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Offer concealed carry to reduce crime

All around us in this country, innocent lives are being taken – for the most part with the illegal, cruel and thoughtless use of firearms. Today our right to bear firearms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment. Regionally and locally, other controls/options are in effect. In Colorado, to my knowledge, it’s OK to carry an exposed gun on your hip in many public areas but this probably makes the viewer uneasy and so is not prevalent. A most helpful and perhaps overdue contribution to crime reduction and personal safety improvement, in my opinion, is the concealed-carry law of Colorado. Similar to the requirements for purchasing a new firearm, an applicant for concealed carry must pass a background investigation plus take a gun familiarity/training session in order to be issued the permit.

One way to gain concealed-carry publicity at minimal cost and no increased exposure to the participant is to make available a pin, sticker or license plate holder for display. This might convince a bad guy to think twice since someone might have a firearm and be prepared and trained to use it. Once familiarity of the term “concealed carry” exists and more people display it, the community could be safer without frightening the public with a legal, exposed weapon. Informal discussions with law-enforcement personnel show that this might be a meaningful deal.

Might this open the door for more crime? I don’t necessarily believe so. In fact, one of the recent murderers receiving nationwide attention was turned down for a concealed carry permit yet was able to make a private gun purchase. This reveals that adversaries might always be able to obtain guns, but concealed carry would not be a significant contributor. I hope someone with the appropriate resources pursues this idea since it can make a considerable contribution to personal safety.

Robert Wilde

Durango



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