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Carrying Concealed Weapons

The topic of gun control is one of the most contentious issues in today's society.

According to 2013 statistics, owning concealed weapons in public is legal in almost 50 states, of

which Illinois was the last state to enact this legislation (Bartley and Mark 258). While some

countries require gun owners to have permits, others have an unrestricted carry. The United

States, for instance, has the highest number of guns in the world, with 121 guns per 100 people

and approximately 400,000,000 guns. Twenty-two percent of the population owns one or more

arms, with 35% men and 12% women (Gius 267). This pervasive culture originates from

America’s colonial history, frontier expansion as well as the second amendment that grants

people the right to keep and bear arms, which is considered appropriate to the security of a free

state. However, there have been debates on whether civilians should be allowed to own guns or

not. Proponents argue that citizens have minimal chances of being attacked by armed criminals

(Bartley and Mark 258). On the other hand, opponents argue that increased gun ownership will

lead to unintended gun accidents and more gun crime. However, this paper is in support of the

motion that people should be allowed to own concealed weapons.

The first reason for the support of the motion is that concealed weapons deter crime. According

to crime data analysis of 2000, the states that allowed citizens to own guns reduced crime by

24%, with 9% murders, 3% robbery, 7% aggravated assaults and 5% rapes (Bronars and John
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475). Political commentator John Lott calculates the number of crimes that could have prevented

from the year 1977 if concealed carry had been legal at that time. He denotes that several crimes

could not have occurred if the state had allowed citizens to own guns. In addition, a 2013 study

reveals that countries that have more restricted carrying concealed weapons (CCW) have crime

rates that are higher by 10% as compared to those that have less CCW (Fennell 25). Moreover,

having more responsible citizens with concealed permit licenses will reduce the crime rate.

Besides, criminals do not follow the law, and they will always find a way to acquire weapons

whether permitted or not. As a result, criminals in possession of firearms have a much easier job

when their victims are not armed for they would somehow retaliate if they did (Fennell 25). For

the reasons mentioned above, 92% of American citizens, or rather civilians, support the idea of

concealed carry.

Secondly, citizens who are responsible should be allowed to own guns to protect themselves

against criminals that also have guns. From the various shootings that have been happening all

over the country, it is evident that the majority of violent criminals have guns (Fennell 29). It is

better for concealed gun owners to feel secure and safe, especially when in dangerous places,

rather than being victims of preventable crimes. According to a study by the National Opinion

Research Center, more than half of the people who own guns do so because it makes them feel

safer and secure (Fennell 29). In fact, the number of women who had concealed gun permits in

2014 increased by 8% in Florida (Bronars and John 475). One of those women stated that

women need to protect themselves as they go out as well as be able to defend their homes.

Besides, victims who carry weapons have minimal chances of being attacked or suffer an injury,

as compared to those who do not. A study by Gius found that when a victim draws a weapon to

defend himself/herself, the criminal retreats by 60% (266).

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The second amendment of the United States Constitution grants civilians the right to carry

concealed weapons. Gun ownership has been an American tradition, one that is older than the

country itself, which is protected by the second amendment, and hence preventing civilians from

carrying concealed weapons would be an infringement upon the right to bear arms (Lott and

David 17). The entire law states, "A well-regulated Militia being necessary to the security of a

Free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed." In fact, in 2012,

the 7th court of appeals ruled that the Second Amendment ought to be interpreted to include the

right to have a concealed weapon in public, ready for use in self-defense (Bronars and John 476).

Besides, the 9th court of appeal ruled that this law requires all the states to permit CCW outside

the home. The Founders of this law also understood that the right to own and bear a weapon

Civilians who carry concealed weapons are known to be law-abiding citizens who do not misuse

their firearms. Crime data analysis found that permit holders in carrying concealed weapons are

less likely to commit violent crimes, drunk driving, and murder, as compared to the general

public (Bartley and Mark 267). In addition, according to a report by Lott and Mustard, the

general public has higher chances of being arrested for criminal offenses, with six times for

violent and 14 times nonviolent crimes (9). Reports prove that out of all gun-related homicides,

the number of incidents where a concealed gun carriers kill an innocent person amounts to 1%

(Lott and David 7). Majority of civilians who have permits on CCW are just ordinary people

who cannot always rely on the police for protection. It is a fact that there is no much that the

police can do to deter violent crimes (Bartley and Mark 268). In case of an emergency, the

average police response time is 11 minutes or even more, which is a lot of time for a person to

commit a crime and escape. In fact, there are several cases whereby victims die because the
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police took too long to respond (Bartley and Mark 268). Besides, according to the rulings of the

Supreme Court, police officers do not have a legal duty to protect civilians from crimes.

Lastly, the majority of American citizens support allowing the concealed carry as they believe

that it could help stop public shootings. According to a poll carried out in 2012, more than 75%

of the United States citizens are in support of law-abiding citizens to be allowed to get permits

on carrying concealed weapons (Bartley and Mark 258). Also, a 2013 poll found that 65% of

Americans were against the federal law that requires a nationwide ban on people carrying

concealed weapons. In 1999, the concealed carry Act was enacted in the state of Colorado where

it granted law-abiding citizens the right to carry concealed firearms in public. This was after a

massacre that took place in Columbine High school, in 1999. This law helped to stop another

slaughter at the New Life Megachurch ((Bartley and Mark 258). If it had not been for the

volunteer security guard who shot the attacker, many people would have died. States did 19

years of study after passing the concealed carry law, from 1977 to 1995 (Lott and David 27). The

results proved that the number of victims of public shootings decreased by 84%, with 90%

deaths and 82% injuries.

In conclusion, civilians should be allowed to carry concealed weapons in public because

of the reasons mentioned above. Crime rate will continue to decrease if more states enacted the

law that grants citizens the rights to carry weapons, as they use them to protect themselves and

not to hurt other civilians. Carrying weapons reduces the chances of being attacked as discussed

above. In addition, it has been an American tradition for citizens to keep and bear firearms as in

the Second Amendment, and hence preventing people from owning guns will be an infringement

of that law. Majority of Americans do not always rely on the police to protect them and thus

allowing them to carry weapons would be appropriate for self-protection. Lastly, a majority of
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Americans are in support of allowing carrying concealed weapons because they believe that it

could be a way of stopping public shootings. States that have enacted the law of carrying

concealed weapons have seen a real change, and hence, countries would benefit, and everyone

would feel safer if all law abiding citizens are allowed to carry a concealed weapon.
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Works Cited

Bartley, William Alan, and Mark A. Cohen. "The effect of concealed weapons laws: An extreme

bound analysis." Economic Inquiry vol. 36, no. 2, 1998, pp. 258-265.

Bronars, Stephen G., and John R. Lott. "Criminal deterrence, geographic spillovers, and the right

to carry concealed handguns." The American Economic Review vol. 88, no. 2, 1998, pp.

475-479.

Fennell, Reginald. "Concealed carry weapon permits: a Second Amendment right or a recipe for

disaster on our nation's campuses?." 2009, pp. 99-100.

Gius, Mark. "An examination of the effects of concealed weapons laws and assault weapons

bans on state-level murder rates." Applied economics letters vol. 21, no. 4, 2014, pp. 265-

267.

Lott, Jr, John R., and David B. Mustard. "Crime, deterrence, and right-to-carry concealed

handguns." The Journal of Legal Studies vol. 26, no. 1, 1997, pp. 1-68.