Legal Gun Concealment Scares the Hell Out of Me

The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting is one in a long list of shootings that has prompted discussion on gun control. Some calling for stricter gun control laws. While, others fight hard against any changes to the existing gun laws. Regardless of what changes, if any, to the gun control laws that are currently on the books, there will always be someone owning a gun. Which leaves people at the mercy of the gun owner to be a sane and responsible gun owner. For the sane part, hopefully, existing gun laws are designed to keep guns out of the hands of insane people. The second part is a tricky one to pin down. Yes, there are very responsible gun owners out there, but there are also a lot of people who use guns irresponsibly. The Internet is full of video capturing people acting stupidly with guns.

Some people like David Waldman of the Daily Kos have tweeted incidents of gun accidents. On the Daily Kos, he compiled and categorized a list of accidents since the beginning of 2013. ^[1]

For the most part, I believe I can stay clear of the stupid people with guns. Other categories of accidents, I can also avoid. For example, I am not a hunter, so I will never, knowingly, place myself in a situation, where I could be a victim of a hunting shooting accident. However, there are a few categories that may still put myself or my family harm’s way of an accidental shooting. The first is gun ownership by friends of the family. Before my son goes over a friend’s house, we always discuss gun ownership among other things with his friend’s parents. For the most part, accidents of this nature can also be avoided.

This still leaves one type of legal gun ownership, which is completely out of my control, and there is nothing I can do to avoid it. This is legal gun concealment, or Conceal Carry Weapon (CCW) permits, and it scares the heck out of me. Of course, making concealment of a gun illegal would solve this one, but I don’t see that ever happening in America. You may ask, why it scares me, as it should make me feel safer. There is nothing comforting about someone packing a gun, without me knowing about it. Here’s why: accidents happen, people get drunk, people get in arguments, and people are not trained for the tense situations of a shooting.

Accidents

Accidents do happen. Even the best trained people can, at times, have moments of being like Deputy Barney Fife, who had to keep his only bullet in the shirt of his pocket, to keep him from shooting himself in the foot. There are far more lesser trained people out there and knowing they may have a gun in their pocket or purse just does not sit well with me.

In Ohio, there was an incident in a conceal carry weapon class. A CCW student accidentally shot two other CCW students with one bullet. They were in a class to gain a CCW permit. ^[2] People, who carry concealed weapons are not all experts in handling the weapons they carry, and even with the most careful people, accidents do happen.

At the start of this year, there was a man with a valid concealed weapon permit that shot his wife, while dining at a restaurant in Lenexa, Kansas.

Police said the two were sitting across from each other in a booth about 8:15 p.m. Jan. 2 when the man reached into his front pants pocket and accidentally discharged a small pistol, striking his wife in the leg just above the knee. She was treated at a hospital and released. ^[3]

This woman was very lucky, indeed. Just a bit higher and she would have been struck in vital organs. Even in a restaurant, enjoying dinner with your family, we are in danger of an accidental shooting from a concealed weapon carrier.

Altered States of Mind

Statistics show when there is a reduction in guns in homes, there is also a reduction in suicides. The reason for this is obvious. When in an unstable state of mind, if there is a gun available, it may be used. If there is no gun available, there is no possibility of using one. The same is true with domestic argument shootings.

This can apply to the mental state of a CCW person, as well. Just as heated arguments between spouses can turn deadly, when there is a gun present in the home, an angry CCW person can turn their gun on an innocent person. Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” gun law is particularly frightening, because it leads people to think that they can use their gun at any provocation. This last December there was an incident in a Little Caesar’s pizza parlor in Florida.

Police said the incident unfolded about 4 p.m. inside the Little Caesars, 3463 Fourth St. N, after Randall White, 49, got mad about his service. Another man in line, Michael Jock, 52, of St. Petersburg admonished White. That “prompted them to exchange words and it became a shoving match,” said police spokesman Mike Puetz. White raised a fist. Jock, a concealed-weapons permit holder, pulled out a .38 Taurus Ultralight Special Revolver. He fired one round, hitting White in the lower torso. The men grappled and the gun fired again, hitting White in roughly the same spot, police said. One bullet lodged in a wall in the restaurant, which was occupied by at least two other people. … Police arrested Jock on charges of aggravated battery with a weapon and shooting within a building. He was released from jail on $20,000 bail. ^[4]

There were two other people in the pizza parlor, when the gun discharged twice during the argument and subsequent struggle. Either of these two people, who had nothing to do with the argument, could have been shot. Their only fault would have been being in the wrong place at the wrong time. When a gun is drawn, you never know what is going to happen. Drawing his weapon, Randall White turned a potentially harmful situation into a potentially deadly situation.

Anyone who has seen sporting rivals compete against each other knows that alcohol and anger don’t mix. I have attended enough Giants vs. Dodgers games to see fights break out in the stands between fans. It is no wonder that weapons are not allowed at sporting events. Can you imagine angry fans with guns in a crowded stadium? The Internet provides us with plenty of incidents of angry fans and guns. There are even quite a few that get captured on video and posted on YouTube.

In West Philadelphia, two people were shot, when fans began quarreling on a train.

Lt. John Walker says the shooting late Wednesday on the Market-Frankford El happened after a dispute over the 76ers loss to the Chicago Bulls earlier in the night. Walker says a 35-year-old Bulls fan quarreled with two younger males before being shot as his assailants exited the train at 46th street in West Philadelphia. A second man who and tried to calm things down was shot in the leg. ^[5]

Alcohol or drugs alters one’s mental state and reduces one’s normal inhibitions, and carrying a weapon while intoxicated is a dangerous and volatile mixture. Granted, CCW permits prohibit carrying while drunk. People drink and drive, so I imagine there are those who drink and carry. There is a multitude of drunken shooting incidents from shooting at the neighbor’s house, shooting in the streets and New Year’s Day celebrations.

Not Trained for Tense Shooting Situations

Even in cases where a gun may be needed still scares the heck out of me. Recently, the local newspaper had an article that explored whether the “good guys” having guns actually makes them and their families safer. The article cited David Hemenway, director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, who said that often “drawing guns ostensibly for self-defense actually escalates gun violence that otherwise might have ended more peacefully or safely.” indicating that the action of pulling a gun out in self-defense will turn tense situations into deadly situations. ^[6] In tense situations were there is a threat of violence, the situation is made more dangerous, by a person drawing a weapon in self-defense. Often, a drawn weapon is turned around to be used on the person who drew it. If a gun is drawn on a violent person, who has been violent before, what do you think they are going to do? Undoubtedly, they are going to go on the attack. I do not relish the thought of being caught in the crossfire, where the situation may have ended less violently, if the “good guy” with a gun did not draw their weapon.

Furthermore, most people are not trained to handle tense situations that could rapidly escalate to violence. Police officers are trained in how to use a weapon in situations where there are innocent bystanders. People, who get CCW gun permits, are not. I do not want my family to be the victims of an honest mistake made by an inexperienced conceal carry weapon owner.

In the end, we mush ask are we truly safer with people carrying guns? I defer the answer to this question to the experience of a former police chief.

“After 45 years in law enforcement, I’ve had a lot more calls where a gun was misused, obtained by a child, used in the heat of a domestic dispute — a lot more of those calls than of a homeowner defending themselves,” said Craig Steckler, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police who retired as Fremont’s police chief last month. “When you balance it all out, the minuses of having a gun, on the precept that you’re going to defend yourself, outweigh the pluses.” ^[7]

 In all practicality, all the mishaps of gun ownership outweighs that one time that a gun might save your life. We could make people with CCW permits wear bright orange vests that have these words on them, “WARNING! I am carrying a concealed weapon. I may be a hazardous to your health.”