Madison Mayor Soglin “Citizens Do Not Need To Carry Guns”
From Mayor Paul Soglin’s blog comes common sense in these truly insane times.
It is no secret that this law is bad public policy. Citizens do not need to carry guns. However, the legislature and this Governor disagree, so we need to make sure that city employees and residents can feel safe and comfortable in city buildings. The same restrictions apply to bus shelters, transfer stations and park shelters.
As Madison residents, you too are able to post a sign at your home. Apartment and condo residents need to post for their individual units, but a building owner can post that weapons are prohibited in the common areas. Business owners are also able to post signs.
You can purchase a sign from the City Clerk’s Office, or download it from the city website at www.cityofmadison.com/police/concealedcarry.cfm . You can also find additional information on the website including Frequently Asked Questions about the new law and how Madison is affected.
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Tango,
This empirical back-and-forth indicates to any reasoned person that the CC data is too incomplete given the various standards as in states as designed by the NRA. Too many states have ambiguous, and crude methods to establish the effects of conceal-carry.
Logic however points the way forward. Talk to doctors who treat gun shot wounds, or law enforecement in WI who opposed CC as they now have one more thing to not be sure of when pulling a car over on the roadway.
From the Texas Dept of Public Safety website:
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/chl/convrates.htm
And an interesting thread from DU (an NRA ally?) concerning permit holders and crime:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118×155031
For a variety of reasons, not every state tracks permit holder stats and makes them public. I know here in Nebraska, when a permit holder screws up, it’s in the news instantly. Even though the Nebraska State Patrol doesn’t maintain public records (that I know of), misdeeds by permit holders aren’t filed under “top secret”, never to be revealed to the public.
Judging from what IS known though, permit holders are the most law abiding citizens in our country. I’m certain that Wisconsin’s experience will be much the same as Texas’ (and Florida’s and Michigan’s and Nebraska’s) unless you happen to believe that the typical Wisconsinite is more prone to violence and is more unstable than their Texas cousins.
So yeah, the danger posed by CCW permit holders to the general public has been greatly over-exaggerated.
Tango,
I must add that in too many states the NRA and their allies have watered down the ability to get the stats and facts on the use of CC guns in connection to crimes–and as such there is no way to say that there is “greatly over exaggerated by the opposition”. The fact is too few facts are known, and that is by the design of the NRA and those who excuse them for everything.
And yet every human being has a right to self-defense, regardless of their training or expertise.
The danger to the general public posed by permit holders is, and always has been, greatly over exaggerated by the opposition. The movement to allow legal concealed carry continues to gather momentum nationwide. I have to ask, if what the opposition so eagerly predicts had any basis in reality, wouldn’t the opposite be true? Wouldn’t we see laws curtailing legal CCW instead?
Finally, I would like to thank those who recognize in themselves an inability to control their anger and emotions and therefore choose not carry a handgun because of their irresponsible and perhaps unstable nature.
But for God’s sake, would you please quit projecting those shortcomings onto the rest of us?
Mr Lehner:
My “good fortune” to have never been a victim may be because I’ve taken reasonable measures (sans weapon) to ensure my safety (see previous post), and chose to live in an environment (Madison) where crime & frequent use of guns to make a statement, as retribution, protection, or to prove a point is infrequent.
I may take issue or feel mistreated, become angry or frustrated when my various “rights” are disregarded, but I’m unlikely to get killed or maimed.
By demanding your “right” to carry a concealed weapon, especially without any training required, I now feel a good deal less safe in some situations than previously, with no way
to anticipate where some person lacking in self control or inebriated beyond reason may decide to pull a gun.
I resent that your interpretation of this “enshrined” right endangers my safety.