against Brady Bill noneGold Finger:The License to Carry a GunOn an overcast Monday in March in 1981, six shots were fired from a Colt .22 caliber revolver, at an American president. Although after this attempt on a president's life, the immediate results were not as dramatic as in 1964, when President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed. This time, the president survived the attack on his life. However, more controversy has spawned from this incident not from the side of the President, but fourteen years later from President Reagan's press secretary, James Brady.Brady was walking alongside the president, when John W. Hinkley Jr. shot at the president and Brady was hit in the head ...view middle of the document...
However, in the 1994 elections, the NRA decided that things were going to change. They put on a massive campaign and spent $3.2 million on candidates on the federal and state levels that were favorable to their position. Out of these candidates, 80% went on to victory, restoring some of the lost power and influence to the PAC. One of the sweeping changes that has taken place since that election is that 15 states have lowered the standards once necessary to carry a concealed weapon. In order for citizens to be able to carry these weapons before the new laws were passed, they were required to be granted permission from local police chiefs, sheriffs, or judges desecration, and these were only cases where a documented death threat was present or that they worked in a dangerous job. Still, these cases were indeed rare. From 1974 to 1992, only one citizen permit was issued to incoming police commissioner Willie Williams by the Los Angles police department , before he was sworn in as an officer. "In New York cab drivers have routinely been denied permits, but celebrities such as Donald Trump and William F. Buckley have succeeded in obtaining them" (Whitkins, 58).These new laws passed by the states make toting a concealed firearm more feasible. In the past carrying a handgun at all was legal in only twenty-seven states, and carrying a concealed handgun was not legal to the general public. Twenty-two states have written or passed new laws that make carrying a concealed weapon. Requirements for permits vary from state to state, ranging from completing a background check, filling out a form and waiting as long as it takes to return the permit, to completing ten to fifteen hours of training and instruction. However a majority of states do not require for anyone to show a "compelling need" to obtain a permit, as most state's laws were written, but applicants can still be denied.Permits are not automatically accepted from anyone in society. Felons, people delinquent in child payments, and anyone with dishonorable discharges from the armed forces would be denied. But, the average citizen with a registered gun would be able to go and obtain a permit.Opponents of the concealed weapons laws argue that allowing more private citizens to carry concealed guns is not a sensible response to the crime issue. Gun control advocates and many police chiefs say that carrying a gun may produce a false sense of security and we may relive the days of the Wild West. "When you have a lot of people carrying guns, you're going to see a lot more disputes settled with guns, and that's clearly a risk to public safety,' argues Robert Walker of Handgun Control Inc." (Witkin, 58) In essence, he as arguing that public safety would be risked by giving responsible citizens the means with which to protect themselves. Michael Gartner, who is a noted authority on the use of the English Language, is saying that we need to outlaw handguns. Mr. Gartner must have skipped his senior year of Ameri...
