Out of sight is out of mind, but not for long

By Zee

Out of sight is out of mind, but not for those of us who are concerned about carrying guns. Those of us who are Anti-gunners are fearful of what this means to our safety. Those of us who are pro-gunners are also fearful of what this means to our safety - but for different reasons. Anti-gunners believe that more guns is not the answer. Pro-Gunners say that criminals will always have guns & cite the need to defend themselves.

I suppose that its true that criminals will always have guns. Realistically, completely removing that threat is not possible. But does that really mean that more guns AREN'T dangerous? They must be ... because we just don't see that many people carrying guns around every day... so there must not be that many of them right?



Actually, there are over 400,000 CHLs in Texas who are licensed to "concealed" carry and most of them probably do so every where they go, every day. That's approximately 1 in every 40 men and 1 in every 80 women.

Think about that. When you walk into any major store, on any given day, there are typically far more than 100 people inside right? SO on average, 1 or maybe 2 are carrying a concealed handgun. Talk about hidden dangers, right?

With that many people packin heat, we must be experiencing shootouts at every gas station and grocery store right? Dodge the bullets to get that can of beans? Fortunately no. As it turns out, we are not the wild wild west. By far, most gun owners are responsible law abiding citizens.

Out of sight may not be out of sight for long. A bill recently introduced into the TX legislature will allow CHLs to carry their weapons openly.[1] Though not all CHLs may choose to do so, we may start seeing the numbers of armed citizens for ourselves.

So, surprisingly, the question is not whether THEY can be trusted to carry their guns, but rather if WE can be trusted not to panic when they start carrying them out in the open.

Next time you see a man or woman with a gun on their hip, it may not be a law enforcement officer. And this should not scare you. They've been around us the whole time - silently protecting themselves, and YOU.

[1] http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/82R/billtext/pdf/HB02756I.pdf#navpanes=0