Mixed Emotions and Schizophrenia

Lately, the concealed carry licensing laws have been bothering me again. They do not bother me for the same reasons they bother the anti-gun crowd. They bother me in that mandating who, how, and what weapon may be carried falls directly into the realm of "infringement."

On the other hand, licenses are usually issued to those people who are least likely to misuse firearms. The net result of this should be a greater acceptance of firearms and the licensing process. That has not happened.

There are many anti-gun groups that argue CHL holders are more likely to commit crimes. When the raw numbers are analyzed though, the "violations" are often how they are being carried. For example, the outline of a pistol is visible in someone's pants pocket and he is stopped police for failing to properly conceal it.

The purist in me would like to see carry laws done away with entirely. The realist in me knows that these licenses have provided some good. The Constitutionalist (is that a word?) in me believes them to be an obvious violation. The Constitutionalist in me also knows that people by-and-large do not wish to be part of a militia and that the legitimacy of militias needs to be upheld.

For the time being, I will just maintain the license and argue for it and against it and often with myself.