LETTERS: VOTE TO EXTEND RIGHT OF SELF-DEFENSE

To the editor:

A recent news item on a local television station featured a person waving a large, dangerous-looking weapon and stridently stating that if Proposition B passes, known gang members would be able to legally carry such weapons into banks. What a classic red herring. Do politicos think that we are stupid? Whether you are for or against Proposition B, think for a moment about this claim. Is a gangster going to get a permit for concealed carry so that he or she can rob a bank? Of course not. Does the Proposition B statute allow criminals to obtain a permit to conceal carry? No, quite the contrary. Are felons allowed to possess firearms under current law? No. Have you ever read a news account of a person permitted to carry concealed having robbed a bank with his or her legal weapon? Not likely.

In fact, the incidence of criminal behavior by concealed-carry permitees is vanishingly small. In contrast, I have read numerous factual accounts of legally possessed firearms being used to deter crimes. The experience in states with legal concealed carry indicates that the only persons who need to be concerned about concealed carry are criminals. And concealed carry is legal in more than 30 states. Both sides of the Proposition B debate cite conflicting data about the effect of concealed carry on rates of violent criminal behavior in those states. While both sides agree there has been a decline in crime rates, they argue over the causes. This much is clear from these debates and supporting studies: Concealed carry has not caused problems in any of these states, except for criminals. Thus, there is no argument for opposing Proposition B arising from these debates.

Finally, crime-statistics analysis really is not important to law-abiding persons who have used firearms to deter criminal acts against themselves, their families or their neighbors. We will vote for Proposition B to extend the full right of self-defense to those responsible, law-abiding citizens of Missouri who have a need to carry concealed.

I urge others to serious consider this issue.

NICHOLAS H. TIBBS

Jackson