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Unfortunately, gun-ownership is often seen through many different filters and perspectives. This is partly due to personal experience but often through a lens of what people think “could happen” under certain circumstances. Anti-gun media typically portray guns in a negative light but many people believe that when more lawful gun-owners exercise their right to bear by carrying a gun, the result is a more peaceful and respectful society. Robert Heinlein said:
An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.
In response to a recent article written about Alabama Senate Bill 24, I thought it would be valuable to offer an alternative perspective. This particular Bill proposes to repeal a law that requires a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Madison County Sheriff Blake Dorning opposes this proposed legislation saying that although he fully supports our right to keep and bear arms, the legislation of SB24 would be an attack on the safety of law-enforcement.
“Let our Police Officers and Deputy Sheriff’s properly do their jobs to keep concealed handguns from persons whose backgrounds include court convictions of previous violent actions where a victim has been assaulted and/or attacked,” Dorning is quoted as saying.
One of the obvious benefits of SB24 would be to lift the burdening restrictions on law-abiding citizens so they can truly exercise their 2nd Amendment right. Currently in Alabama it is illegal to carry an accessible handgun in a vehicle without a permit. This Bill will lift that restriction. Eddie Fulmer of the BamaCarry organization has a perspective that differs from Sheriff Dorning. When asked about why this Bill should be passed, Fulmer said the following:
We have looked at statistics and history from other States that have recently passed permit-less carry or “Constitutional Carry” and their officer safety has not gone down. It actually appears, in some cases, to have gone up. This is the same sad argument that the Sheriffs of those States had. In fact, when the law was implemented and those freedoms restored to the citizens, there were no adverse effects.
Mr. Fulmer went on to explain how the current laws could potentially make a criminal out of someone innocently using a family member’s vehicle that contained a firearm.
“The thing is, the people in Alabama want our rights back. The citizens in Alabama are educated and know that it’s time to give us the rights that our Founding Fathers intended. Our State motto is, ‘We dare defend our rights’ and that’s exactly what BamaCarry Incorporated is trying to do – defend our rights,” he said.
When referring to Police Departments, Fulmer also said:
The people they need to worry about the least are the law-abiding citizens and we are the one’s they are making buy permits to exercise our right. A criminal will not go buy a permit. They are not going to stand around before they rob a store and say, “First we need to go get a permit.” Criminals, are, by law, prohibited from owning or carrying or possessing a weapon.
This reiterates the fact that the Bad Guys will be “bad guys” regardless of laws that are implemented. However, those same laws and restrictions will ultimately make the Good Guys vulnerable and in many cases put good, law-abiding citizens in dangerous situations where they are unable to protect themselves.
Stick to your guns,
Dan Wos
http://www.goodgunbadguy.net
Dan Wos is an American entrepreneur, author, musician and NRA member. He is the author of ‘Good Gun Bad Guy – Behind the Lies of the Anti-Gun Radical’ The book reveals the corruption and deceit that comes from the anti-gun lobby as it attempts to vilify law-abiding, gun-owning Americans.
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