Time for Concealed Carry

Here, here.

It is time Wisconsin adopt some form of a right-to-carry law.

Wisconsin is one of only two states left in the Union that does not grant its citizens the right to carry a concealed weapon — Illinois is the other. Most of the other 48 states enacted this form of legislation within the last decade. Wisconsin needs to get with the times.

While it may seem unnerving to some to suggest putting more guns on the streets, statistics gathered from other states show more guns equal less crime. In fact, according to the National Rifle Association, 2005 U.S. Justice Department data shows states with right-to-carry laws, on average, have 22 percent lower total violent crime rates and a 30 percent lower murder rate.

The fact is, criminals prefer unarmed victims. Criminals will have weapons regardless of any law meant to keep them out of their hands. Whether they attain them via the black market or through other illegal means, criminals — who intrinsically have no respect for law in the first place — will find a way to arm themselves if they really want to. If citizens are disarmed by law, what is left? By definition, all law-abiding citizens would then be disarmed, leaving only the criminals with weapons.

Why punish law-abiding citizens by depriving them of the right to carry while thugs roam the streets fully armed and fully conscious that no one has the power to defend himself? Failure to enact a right-to-carry law in Wisconsin only harms good, honest Wisconsinites. After all, as Plato said, “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.”