Posted on 10/06/2005 6:41:57 PM PDT by jdege
Conceal carry laws should not include privacy provisions
By Susan MacLaughlin
When my step-dad died last spring, my family began a long process of clearing out his personal possessions. Some we gave to charity, and others, including family heirlooms, were dispersed among his children, siblings and nieces and nephews.
As we culled through his closet, I was shocked to learn that my family owned a gun. I deserve the right to at least know they have that power.
What floored me was when my mom nonchalantly asked me to take the gun out to my uncle's truck. I had never touched a gun before.
However, not wanting to make waves, I did it. And, despite being in its case, in poor repair and most importantly unloaded, I somehow worried that I'd shoot myself. I was scared throughout the minute-long walk outside to the driveway.
I never want to touch a gun again.
And I don't know if I'd want a gun in my house again, either.
Last Thursday, state Sen. Dave Zien, R-Eau Claire, and state Rep. Scott Gunderson, R-Waterford, introduced legislation that would allow people to carry concealed weapons. Zien also championed a similar bill two years ago that was vetoed by Democratic Governor Jim Doyle.
The current piece of legislation makes me nervous. I don't like the idea of not knowing if Joe Schmo walking down the street is packing or not.
What's worse is that in its current form, the legislation states this vital information about who is carrying a concealed weapon should be kept totally private - even from law enforcement.
This would mean that in situations like routine traffic stops, officers would not be able to check to see if the vehicle's owner had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Despite what the National Rifle Association says, it is in fact guns, not people alone, that kill other people. Those hired to keep us safe have a right to expect a certain degree of protection as well. We owe it to our officers to give them information about potentially dangerous situations, especially if we have it right at our fingertips.
If officers don't know who has a gun or not, they will likely have to treat everyone as if they are carrying a dangerous weapon. And really, would you blame them?
Further, the public has a right to know who is and is not carrying a concealed weapon.
Zien and Gunderson said in a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article it wouldn't be fair to those choosing to conceal weapons, because it would make them targets in criminal investigations, even if they didn't have a reason to suspect them.
You know what? Tough. If people feel the need to conceal weapons, they should expect some consequences. And maybe being questioned now and then will be one of those consequences. If they don't commit crimes, they should have little to worry about.
When we're talking about something as serious as guns - which can take a life in an instant - a free flow of information is imperative.
I understand guns are a necessary part of life. People use them to hunt. Police officers and the men and women in the armed services use them for protection. I understand the Bill of Rights guarantees we all have the right to bear arms.
I don't understand letting anybody who jumps through small hoops walk through the streets with a gun in their back pocket.
I certainly don't understand not giving the public and the police fair warning. If someone holds the power to surprise me and take my life in a matter of seconds, I deserve the right to at least know they have that power.
If people are given the choice to conceal and carry weapons, the rest of us should be given the opportunity to have an informed choice on weather or not to associate with them.
MacLaughlin is a senior print journalism major and editorial editor of The Spectator. Mac Mouths Off is a weekly column that appears every Thursday.
From the looks of that toothy, goofy, smile I would like to suggest she would be more likely to enjoy a picket fence and some apples.
I've seen it. It ain't pretty.
The one caveat I would add here (though it's not sufficient to justify the intrusion of privacy) is that if a vehicle's driver behaves in a manner inconsistent with being a super-law-abiding citizen but the vehicle's owner holds a CCW, that would increase the likelihood that the vehicle is being driven by someone other than the owner.
Waaay too many idiotic statements to know where to begin.
What you've just described here, dear, is a classic phobia: an irrational, obsessive fear. Your logical brain -- what remains of it after your liberal lobotomy -- tells you the gun can't possibly hurt you. It's not loaded. It's ensconced inside its case. It's robbed of its Jedi-like ability to alter time and space. Yet you fear it anyway, to the extent that you feel compelled to write stupid articles about your breathless experience. You're not just a ninny; you're a neurotic one.
I never want to touch a gun again.
Then don't. No one's making you.
And I don't know if I'd want a gun in my house again, either.
See above.
I don't like the idea of not knowing if Joe Schmo walking down the street is packing or not.
Now your paranoia takes the form of restrictions on other peoples' rights. That makes you not only neurotic, but sociopathic. The gun-owners aren't the problem here; you are.
What's worse is that in its current form, the legislation states this vital information about who is carrying a concealed weapon should be kept totally private - even from law enforcement.
And why is that "worse?" How does law enforcement (whoever HE is) have any right to know whether I've got a gun or not? The fact that you're nervous doesn't mean that the Constitution suddenly got rewritten.
[All comments above directed toward author, not poster.]
not to mention protoplasm...
If officers don't know who has a gun or not, they will likely have to treat everyone as if they are carrying a dangerous weapon. And really, would you blame them?>>
I don't know any officers who don't treat every contact as a potentially armed situation. Not to do so would be stupid, in the most Darwinian of senses.
I also don't see why they should have to know whether a car owner is a ccw permit holder - first, see above, second, it is established by common sense (ccw permit holders are prima facie law abiding when it comes to their weapons) and the public record that a legally carrying citizen is the least likely person an officer needs to fear.
I understand your points, all I'm saying is I want the officer to have as much info as possible. As you say; knowing I'm a CCW holder should clue him in that I'm law abiding and the least likely threat to him. I may have to change my tune if I'm ever pulled over, but in the mean time let the police know and its no one else's business (unless I want them to know).AWB
I just don't believe should be able to find out that you have a CCW just by running your plates.
???
What on earth does "legislation" have to do with Joe Schmo, or ANY criminal or ANY citizen, walking down the street with a gun in his pocket? The author is a complete moron.
I think she needs a CranialRectumotomy, it sounds like she knows where to put her head to keep her ears warm, and not scare children and small animals.
Just running a plate will get you all that except the CCW. Besides, I've heard that CCW holders aren't all that law abiding, some have been known to speed. :)
I understand your position. We'll have to agree to disagree on that point. BTW in AZ they do take complaints by CCW holders seriously, made it not the same in MI. My firearms trainer is a former police officer and he is still active with several local/county forces and always knows which officers have/had complaints from CCW's, we've even had an officer fired for hassling a CCW holder (though I think there were other issues then just the CCW permit).AWB
The solution is simple and requires no legislation whatever. The unarmed merely need to wear a brightly colored sign which says "I am not armed". Then when they see anyone not wearing such a sign, they can run away in a mindless hysterical panic. Such people have a perfect right to express their helplessness and nobody should threaten to take away that right.
It is women like this that make me ashamed of being a woman. Women like her absolutely NEVER need to be in a position of Governmental Power. EVER.
I think most cops realize that if you have gone through all the hoops and background checks to get a CCW then you are probably not a DipS*** and they know that you most likely are not a felon. So yes they might relax a little.
On our side notifying them that you are carrying is common courtesy.
Oh brother, to hear her it's as if she had been asked to carry a sack of plutonium to the truck.
"If officers don't know who has a gun or not, they will likely have to treat everyone as if they are carrying a dangerous weapon."
Guess what honey, they don't know now, and they do treat us that way.
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