Right-to-Carry

Sorry, I cannot help myself. The NYT has enraged me today.

Read this drivel:

A Day Without Guns...

Now here is a question to ask. Did the crime go up or down after Florida enacted their "craven legislation" enabling citizens to own, carry, and use guns? Of course NYT does not report that. Because crime went down, probably. They certainly DID NOT INCRESE, which would suggest that right-to-carry should proliferate, since it is a liberty and has no demonstrable negative effect on the community at large.

This article, from the libertarian think-tank Cato Institute, indicates that crime went down in Florida. This article says it was unchanged:

Schoolboy’s logic should tell you that banning guns will simply reduce the number of guns in law-abiding peoples’ hands, but will not substantially effect the number of guns in criminals’ hands, since, by definition, criminals BREAK THE LAW. When the average man is unarmed, this is an invitation for an armed criminal to take advantage of him. Police departments are not obligated to protect you. The Supreme Court has ruled this in Castle Rock, CO v. Gonzales, Jessica, et al.

Here is a list of cases where lower courts have ruled similarly:
Bowers v. DeVito, U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, 686 F.2d 616 (1882)
Cal. Govt. Code Sections 821,845,846
Calogrides v. City of Mobile, 475 So. 2d 560 (S.Ct. Ala. 1985)
Chapman v. City of Philadelphia, 434 A.2d 753 (Sup. Ct. Penn. 1981)
Davidson v. City of Westminster, 32 C.3d 197,185 P.2d 894 (S.Ct. Cal. 1982)
Hartzler v. City of San Jose, App., 120 Cal. Rptr 5 (1975)
Keane v. City of Chicago, 98 Ill App 2d 460 (1968)
Keane v. Chicago, 48 Ill. App. 567 (1977)
Lynch v. N.C. Dept. of Justice, 376 S.E. 2nd 247 (N.C. App. 1989)
Marshall v. Winston, 389 S.E. 2nd 902 (Va. 1990)
Morgan v. District of Columbia, 468 A.2d 1306 (D.C. App. 1983)
Morris v. Musser, 478 A.2d 937 (1984)
Reiff v. City of Philadelphia, 477F. Supp. 1262 (E.D.Pa. 1979)
Riss v. City of New York, 293 N.Y. 2d 897 (1968)
Sapp v. Tallahassee, 348 So.2d 363 (Fla. App. 1977)
Silver v. Minneapolis 170 N.W.2d 206 (Minn, 1969)
Simpson's Food Fair v. Evansvill, 272 N.E.2d 871 (Ind. App.)
Stone v. State 106 Cal.App.3d 924, 165 Cal. Rep 339 (1980)
Warren v. District of Columbia, D.C. App., 444 A.2d 1 (1981)
Weutrich v. Delia, 155 N.J. Super. 324, 326, 382 A.2d 929, 930 (1978)

Currently only two states, Illinois and Wisconsin have no right-to-carry law. Many sates, like New York and California restrict their right-to-carry law to the point it is in reality non-existent.

Right-to-carry laws have been adopted over the last 20 years. If they were SO BAD, one would think the evidence would be all around us. We wouldn’t need PhDs to tell us. The fact is that they have done good or done nothing, and its high time that right-t0-carry comes to Illinois and Wisconsin.