Letter to the Editor

I did it again. In response to a front page article in yesterday's Beloit Daily News:

Re: 'Carry' conceals more than guns:

The restrictions on releasing data on CCW applicants are there for a very good reason. It's no one's business except the applicant if one owns a gun or not - or has a license to carry concealed.

Aside from the fact that a person wanting a CCW license may be in mortal danger from an assailant, there's the fact that guns are valuable property, and releasing a list of who is armed makes it easy for thieves to target homes where guns may be found.

According to Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort, there's no way to tell if CCW holders commit crimes. If a person is arrested and has a CCW license, that person will be prosecuted for his crime, and if revocation is appropriate, the license will be revoked. Who cares if the fact of a CCW license is published? The criminal has been dealt with.

Anti-gun activists make statements like "Information is their enemy" when referring to the NRA and others who fight to preserve our God-given right to self-defense, but are the first to use statistics out of context and sometimes outright lie in an attempt to further their agenda.

Groups like the Wisconsin Anti-Violence Effort and the Violence Policy Center are misguided in that sometimes violence is the only way to prevent criminals from perpetrating even greater violence on innocents. Criminals will obtain and carry guns regardless of any law. To state that "violence never solves anything" is to ignore reality. If this is true, why do we arm our police and military?

The bottom line is that a license to carry is not a license to commit a crime. Criminals don't care about laws.

Leave concealed carry licensees alone until they commit a crime. That won't be hidden.