Michigan Sees Lower "Gun Deaths" and Lower Violent Crime With Relaxed Rules For Concealed Carry

B-b-b-but, I thought Conceal Carry would turn the streets into the Wild West?

I love stories like this...

Six years ago, Michigan decided go with the crowd and loosen up regulations on carrying a concealed firearm.  Within that six years, CCW permit carryers went up 6 times.  Anti-2nd advocates were of course making breathless warnings that it would cause yet more bloodshed, as they do every time a state decides to expand the rights of state residents.  And, as predictable as the breathless whining from the assorted anti-2nd groups is, so too is the fact that violent crime drops in the state.  Now, it sounds like a modest drop, and it probably is, but remember, Detroit is a portal to the gaping maw of hell itself, so even a modest improvement deserves major acknowledgment.

On average, not only did violent crime drop, people who died as a result of firearms, including accidents and suicide actually dropped as well.  Interesting, huh?  Anyway, here's the stock comment and reaction from a police chief who assumed giving his fellow citizens increased rights would cause anarchy.

"I think the general consensus out there from law enforcement is that things were not as bad as we expected," said Woodhaven Police Chief Michael Martin, cochair of the legislative committee for the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police. "There are problems with gun violence. But ... I think we can breathe a sigh of relief that what we anticipated didn't happen."

Again, "gun violence" is not the problem, criminals who use firearms are the problem. 

The fact that Michigan passed this law is kind of a fluke.  It was snuck into an unrelated bill, now normally I'm turned off by that sort of thing, but I know that anti-2nd politicians have tried slipping bans and restrictions into unrelated legislation, so as far as I'm concerned, turnabout is fair play.  Suck it, gungrabbers!

So now, we get the voices of dissent, you can almost tell it breaks their hearts that Michigan didn't turn into a bloodbath to in order prove them right.

Kenneth Levin, a West Bloomfield physician, was one of those critics. In a letter to the Free Press in July 2001, he referred to the "inevitable first victim of road or workplace rage as a result of this law."Last month, Levin said he suspected "it probably hasn't turned out as bad as I thought. I don't think I was wrong, but my worst fears weren't realized."

Lemme translate:  DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT!!!!  WHY AREN'T YOU STUPID REDNECK WINGNUTS SHOOTING EACH OTHER???

He whines about the fact that the law was passed in a sneaky way, but I'm sure I could dig up a few instances where his people tried to sneak bans, restrictions or legislations, and I'm sure he had no problem with those.

Shikha Hamilton of Grosse Pointe, president of the Michigan chapter of the anti-gun group Million Moms March, said she believes overall gun violence (including suicide and accidental shootings) is up in Michigan since 2001. Many incidents involving CCW permit holders have not been widely reported, she said.

The Million Mom March?  I didn't even realize they were still around.  What I find hilarious is that the numbers apparently don't agree with Hamilton, and she refuses to accept it. 

This made me smile,

Michelle Reurink, 40, a consultant in Lansing, got her CCW permit last year, not so much because she felt an imminent threat to her well-being, she said, but because she's a strong believer in the Constitution's Second Amendment -- the right to bear arms.

"The primary reason I got it is because I feel like I have the right to have it," she said.

Liberty ain't dead yet, bitches! 

Now, she says she doesn't always carry, and I know some gunowners are gonna say, "if you got the permit, carry! be safe!", but I say to look at the bigger picture, she likes the sweet, sweet taste of liberty.  A CCW permit is in a way a declaration to the government of one's right to bear arms, and she wouldn't be the first to do that.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 09:43 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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