"An armed society is a polite society." Because people have to be stupid, crazy, or on drugs to start shit when everyone might be packing heat.

Thank god no one in this country is stupid, crazy, or on drugs.

Also Gun Industry: "We like fear! More people buy guns!"

No shit.

Yeah, I don't need to walk around packing. People doing that will just lead to unnecessary conflict. I just need one at home for when we decide it's time to deal with the fascists.

Concealed carry or not, your shit is all fucked up if you find yourself in a situation where you wish you were armed. But if you are armed, you might not also die.

In my state it's illegal to have a concealed pistol without a CPL yet I can guarantee you nearly every week we get another shooting near nightclubs from someone unlicensed and nearly every other day another murder in our highest poverty stricken areas by someone who has obtained a firearm illegally.

The laws are not working if no one is enforcing them and our courts just spit the criminals back out into the streets.

We’ll just head back to Wild West days.

In South Africa, it is illegal to open carry, unless you are a police officer or security guard. So citizens are required to conceal carry. Yet in the rural areas where I am from, most of the firearm carrying people prefer to open carry, they feel it is a deterrent and easier to reach.

It's really weird how everyone in America, what I assume we are referring to, wants to conceal carry because the government does not want you to, and here in SA we want to do the opposite because of what the government wants.

PS this is my opinion from personal experience, maybe a lot more are carrying but I do not see them.

Stat is old, from 2018. Pre-pandemic. Pre-George Floyd.

""In the 2018 multigenerational study, respondents were asked to finish this open-ended statement: “People legally carrying concealed guns makes me feel …” Overall, 57 percent of non-gun owners said “less safe,” while another 27 percent said “no impact.” Meanwhile, 28 percent of gun owners specifically said they felt “less safe,” on top another 27 percent who said they felt “no impact.” That meant, the researchers noted, that despite the prominence of concealed carry, a majority of gun owners “still don’t feel safer.”"

I can say, as a concealed carry permit holder, yeah, I feel safer. But then, my city has been under seige and the cops not only do nothing, they actively work with the people beseiging the city:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/disturbing-texts-between-oregon-police-far-right-group-prompts-investigation-n972161

https://www.opb.org/article/2022/07/14/portland-police-investigation-clears-officer-who-joined-oath-keepers-militia/

https://theintercept.com/2021/08/23/portland-police-proud-boys-protest/

As for the new legislation being discussed, the "forced reciprocity", not necessarily an awful idea.

For example:

Oregon and Washington share a border, but a concealed carry permit in one is not valid in the other. There is no reciprocity between Oregon and Washington.

So it's on me, as a responsible gun owner, to plan ahead. "Am I going to Vancouver, WA today?" If I happen to be carrying, I need to be mindful that I do not cross the river into Vancouver.

I COULD contact the Clark County sheriff and get a WA permit, but to be honest, I don't go to Vancouver often enough to merit that.

Where it gets squishy is states like Idaho which have no restrictions. "Are you 18? Can you legally own a gun?" that's pretty much it for concealed carry.

So under the new federal legislation, if it's legal for you in your home state, it's legal for you in ALL states. But home states that don't require registration are going to cause problems in states that do.

no shit

That's what they're going for. Fear sells guns and keeps fascists in power.

…and Other Obvious Facts by Captain Obvious

😲

Gun nuts HATE being reminded of this, but historically carrying a concealed weapon was considered cowardly and something only a criminal would do. Because of that it was common for the practice to be illegal.

Good.

Make those elitist corporate executives feel uncomfortable. Make those billionaires fear you. Make those MAGA dipshits who don't believe in your personal choices should be allowed, make them be scared of you.

Make the conservatives who constantly vote against your interests and want to erase you and your culture because it makes their magic sky wizard angry, make them all fear you.

They won't stop unless you deter them with promises of violence, which is what the fucking point of being armed is supposed to do.

If these fascists dont have fear in the consequences of their decisions or actions, they will continue to erode your rights.

They won't fucking stop, get it through your scared pacifist head that you need to buy a gun yesterday and carry it proudly at every protest.

Maybe the people who should be afraid of concealed handguns are the criminals who might be shot by them. That's the whole point. Defensive gun usage statistics are sparse whether due to people being scared to report what may be seen as a crime on their part, or it not being a tracked statistic in their jurisdiction.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulhsieh/2018/04/30/that-time-the-cdc-asked-about-defensive-gun-uses/

You don’t say…

While I agree with the headline...

I didn't make it past for the first paragraph:

For as long as there has been a gun-rights movement, the movement’s leaders, industry representatives, and academic supporters have argued that carrying firearms made Americans more secure.

You can't write about this history without acknowledging it's a relatively recent development.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolt_at_Cincinnati

There was never a grass roots "gun rights" movement. Firearm lobbyists took over the NRA in the late 70s. Prior to that every gun organization and even the guy who made the AR15 was against normalized CCW.

To carry a gun you need to be conscious of the fact that you have a gun. So every conflict happens with that thought. You can't risk a fistfight, because they may get your gun.

It escalates every single confrontation to potentially deadly.