Re: Bob Jackson's Dec. 3 letter, "War in toy store":
It seems Jackson left out some pertinent facts in his letter.
Jackson claimed that staunch National Rifle Association members want every citizen to be armed in public. That's not exactly true. They want every law-abiding citizen who wants to be responsibly armed to be so allowed. The shooters in the toy store, according to what I have read, were rival gang members with extensive criminal records, meaning they broke the law in even touching a gun, much less carrying one. These are the people pro-gun folks want locked up, not carrying guns.
Jackson went on to reference Dr. Phil's question, "How's that working out for you?" As it turns out, the answer is: pretty well. Forty states now have "shall issue" concealed carry laws. Routinely, when those laws have been enacted, confrontational crime in the state has gone down. That's a pretty good result, I would say.
So, yes, having armed law-abiding citizens is associated with reduced confrontational crime and violence, and disarming law-abiding citizens protects the criminals, allowing them to be more brazen and more violent.
Concealed carry not only is following the Constitution, but is safety-producing. Forty states enjoy "shall issue" laws. It's too bad California politicians are more interested in making believe they are protecting the citizens -- while making them more vulnerable to be a victim -- than in actually supporting laws that do protect the citizens. Even the anti-gun Centers for Disease Control could not find any evidence of any gun control law that reduced crime or violence. But "shall issue" concealed carry laws can and do work in 40 states and need to be spread to the other 10.
Make our citizens safer. As the California Rifle and Pistol Association says, "Everyone is safer when the criminals don't know who's armed."
-- James R. May, Simi Valley