Carry At Your Own Risk

By John Hay Rabb
www.gunasandammo.com

Contrary to many earlier predictions, the right to carry a concealed handgun is spreading across the country like a prairie fire. [At the time of this writing], there are now 33 states that have so-called "nondiscretionary" or "shall-issue" concealed carry weapons (CCW) permit laws. Another 11 states have "discretionary" CCW laws. The remaining six states and the District of Columbia are content, at least for now, to maintain their no-CCW-permit status.

While the citizens of nondiscretionary states may now enjoy seemingly unfettered rights to carry concealed handguns, they must also wrestle with some thorny but very important questions: Which areas are permitted and prohibited for concealed carry weapons? What constitutes justifiable use of a handgun for personal protection? May a handgun be used to protect other individuals? May it be used to protect property?

The task of addressing these issues is further complicated by the veritable crazy quilt of laws and court decisions governing handgun use in the individual nondiscretionary states. It is indeed discouraging to realize that, while a CCW permit may appear to solve a crucial personal-defense problem, in actuality the permit holder must be exceedingly careful to ensure that he does not find himself in serious legal jeopardy as a consequence of exercising his Second Amendment rights. While the Founding Fathers may have intended rights and responsibilities to go hand-in-hand, they could never have imagined the situation that exists today.