fort Peck Indian reservation. In the three years we had been broken into 11 times. 8 times the intruder was welcomed with a Mossberg 500 12 guage. They promptly left and I never intended to shoot anyone. I never wnated to either. 3 times the intruder didn't want to leave, I had to look for an alternative, I knocked them out with an aluminum baseball bat. I would never kill anyone who was that drunk. It has to be self defense. By the way it doesn't take much to knock out a drunk man. I knew they were just looking for money to buy booze and drugs. Hopefully no one here ever turns up that way. Its a terrible life to live. My mom worked as an ER nurse in Wolf Point, she saw some pretty bad things that resulted from fights and such. I believe I have earned the predjudice I have against Native Americans.

 

I'm here in Oregon also and have one as well. Walking around railroad yards and such at night you run into some interesting folks to say the least. I think every state should have our type of "Must Issue" law in which the county sherriff must give you a permit if you are a law abiding citizen. Why keep guns out of the hands of us honest folk when the criminals by definition don't follow the law anyway.

 

I put down that I wasn't sure. I'm feeling conflicted on this issue. While I believe in my right to my own self defense, there are clearly folks out there who are NOT safe if they are walking around armed. I'll take myself as the first example- right now, my wife and I are in our forties, I think she and I would have no problem carrying. When I was 21 however, I was into drinking in a big way. Most of the time I was a real jerk, I don't think the language filter will let me use the proper words to describe myself at that time. I didn't really get over that until I was 25 or 6. But most states make their cutoffs at 21. Hopefully someone like theoBill would notice me in CC class and flunk me. But I was able to appear pretty respectable if I thought it was in my best interest. Then there is the son of some of my friends, he is 19, was home schooled, doesn't use any alcohol. He is ready now. My fear is the state would use the poor behavior of some young persons to deny other youngsters who have no problems. Frequently I think gender is a BIG issue. Lots of young men 15-30 or so seem to think getting into fistfights is a fun and neat thing to do. Add some booze and handguns and this could get ugly real fast. But most women I've met don't have the testosterone problem. So how about if we let women carry concealed if they are over 18 and the men have to carry in plain sight ? That might work, if some way could be found to write that law so that it passed constitutionality. But I wouldn't want to be the one who had to write it. And what about seniors ? My wife's parents are fine, but my folks are losing a long, slow battle with age. But I fear either of them could pull it together enough to get a permit most of the time, and their criminal records are spotless. How can we assign a top age when my folks age struggling at 70 and my Uncle George is fine 86 ? And the old guy who plays the harmonica at church is 94, he is fine too. Life is complicated. DF

 

We have concealed carry here in Georgia, the crime rate dropped after implementation of the law. I have a permit for concealed carry and have only needed it once and did not have to actually use my gun- thankfully! Just for info for brokenvega -- almost no crimes have been committed by permit holders in 10+ years, like 10-15 crimes with 300,000+ permit holders, pretty good record I think.

 

Uh-Oh, MattsBox99, was that last comment really necessary? Everything to that point I can agree on. Like all races, you have your good and your bad, I am not completely Native American, but I am proud of the little bit that I am. I'm actually a MUTT: Irish, Mexican and Indian, but that doesn't mean that I am going to break into your house. If you want to vent about your history at a certain place, do it somewhere else!

No hard feelings.

 

I had to go to court for using a shovel on a drunk trespasser once , he was looking for his girlfriend and he tried to push past me at two in the morning to go in my house and look for her, I pushed him back and then his equally drunk buddy decided to help. I equalized things by using a shovel, they left and called the police and I got charged with assault the court threw it out as one was to drunk to remember and the other was thrown in jail for other charges and couldn't show up. I did tell him that if he ever came to my house drunk again I would solve his drinking problem permanently, drunk and stupid is still stupid, and if you get yourself killed doing something stupid while drunk, oh well.
My little brother drank himself to death, I don't drink and I just don't accept drunkness or substance abuse as an excuse.

 

I live in Texas and we are a concealed handgun state too. I believe in the law. I also think that an armed society is a polite society. I mean the bad guys are going to have them and carry them anyway, why can't the good guys (you know in the white hats) carry too? In Texas you must take an indepth course, a live fire test and pass an extensive background test. If the background test isn't clean or if you've had a felony, you don't get your license. The handgun must be concealed. I haven't heard of their being any problems with this. Most people that would be willing to take the time and go thru such extensive background checks are not the ones we have to worry about anyway. I would much rather somebody be packing and save my life if necessary or be able to save themselves than to be in a situation without it. They pretty much stress to shoot to kill, because if you aren't trying to kill them, then you must not have been in enough danger to use the deadly force. Even with the law, most banks, federal buildings and all have signs posted that say they do not allow concealed handguns. All in all, I think it has been a positive thing in Texas.

 

Hell YEAH!

 

In PA getting a permit is determined by the county, but good throughout the state. I Have a conceal permit and I almost always have a weapon on me. I have been in a couple of situations where I would have been justified in pulling, if not using my weapon but I didn't use it. I think the people who get these permits understand that just because you have the gun, you don't have to use it. It is a last resort and most people appreciate the repercussions of using a weapon and will only do so if it is absolutely necessary.

As far as the hot-heads go, a few of my friends who would fall into that category carry weapons and none have had any problems. I also have a temper myself and I think that knowing I have the means to kill someone has made me walk away from some situations that I probably wouldn't have if the stakes were only a few bumps and bruises.

Finally, I go to night school in Pittsburgh, and though I have never had a problem there, walking to my car after midnight sometimes makes me glad that I do have a way to protect myself. I am all for carry permits and I think that responsible people should take it upon themselves to ensure their own safety.

As for the rest, criminals and those that cannot be trusted, you cannot govern based on the most negative assumptions of people and no amount of regulation will protect us from certain types of risk.

 

I agree with Fisher. When the carry law was first passed in Texas there was an outcry about the mass of shootings that would take place - didn't happen. Just after the law was passed, two guys had a traffic altercation and one very large guy went up to the door of the other guy's pickup, grabbed his shirt and started beating his face. The guy taking the beating (had a cerry permit) shot and killed his attacker and was no-billed on charges. I really believe that attacks like that decrease because of the possibility that the other guy might be armed. Experience here shows that carriers understand the responsibility that goes with the permit.
Dono

 

i have a concealed permit and ya bet ya life i carry a gun never know when a situation will arrise when its a shoot or be shot situation