At a time when liberals are trying harder than ever to negate the Second Amendment and shame virtually all gun owners into giving up their right to bear arms, about a third of states are going in the opposite direction with constitutional carry laws. Constitutional carry affirms the Second Amendment gives U.S. citizens and absolute right to own and carry firearms. That includes carrying concealed firearms with no licensing requirements or other special restrictions in place.
The commonwealth of Kentucky became the latest to enable residents to lawfully carry firearms, either openly or concealed, without requiring special permits when Governor Matt Bevin signed the legislation into law. The idea originates from Vermont, which was the first state to enact constitutional carry. While detractors trying to connect rising gun violence and gun rights, Vermont is the perfect example of how that’s not true. Since establishing their constitutional carry law, the state’s gun violence rate has settled at 11.1 deaths per 100,000 residents, which is lower than the national average of 11.8 deaths per 100,000.
With anti-gun activists attacking lawful gun owners and eroding Second Amendment rights with restrictions on concealed and even openly carrying firearms, constitutional carry is overriding localized efforts to ban handguns in communities. It started back in 2008, when the U.S. Supreme Court declared Washington D.C.’s ban on handgun ownership to be a direct violation of the Second Amendment. Similar laws were struck down in Chicago and other cities run by anti-gun activists.
The Supreme Court ruled self-defense is an absolute right and a central element of the Second Amendment. Therefore, local laws banning handgun ownership violate the U.S. Constitution. In 2010, the Supreme Court expanded that ruling when striking down Chicago’s ban on lawful handgun ownership. In that instance, the court said the Second and 14th amendments ensure the right to keep and bear arms. It also limited the scope of restrictions local units of government can place on firearms.
Those rulings helped ensure gun owners would not run afoul of local laws while traveling to and from shooting ranges or while otherwise lawfully abiding state laws. In many states, local units of government have enacted and enforce laws that greatly restrict lawful gun ownership. Those in charge of liberal enclaves, like Chicago and Washington D.C., both of which have serious problems with violent criminal activity, outright banned handgun ownership – even in people’s private homes. Such bans disarmed law abiding citizens, but did nothing to stop violent criminals from continuing to do as they please.
With the Supreme Court firmly ruling in favor of the Second Amendment and the absolute right to use handguns for self-defense, constitutional carry became a useful tool to ensure Second Amendment rights are not infringed. Vermont was the first state to enact a constitutional carry law, and 15 others have followed suit, with Kentucky being the latest. That is about a third of the nation’s states fully affirming the right to carry handguns concealed or openly.
So long as federal laws do not ban their existence, such as the ban on firearms on U.S. Postal Service property, it’s okay to keep your firearm on you and concealed.
In Kentucky, Gov. Matt Bevin says the law ensures the right to carry concealed without a permit, background check, or completing a gun safety course. All of which liberals greatly oppose. The opposition comes from the usual suspects: Police organizations and anti-gun liberals.
The only arguments they offer is fear of the unknown – they claim “potentially deadly, unintended consequences” would result. Yet, no states with constitutional carry laws have experienced such problems, and they won’t. That’s because an armed society is a polite society.
Another step in the assuring of public safety and law enforcement. Now the bad guy has to wonder who is and who isn’t packing. Good move Gov. Dave-ME
KENTUCKY WOULD BE A SHORT MOVE FOR IMPROVED SECURITY FROM THE HELLHOLE KNOWN AS ILLINOIS!
I almost like this law, everything except the safety training. there are too many 1st time gun owners who don’t know simple gun safety rules, or any conceal carry laws and their implications
yes it is a waste of time for many who grew up with guns and know most of this. but most won’t learn the laws of conceal carrying and when to draw your weapon and when not to, on their own. while I already knew all the gun safety rules, I did learn quite a bit about the conceal carrying laws and that made all the training useful and not a waste of time for me.
Missouri passed this law too, after I had gone thru the training and paid all the fee’s, and 5 yrs. later, renewed my ccw permit.
I am from Kentucky and I have always been proud of my state, but I live in Southern Indiana now and I am anxiously waiting for Indiana to follow in doing the absolute right thing with Our 2nd. Amendment and Our God Given Right To Protect our families and ourselves.
I’m with Buh Bang, I believe everyone has the same rights, but nowadays, there are a lot of people without any common sense. I think people that have not grown up around guns, should have to show a little savvy to the gun sellers. To all of us gun people, we can probably do a lot of this stuff in the dark. That’s a figure of speech, kind of talking. But we have all seen greenhorns with no experience whatsoever, and this is not something to play with.
I think concealed and carry in this day and age is a good thing if you are comfortable doing so and I mean if you arte familiar with the weapon you are going to carry. A person with not much knowledge of firearms can visit their local shooting range to purchase their weapon and familiarize themselves with the operation of such weapon. They have nice shooting ranges to hone your shooting skills God forbid you would ever need to use it in self defense but if the case did arise you would be able to defend yourself and possibly your family as well. We travel a couple of times a year and I have my weapon with me in the car at all times. It gives me peace of mind knowing that if anything should every happen that I would have a fighting chance to save my life and possibly someone I love as well.