Truth hurts gun control agenda

June 16, 6:40 AMCleveland Gun Rights ExaminerDaniel White

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The City of Peoria, Illinois wants to be a test city for allowing law abiding city to be licensed to carry concealed handguns for self-defense. An online poll showed 51% of respondents supported the proposal, while only 13% oppose it. Without seeing the poll, I'd assume the balance are undecided.

Naturally, gun control pundits oppose the plan and give dire warnings that "research proves concealed weapons could add to crime."

However, the opposite is true. A great deal of research has been done into the issue of lawfully armed citizens and their effect on crime rates. The vast majority show that at worst, it has no net result on crime rates while many demonstrate that violent crimes decrease and those crimes are shifted to crimes against property (burglaries instead of robberies, for example). Of course, there are a few studies supporting the gun control agenda, although those are ones that happen to have been commissioned by gun control groups.

The truth is, concealed carry does not raise crime and does make citizens safer. This is why gun grabbers will vehemently oppose any such "test program." If it were to go into effect, everyone would see passed the lies and misleading statements and know that concealed carry will work in Illinois just as it has worked in every other state that has it.

Not surprisingly, Illinois sheriffs, the one law enforcement body that answers to the people at the polls, supports concealed carry in that state. For example, "Peoria County's Sheriff says he thinks having concealed weapons would actually deter criminals."

He's right. Studies by John Lott, for example, show that criminals are deterred from crimes against people and redirect their efforts towards less risky targets. Many felons interviewed regarding the topic of concealed carry report that their greatest fear is not running into a police officer while committing a violent crime, but that their intended victim will be armed and able to fight back.

With this in mind, it is not surprising that the one person interviewed in the Journal Star article who opposed concealed carry was a convicted felon.

Concealed Carry programs work. The anti-gun crowd knows it and for this reason cannot allow "test cities" to be set up to confirm that truth. Hopefully, Peoria can prevail in their plan to demonstrate this truth to the rest of the state.