Paul Bucher Speaks Out For Concealed Carry, but...
H/T to my Mom for sending me A. G. Paul Bucher's letter in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel dated April 11, 2005 titled "Safety in concealed-carry law".
Once again, Bucher states his position as pro-concealed carry. That's good: Wisconsin needs concealed carry if for nothing else but to put us on a level playing field with the common criminal. Nonetheless, he also promotes a database list of permit holders, with "rock solid safeguards against developing lists that would impinge on the privacy of or target permit holders".
His reasoning for this list is to protect law enforcement officers in the event of a traffic stop. The officer would be able to check the vehicle's registration against the list, and find out if the car's owner is a permit holder. He claims that this will "address officer safety in traffic stops while getting a good bill into law".
Here's my problem with the list: first off, the fact that the car's owner has a carry permit tells you nothing about the driver of the vehicle. I would maybe get a permit to carry, but my wife sure wouldn't - yet she often drives my car. So do friends of mine for that matter.
Second, if the license check comes up that the owner does not have a permit, does that mean the vehicle is safe to approach? Of course not! Officers must approach every vehicle as if the occupants were armed and dangerous - carry permit or not. And don't forget - according to the US Supreme Court, criminals are exempt from registering their guns under the protections offered in the Fifth Amendment. The list therefore, would never tell the officer there was an armed criminal in the vehicle.
Finally, lists of people who own guns should never be in the Government's control.
Although I would much prefer a Vermont-style carry law, I also understand the argument that in order to get somewhere, we must take what we can get now, and then improve on it later. Nonetheless, I am very leery of gun owner lists. If we must have government issued permits for concealed carry, then the permitting system should be based on the insta-check system for gun purchases (which I also oppose for obvious reasons): once you are approved, the records of your approval/transaction are destroyed.
Have a good night.
Once again, Bucher states his position as pro-concealed carry. That's good: Wisconsin needs concealed carry if for nothing else but to put us on a level playing field with the common criminal. Nonetheless, he also promotes a database list of permit holders, with "rock solid safeguards against developing lists that would impinge on the privacy of or target permit holders".
His reasoning for this list is to protect law enforcement officers in the event of a traffic stop. The officer would be able to check the vehicle's registration against the list, and find out if the car's owner is a permit holder. He claims that this will "address officer safety in traffic stops while getting a good bill into law".
Here's my problem with the list: first off, the fact that the car's owner has a carry permit tells you nothing about the driver of the vehicle. I would maybe get a permit to carry, but my wife sure wouldn't - yet she often drives my car. So do friends of mine for that matter.
Second, if the license check comes up that the owner does not have a permit, does that mean the vehicle is safe to approach? Of course not! Officers must approach every vehicle as if the occupants were armed and dangerous - carry permit or not. And don't forget - according to the US Supreme Court, criminals are exempt from registering their guns under the protections offered in the Fifth Amendment. The list therefore, would never tell the officer there was an armed criminal in the vehicle.
Finally, lists of people who own guns should never be in the Government's control.
Although I would much prefer a Vermont-style carry law, I also understand the argument that in order to get somewhere, we must take what we can get now, and then improve on it later. Nonetheless, I am very leery of gun owner lists. If we must have government issued permits for concealed carry, then the permitting system should be based on the insta-check system for gun purchases (which I also oppose for obvious reasons): once you are approved, the records of your approval/transaction are destroyed.
Have a good night.
posted by Paul | 7:15 PM
1 Comments:
Bucher is twisting like crazy. He will oppose CCW, as he has in the past.
As far as he is concerned, only Gummint types should be armed. Period.
All the rest is foofoodust.
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