Concealed Weapons

Concealed Weapons

Ryan Elsten

Composition & Communication II

March 11, 2012

Mrs. Lucia Tejeda

Concealed Weapons

Legally carrying concealed weapons is viewed by many as part of the right to defend oneself, and is currently honored in some form by 48 states. Allowing people to carry concealed weapons has been a long debated and very controversial topic among society. Despite the debate and controversy, more states than before are recognizing “right to carry laws,” allowing qualified citizens to carry a concealed weapon. It seems the number of people applying for permits as well as the number of permit holders has increased dramatically over the past 25 years. The number of people carrying these concealed weapons has created another debate that concealed weapons have a direct effect on violent crime rates. The major problem with the debate over gun control and concealed weapons is that the majority of the media is biased. They are not educated on both sides of the argument. Despite the debate, both sides agree that record numbers of people are carrying concealed weapons.

“From its beginnings in the 1980’s, the “right to carry” movement has succeeded in boosting the number of licensed concealed-gun carriers from fewer than 1 million to a record 6 million today, according to estimates from gun-rights groups supported by Msnbc.com’s research” (Stuckey, 2010, Record Numbers Licensed to Pack Heat, para. 6). There is not sufficient data available to determine why people obtain these permits, or what they use them for. This may be the reason there can be no correlation between an increase and decrease in violent crime due to permit holders. However, in 2007 the number of privately owned firearms had risen nearly 70 million since 1991 (“Right to Carry 2007” par. 5). Even though the U.S. has record numbers of permit holders currently, 25 years ago there were far fewer supporters of the “right to carry movement.”

Twenty five years ago prohibition of concealed...