I'm from Ohio, and I too hope the the large movement currently going on there get's the proposed law passed. (Even though I'm currently stationed in NM, I hope to move back some day). I lived in Florida for 4 years and I think they have a very good CCW law. Everyone should copy it.

I'm not sure that we shouldn't require something more than a "saftey / proficency course" though. Just because you passed the course doesn't mean your responsible. Current and Former Military, and Law Enforcement have had Firearms responsibility drilled into them for years, I think we should come up with a way to ensure civilians have had that kind of training and experiance.

On the other hand, the types of people who typically apply for a CCW license have had a life long interest in and experiance with firearms anyway,.

 

"I don't believe a SAM is classified as a firearm" - 2nd amendment says "arms", defined in dictionary as "weapons". The SAM is certainly a weapon so my question stands. The very short reference to "arms" in the second amendment has been picked apart over and over and will never be settled. Many argue that it means much more than it says in plain English. My point is that a line must be drawn somewhere, and I hope the NRA will use its great power to help find that line.
Dono

 

Well there is a line. The government requires you to have an FFL for those kind of weapons. Class 1 - 7 Class 1 allows you sell and store large amounts of firearms and ammunition. Class 7 allows you to trae Nuclear Weapons on the free market system. I don't know what the others are. If you want to go through the process you can definetly own a SAM, don't even think that for one minute that the ATF isn't going to breathe down your neck though.

 

Theo - disregard this, yesterday he was voting for me.
Dono

 

Here in Oregon in order to qualify for a CWP you not only must pass a thorough background check, you must go to an NRA sponsored class that not only teaches you how to handle a weapon but also how to handle them in deferent situations. My Dad had to go through this class, I believe it was a 4 or 6 hour class, and was very impressed at the material that was covered. I didn't need to attend the class for my permit but I still had to pass the background check including being fingerprinted and having a mug shot, if you will, on file. So I feel confident that anyone who has a concealed permit is not a danger to society.

I agree with what was posted earlier about being able to spot those carrying and being comforted by knowing it. Around here one would have to be a fool to think they could get away with a robbery or personal attack without looking down the end of a barrel.

About 10 years ago I was driving to work through a neighborhood and noticed several people standing on their lawns, one holding a video camera. I thought "what's going on".
Then I see what they are watching and calmly video taping.
A man was out on his front lawn beating the S**T out of his wife with a baseball bat!!

I quickly stop, jump out and tackle this S.O.B. But after I flew over him he got back up and hit me in the shoulder with the bat, barely missing my head. I ran back to the truck and grab my P90.
I held it up and ordered him to throw the bat down. He was in such a rage, his face all red, he hit her with the bat again and started to hit her again when I put an end to it.

I still can't believe that those people were standing around, both men and women, just standing there watching this man beat this woman to death! He would have killed her if I hadn't stopped. The police confiscated the video and I never saw or heard of it again.

This woman suffered several broken ribs, a bruised spleen and a broken hand in this altercation. It came out that she had an affair and her husband found out and just went crazy. She later thanked me up and down for stepping in when I did. She still sends me Holiday cards to this day. That, to me, makes it easier to deal with what had to be done that day and if the need ever arises again.

Bill_Beyer - Please don't take it personal when I say in this case waiting for the police like those neighbors did, is incomprehensible, a woman would have been murdered.

Of coarse it wasn't easy dealing with it afterwards but the woman and the police sure made it a lot easier. Yes I am an NRA member and still carry that P90 and am damned proud of it.

 

90f150moneypit,

From your account it sounds like you absolutely did the right thing in that situation. The guy was brandishing a lethal weapon and you were in fear for not only your own life but the life of the woman. Personally my hat's off to you for having the guts to do it, I'm sure it wasn't an easy decision to make.

All I was trying to say in my post was that in many cases the distinctions between 'good guys' and 'bad guys' or 'life threatening' and merely 'dangerous' are more ambiguous. Let's say in your example the guy didn't have a baseball bat, let's say he was using his hands or even fists to beat his wife, you decide to intervene and he throws a punch at you, do you go back and get your gun?

Another example, you're walking through a dark parking lot and you see 3 punks beating another man on the ground. You decide to investigate and yell at them to knock it off. One of the men turns around, pulls a gun, throws a shot at you that misses or even hits you but doesn't incapacitate you then all 3 take off running. Do you pull out your weapon and start shooting? Do you run after them and shoot the one with the gun? Are you in fear for your life now that they've left the scene?

You undoubtedly know better than I do having been in the situation what kinds of questions will be asked during the subsequent investigation. I'm not trying to say that anyone who decides to carry a concealed weapon should hesitate to use it when the situation warrants, I just feel it's important to maintain some perspective on the situation and avoid the 'I've got my CCW so I've got a license to kill' attitude.

 

Actually in Oregon you can shoot someone if they are threatening you with deadly force or using Force (not deadly) in the comission of a crime. Someone just trying to beat someone up and take their wallet you would be legal to shoot.

Obviously that case was deadly force but it is not necessary in this state that that requirement be met before responding with deadly force.

 

That's a very good point. It is not a license to kill, it's a permit to carry a weapon. What one does, must be held accountable for their own actions.

Of coarse evey situation is different. But the one thing that should always be common; and I would hope everyone does, do everything you can without the gun FIRST. The use of a gun should ALWAYS be the last option. There is no turning back once you've used it.

Armed or unarmed, I strongly believe If you are a witness to an assualt of any kind, one shouldn't just call the police and wait for them to handle it. By the time they show up it could be too late.
If you have to get in their face and yell at them or pick up a rock to throw it at them, that's better than doing nothing at all.

Sometimes a good butt kicking is all it takes. lol

 

NM just passed a cc law it requires a background check and a firearms class, plus a 100 dollar a tear fee, where i live population of about 30,000 including the county, we are 170 plus miles from any other cities for major shopping there is no towns between here and el paso hobbs 76, roswell 78, the expanses out here are so great that there is no 911 call thats going to get you a cop if your in trouble, i have had firearms since a could walk but never gave much thought to a carry untill my daughter was raped by 4 inviduals in this small town, now in each of my vehicles there is some type of firearm, also our little burg has become a pipeline for drugs out of texas and mexico, robbery is on the rise to the elderly in the county, and a young girl was just found beaten to death and left in a hay field, iam a ff paramedic the pts i am begining to see are more from violent crime than the usall medical calls, ibelieve when the criminals dont know whose carring and who isnt that in and of itself is a deterrent, out here we still rely on ourselves and our nieghbors, when you look at our county about 4900 square miles only 4 sherriffs on at a time 1 state police officer and 8 city officers, the help you might need is a long way off

 

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.


Whether it is concealed or not WE ( THE PEOPLE ) are the regulated militia, and therefore it is actually our duty to excercise our right to carry arms! Liberals and the like tend to disagree with the truth, I kive in New Jersey, I know!

 

I agree in part with pretty much all the posts. I live in Nevada and recently moved out of Vegas to a small town in a different county. We have the right to carry here, and I witnessed in my first week here an older man, looked a lot like Santa Clause shopping at our local grocery store with a 45 on his hip. When I went to my car there was a guy trying to carjack an older lady. And he(the santa looking fello) went running over to help. The would be thief pulled out a fake 9mm and was shot twice by the old man. I had to stay for a witness and was talking with the old man and I know that I feel safer here knowing that there are people here like him that will come to my or my familys defense.

Myself I have a Chec 8mm rifle and use it for target shooting, but it would definatly come out if someone ever came into my home. Luckly that is the only crime I have seen in the past year.
Whenever I go shooting it sits up on my dash in plain sight with the ammo on the pass. seat. Once I forgot to take it in the house and was pulled over with it up there, the officer just wanted to check it out, I had the orig bayonet on it and we sat there discussing guns for almost 30 min. I feel better with officers like that , rather than ones that would harass me because I have a gun in my truck.

I too have noticed that people are less likely to start a scuffel when they don't know if you are carrying or if you have one in plain sight. I also feel that CCWs are distributed in a very cautious manner around here, background check, training and I was told that we are required to attend periodic(?) classes and checks here now. Myself I don't feel the need to conceal a weapon but like I said , live in a small town and have only sene one crime sence I moved here.

Just my opinion, and now I will stop flapping my gums.

Like I saw on someones sig.(sorry I don't remember who)
LAND OF THE FREE, BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE

 

Man, I just don't know. I agree with the right, but sometimes I don't think it's a good idea. Like when you're driving down the highway in your new car and some idiot cuts you off and then stops, causing you to veer to the right and bouncing your car off of a concrete divider, just kind of makes you want to shoot somebody. I guess they need to take evaluations on people, test their fuse, could you see somebody like Bill Romanowski with a loaded weapon in Oakland. That's just not right. Nothing against Bill, I like his attitude, it just doesn't go well with firearms.

 

> have only sene one crime sence I moved here.

You can bet you will see a little less now too.

 

Heres where the background check comes in. If your dumb enough to shoot somebody for smackin up your car.....i'm willing to bet that you've been dumb enough to get caught doing something less violent earlier in your life.