Is it the wild, wild west all over again? Montana HB 228 will allow everyone to carry weapons for self defense and bypass the current permit process for carrying concealed weapons. Everybody gets to have a gun. Is this like the cold war way out west? What’s next, a run on flak jackets and bulletproof vests?
I’ll tell you what, I see a lot of people everyday that can’t even handle the car they are driving; what the hell are they going to be like with a handgun? Ask any educator that does weapons training which weapon has the most potential for accidents and they will tell you it’s handguns. Actually the bill expands the definition to include knives over four inches, brass knuckles and so forth which seems kind of redundant to me. Remember Burt Reynolds line in Smokey and the Bandit, “… Mexicans, always bringing knives to a gunfight”.
Of course the NRA is all over this one, they have an issue they can relate to, not just upholding your second amendment rights, something the supreme court also did for you last year (making the NRA battle cry more of a whimper), but “expanding” them. Does “expanding” mean arming everyone, criminal or otherwise? Does this mean that I can return fire with my concealed handgun when some nut with an assault rifle starts shooting at me? Boy, I feel better already. You have to hand it to the NRA, they are good for gun sales no matter what side you are on.
I think I understand the intention of this bill (at least on the surface of it) but it is written to loosely and unravels good laws that are already in place- it is really a moot point. Which makes me wonder what the underlying intention of the bill is? This is not Columbia or El Salvador. The really revealing and sort of scary thing about it is how it has made it as far as it has. How it was written and who has supported it. What’s more the people who will have to enforce it, local police and sheriff deputies are not even in favor of it.
So, if you are planning on vacationing in Montana this summer, stayed tuned; you might not have to go all the way to Virginia City for a good ol’ wild west shootout. You can relax anywhere knowing that everyone around you is armed and ready to defend themselves at “the drop of the hat” while you enjoy your vacation in “The Last Best Place”.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
“Does this mean that I can return fire with my concealed handgun when some nut with an assault rifle starts shooting at me?”
If someone is shooting at you with an assault rifle and you take a moment to reflect on if it is legal or not for you to fire back, no matter if your gun is under your jacket or in the back of your vehicle, it will probably be your last thought anyway. Bummer for you…
Ironic isn’t it? Either way you are dead. The same could be said for a confrontation with handguns. It is the old Hollywood “code of the west” thing. If someone gets the “jump” on you, your concealed weapon is useless. Is just the thought of knowing that people around you have guns enough to compel some idiot to not commit a crime? I doubt it. Are you ready to become judge, jury and executioner? Some situations are obviously no brainers and some are not. If you think about all the scenarios, how much safer are you going to be?
I guess I’m at a loss as to why the NRA equates everyone having access to assault weapons as a measure of the strength of the second amendment at all. The Supreme Court ruled on it, it remains our constitutional right. Assault weapons are like Saturday Night Specials, they have one use. Are you going to hunt deer with a machine gun? They are also supporting this bill, a bill that obviously will put law enforcement at a disadvantage and guns in the hands of the people we are trying to protect ourselves from.
This bill, the way it is currently presented will replace a perfectly good system that is already in place. I think it makes perfect sense to require background checks and a formal permitting process to carry a concealed weapon instead of just turning everyone loose with a weapon that has enough cranial activity to pick one up.
The gun manufacturers in this country must love the current state of the gun rights issue, between the fear mongering right and the double talk on the left and no common sense dialog in the middle; they are one section of the economy that is thriving. Not a bad thing unless of course your lawmakers have set the stage for a nationwide personal arms race because they can’t sit down and hammer out some mutually acceptable law that serves the people and not themselves and their handlers.
I am all for gun rights, having access to guns and ammunition in the open marketplace but lets use a little common sense and cut out the fear mongering and the liberal, save us from ourselves BS and get down to some constructive legislation.