CeaseFire PA & H.R. 822 - National Recognition of CCW Permits :: 12/13/2011

The Op-Ed response below was written in regard to the newest advertising campaign against Americans right to self defense.

The newspapers this was sent to can be found at the links below:

http://www.timesleader.com/

http://thetimes-tribune.com/

Self Defense: A basic human right

Once again CeaseFire PA demonstrates why they should be renamed to 'MisFire PA' through their recent ads in numerous papers regarding the recent vote in Congress-H.R. 822-mandatory national recognition of concealed carry permits. In this unbalanced article, CeaseFire PA demonstrates an unfounded bias against carrying firearms for self defense. Clearly, considering the reams of peer reviewed government & academic research available, CeaseFire is not interested in an informed and open debate on this issue.

First, CeaseFire focuses on the 'issuance procedures' of Licenses to Carry Firearms and omits the fact that citizens are extraordinarily lawful in their conduct with carrying concealed firearms and 'rarely' are these licenses revoked (.02% is the national average according to Prof. John Lott). Let's examine the 'real' facts regarding people with concealed carry permits.

Permit holders are:

5.7 times less likely to be arrested for violent offenses than the general public
13.5 times less likely to be arrested for non-violent offenses than the general public
Even other gun control organizations (Nina Butts, Texans Against Gun Violence, Dallas Morning News, August 10, 2000) agree it is a non-problem, as in Texas - "because there haven't been Wild West shootouts in the streets".
Of 14,000 CCW licensees in Oregon, only 4 (0.03%) were convicted of the criminal (not necessarily violent) use or possession of a firearm.

This point also brings us to another of CeaseFire's blatant, undocumented fabrications: "When the Washington gun lobby told you to ignore our advice and vote for federally mandated national concealed carry, despite the risks, you didn't hesitate," Mike Carroll, recent President of IACP (International Association of Chiefs of Police) is quoted as saying: "The bill you voted for poses a significant threat to public safety - and to the officers who defend it." Interestingly, the IACP is heavily funded by the Joyce Foundation which is noted for its' support of 'every' anti-gun group and legislative initiative (E.G. "FOLLOW THE MONEY"! IS the anti-gun Joyce Foundation funding CeaseFire's AD campaign too?

Also omitted is the fact that every state requires a comprehensive state and federal background check to obtain a Concealed Carry License, which is in 'addition' to the background check to purchase the firearm. CeaseFire also, conveniently, avoids the fact that states with shall issue carry laws routinely have lower crime rates per capita. It is important to note that 'criminals' do not obey any laws (isn't that what they do - despite laws?) and are prohibited from purchasing firearms as well as obtaining a Concealed Carry License.

H.R. 822 DOES NOT ALTER THE LAWS of ANY state. H.R. 822 requires individuals carrying a concealed firearm to follow the laws of 'each' state they are in-another 'fact' omitted by CeaseFire. Even noted anti-gun criminologist Dr. Marvin E. Wolfgang recognizes research proves the benefits of gun ownership outweigh the detractions (Journal of Criminal Law, Northwestern Univ.-1995).

Multiple studies support the efficacy of armed self defense such as those conducted by Professors Wright and Rossi, funded by the U.S. Dept. of Justice, that point to armed citizens as possibly the most effective deterrent to crime in the nation. Wright and Rossi questioned over 1,800 felons in prisons across the nation and found:

81% agreed the "smart criminal" will try to find out if a potential victim is armed.
74% felt that burglars avoided occupied dwellings for fear of being shot.
80% of "handgun predators" had encountered armed citizens.
40% did not commit a specific crime for fear that the victim was armed.
34% of "handgun predators" were scared off or shot at by armed victims.
57% felt that the typical criminal feared being shot by citizens more than he feared being shot by police.

Too often the real life consequences to wrong decisions on public policy are lost in this debate. For instance, citizens carrying concealed weapons deter violent crimes with no increase in accidental deaths according to noted researcher, Prof. John Lott (Economist, Chicago University). His landmark research paved the way for the expansion of right-to-carry concealed gun provisions in numerous states by demonstrating that approximately 1,570 murders; 4,177 rapes; and over 60,000 aggravated assaults are likely to be avoided yearly when state citizens carry concealed firearms with the greatest deterrent effect occurring in the highest crime counties. This is the reality that CeaseFire and Carroll fail to recognize and accept.

Also, there IS a national entity to verify non-resident concealed carry permits - (National Law Enforcement Telecommunication Service-www.nlets.org ) and H.R. 822 requires a GAO study to examine why only '12' states use these services now.

In short, the intimations by CeaseFire PA and Carroll (President/IACP) about the danger posed by licensees are grossly exaggerated. Some of the exaggeration involves people who were determined by law enforcement to have acted in lawful self-defense.

The American legal system recognizes the right of ordinary people to self-defense and carrying firearms responsibly enhances public safety. The Founders' understanding of that most basic right of all, the right of self-defense, was in accord with common law, human nature and it is time we return to that standard.

Kim Stolfer

FOAC, Chairman

www.foac-pac.org

(412) 221-3346, Home Phone