You know that guy down the street that is always so unfriendly and doesn’t talk to anyone? Yeah, the one who laughs for no apparent reason and screams at all the kids when they ride their bikes. How about that co-worker who always talks about how everyone is going to pay one day soon? We hope you don’t know anyone like that. But, if you do, wouldn’t you like to know if they are packing a concealed handgun?
Well, if Democratic Rep. Jack Page of Gadsden has his way, you won’t be able to find out. We’re not talking about who can own guns and who cannot. That’s for another debate.
Page’s legislation calls for hiding the identities of gun-owners who have been granted the right to conceal their weapons. Page thinks only law enforcement personnel should know who is legally hiding a weapon on their person or in their cars. Why? Page believes the measure would prevent would-be criminals from knowing which homes to burglarize to find guns.
The last thing law-breakers need is more ammunition. But that is a poor excuse for this law.
First, we doubt many criminals are searching at the courthouse for public records as to who can legally carry a concealed weapon and then burglarizing their home. Second, wouldn’t the person who has applied for a concealed weapon permit be more likely to be carrying the weapon when they are not home? Thirdly, wouldn’t most criminals choose to steal from those who are not armed? Page’s reasoning for hiding information from the public is flawed.
Government in general is proven to be corruptible and prone to misuse of secrets and information that is not shared with the governed.
When we ask the government to maintain secret lists that only a select few, in this instance law enforcement, are allowed to view, we remove the ability for the people to have any oversight. How would we know that the right to carry a concealed weapon on your person or in your car is being properly managed or enforced if no one else can legally know who has been granted this right?
We’d have no way of knowing if a person who was endangered and asked for this right was denied it.
Nor would we know if a person who was a threat might have been given this right inappropriately.
We are a nation founded on transparency in government and public freedom. Legislation that robs the public of either belongs in a Statehouse wastebasket and not on the Statehouse floor. Page’s idea is a bad one. Wad it up and throw it away.
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