Concealed Weapons Permits

While I was home on leave Wifey and I went and got concealed weapons permits, a renewal for me and an initial for her. While we were in the county seat doing the paperwork the lady noted that we “were the last two people from Redacted to get a pistol license.” This really didn’t surprise me much because rural and small town folks tend to be armed at a pretty high rate. This isn’t surprising given the 45 minute response time to get a sheriff out there.

Having a pistol license/ CCW is a good thing. It means you can legally carry a concealed handgun which is a very good thing. The necessity of one varies by state. Some places have open carry, or allow you to have a loaded gun in the car, or carry one without a permit in rural areas/ while hunting or fishing or such. A few states have “constitution carry” where if you aren’t a crook (or a couple other narrow well defined things) you can carry legally without the need for a permit. This is really the gold standard.

Other places have very little “wiggle room” and unless you have a permit you are on the wrong side of the law. In some of these places it just means you need to get a permit. Permits vary between a mild administrative annoyance (fill out some forms, show up at a government building during working hours, etc) and a modest fee and almost impossible to get. In places like California unless you are somehow affiliated with law enforcement or are otherwise deemed by the totalitarian administrators to be special (which typically means .gov or .state) it isn’t going to happen. One could argue that there is at least an anecdotal relationship between how hard it is to get a pistol license (aka CCW) and how much the state sucks.

I think that it is important to have a concealed weapons permit, even if you have no intention to carry a handgun. Things may change in your life or region and with a license you can pack heat and still be on the right side of the law. There is nothing like a string of violent crimes in your area, a personal threat, a natural disaster or a riot to make you want to take a handgun on a trip to the gas station or corner store. Sure if nuclear bombs drop or zombies rise from the dead a permit doesn’t matter but in other situations it may very well matter.

Also in states with a waiting period for firearms purchases you can skip it. I always thought waiting periods were stupid anyway, especially so for people who already own guns. Personally I can’t see somebody who already has a decent collection like many of us, deciding they just have to go out and get a new pistol to shoot somebody and then being discouraged by needing to wait a few days to get it. “Well I was going to murder that no good SOB but I didn’t want to use any of the guns I already have and I can’t get a new one for a few days due to the waiting period so I will just forget the whole thing.” Stupid.
If you can get a concealed weapons permit then do so, you never know when it may come in handy.