The Right to Keep and Bear Arms

GUN CONTROL – The Right To Keep and Bear Arms

Back in the 1950’s when I was a child, I can remember how our house doors were never locked and my dad would stop to help anyone stranded along the road.  He would bring them to our home to wait for a tow truck and my mom would ask if the stranded person wanted anything to eat or drink.  We never worried about them having a gun or them harming anyone.   Fast forward 65 years and it seems like every day there are more and more shootings and killings.   Just today at our local mall, a 79 year old woman was sitting in her car waiting for her daughter to come out of the store.  She had gone in the buy a birthday present for her mom who would celebrate her 80th birthday tomorrow.   Instead of celebrating her birthday, her family will be planning her funeral as she was shot and mugged while sitting in the car.  What is wrong with people, how can they be so cruel to others.  I guess we will never have an answer to that but I pray for the woman and her family and hope the perpetrator is caught and justice is served.

Every time I read or see a horrific act like this, I wonder about gun control.   Many politicians want everyone to give up their guns so we will be safe.  I question that because I don’t see the scum, the animals, the criminals or lowlifes giving up their weapons.  So if this was the case, all the hard working American citizens would turn in their guns while the robbers, shooters, criminals and murderers would continue to carry illegally.

                A few examples of concealed carry pistols.  These are usually smaller in size so they can be legally carried without being discovered.

                                   The smaller pistols can also by open carry but so can this larger style 357 in states that permit open carry.

Each state has different qualifications to obtain a carry permit which included classroom study, fire arm range training and extension background checks.   Some states have concealed carry where a permit holder can carry a pistol under their garment on hip or shoulder, not to be visible to others.  Other states have open carry when the weapon is in full site such as in a holster.

Here are a few examples of some of the different states:  In New York State, a background check takes approximately six months.  Once the individual is cleared, he or she must sit with the district judge, one on one, to explain why a carry permit is necessary.  In Indiana, all a person has to do is fill out an online application for a permit, without having any classroom or range training.   South Carolina requires 8 hours of classroom training, intensive range training before the background check is completed to be qualified for a concealed carry permit.  The state of Virginia has recently changed their gun laws. If you are not a citizen of the state, you cannot carry concealed, open or otherwise.  The weapon must be locked in a box while transporting it through the state.

Under the Constitution of the United States of America, the 2nd Amendment grants the right to keep and bear arms.  My opinion is that every state should follow the same guidelines for obtaining a weapons permit, whether it be concealed or open carry.    This is our South Carolina license plate to show support for the 2nd Amendment.

I don’t know what the answer is as far as gun control is, but I for sure will not give up my pistols and I will continue to carry to protect myself and my family.