Stearns touts concealed weapons bill
A drop in crime More support Caution
By Bill Thompson
Staff writer
Published: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 6:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 at 6:11 a.m.
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Saying Americans need a "fighting chance" to confront outlaws in a violent society, U.S. Rep Cliff Stearns has gone on the offensive to promote his bill to allow concealed-weapons permit-holders to cross state lines.

In an op-ed that appeared Monday on the Web site of the conservative publication Human Events (www.humanevents.com), the Ocala Republican championed his measure as a way to enhance public safety as well as counteract liberal anti-gun activists whose policies he believes seek to undermine the Second Amendment protections afforded to gun owners.

But an anti-gun group questions whether Stearns and a co-sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat, should be writing gun policy for states that seek an alternative route.

Stearns and Boucher filed the bill, known formally as the National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009 (H.R. 197), earlier this month.

The bill would cause states that issue concealed-weapons permits to recognize valid permits held by visitors from other concealed-carry states, such as Florida.

Yet those permit holders would be subject to the regulations of the host state, not those of their home state.

If the host state does not issue concealed-weapons permits, the holder of a valid concealed-carry license would still be allowed to carry their weapon almost anywhere while in that state.

They would not be permitted to carry their weapons into police stations, jails, courthouses, polling places, government meetings, schools, sporting events unrelated to firearms, in areas of bars or other places licensed for on-site consumption of alcohol where guns are prohibited, or inside the passenger areas of airports.

The law also would not apply to people who are barred by federal law from possessing, transporting, shipping or receiving a firearm, nor would it allow a machine gun or a "destructive device" to be transported across state lines.

Other than in 2005 and 2006, according to the FBI, the rate of violent crime - defined as murder and non-negligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery and aggravated assault - has been on a steady downhill march since 1991.

The agency's most recent report showed that the violent crime rate again began to drop in 2007 after the brief uptick and will do so again in 2008, based on preliminary data.

In his op-ed, Stearns attributed this decline to the rise in concealed-carry laws.

He notes that states enacting concealed-carry laws have significantly less violent crime, as measured by the FBI, with 30 percent fewer murders, 46 percent fewer robberies and 12 percent fewer aggravated assaults.

Overall, their crime rates are down 22 percent.

In Florida, which has had a concealed-carry law for more than two decades, murder rates have dropped 58 percent in that time, while violent crime overall is down 32 percent.

Stearns also observes that a U.S. Justice Department survey of 2,000 criminals revealed that one-third of them had been "scared off, shot at, wounded or captured" by a gun-toting would-be victim. Moreover, 40 percent of them confessed that they had been deterred from committing a crime because they thought the victim was armed.

"Allowing law-abiding people to arm themselves offers more than peace of mind for those individuals - it pays off for everybody through lower crime rates. . . . That is why more and more states have passed right-to-carry laws over the past decade."

But in addition to public safety, Stearns pushes the constitutional correctness of his cause.

"So many liberal politicians and self-appointed experts want to keep honest Americans from having access to firearms," despite the apparent deterrent effect, Stearns wrote.

"The reverse logic of this 'knee jerk' reaction is astounding and has led to an outright assault on our basic constitutional and natural rights. These misguided policies to keep firearms out of the hands of law-abiding citizens literally meant a death sentence for thousands of Americans," he wrote.

"Our society is a violent society," Stearns concludes. "However, the innocent deserve access to the tools they need to defend themselves. Let's give those who decide to take responsibility of possessing a concealed-carry permit a fighting chance anywhere in America."

One supporter of the Stearns-Boucher bill described it as the missing link in American's gun policy.

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Haven't we covered this? Carry is not a federal issue. 197 is bad medicine. Once the feds get their fingers in it, they won't stop. We'll have annual fees, fingerprinting, character references, gun type/caliber/capacity restrictions, must conceal, etc. etc. etc.

This may look good on the surface, but believe me, we do not want it.

A full faith and credit bill without any "lets pick as many restrictions as possible" clauses is something we need to get the legislature to draft and get rolling.