Tag: CCW

Join Jim and Greg as they recoil at the horrific assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and discuss why he was such a valuable U.S. ally. They also welcome better than expected job growth in June. And they wonder if New York Democrats learned anything from the Supreme Court decision as they pass new hurdles for residents to get concealed carry permits – including submitting their social media accounts for an evaluation of their character and conduct.

California Shouldn’t Create More Headaches for CCW Holders

 

Never underestimate the talent politicians have for taking something minor and making it into a massive new (and usually expensive) problem. Take, for example, Republican California Assemblyman Eric Linder’s latest effort to create new headaches for Golden State gun owners.

Linder claims that his Assembly Bill 2510 is designed to make the state’s antiquated CCW licenses “uniform.” But, as is not surprising in politics, the truth is something very different.

Why Did You Decide to Start Carrying a Gun?

 

dressing-concealed-carry-gunSimple question, isn’t it? Why did you decide to join thousands and thousands of other people like yourself and purchase a firearm for self-defense?

If you’re like me (and I know I am), it was because of a real threat (a psychotic relative) and a perceived threat (a rise in violent crime in the Phoenix area). Either is a very valid reason to arm yourself and your family against the threat of grievous bodily harm, and if you’ve done so already, congratulations, you’ve made the most adult decision you’ll ever make in your life.

But what are you willing to defend with your gun? Your life? You family’s lives? Your co-worker’s lives? The life of a random stranger on the street? Your car? Your stuff? Someone else’s stuff? These are all questions will you need to answer before your gun is in your hand, because there will not be time to answer them when the shooting starts.

Skill Drills For New Pistol Owners

 

shutterstock_89863252“You are what you practice.” — Ken Hackathorn

The gun business is booming. There were enough guns sold on Black Friday last year to equip the United States Marines (and a couple of extra Army divisions). However, there’s an annoying tendency within the firearms business community to view the sale of a firearm as the be-all, end-all of gun ownership, without helping the customer learn how to use their gun. The fact is, aside from collectors, very few people buy a gun just for the sake of owning one; rather, they buy with a specific purpose in mind. That purpose, according to a 2014 survey by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, is target shooting and self-defense.

Today’s new target shooters tend to live in cities instead of in the country, so their access to large pistol bays or open land where shooting is permitted is limited at best. However, today’s urban gun owners can take advantage of the fast-growing phenomenon of the luxury gun range, or “guntry club,” shooting in a comfortable, well-lit indoor range, or shoot pistols from a bench at a public outdoor range.

Member Post

 

Virginia’s Attorney General today announced that his state is, as of February 1 of 2016, canceling its Concealed Carry reciprocity with 25 states, including my own state of Ohio.  His stated reasons are outright lies and fabrications, but his real reason for canceling the permit reciprocity is pure and simple spite.  Democrats cannot, at this […]

Join Ricochet!

This is a members-only post on Ricochet's Member Feed. Want to read it? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

Inside, Outside, Upside Down: Choosing a Holster for Concealed Carry

 

Purchasing a defensive firearm is not a (pardon the pun) one-shot deal. You’re making the most adult decision you’ve ever made in your life, namely, taking personal responsibility for the safety of your loved ones. As Marty McFly might say, “that’s heavy.”

A firearm is not a talisman of self-protection: You don’t buy one and then leave it in a place of veneration in your home so it will somehow provide an umbrella of protection to all who dwell within. A pistol has to be readily accessible in order to be effective, and that means having it near you both when you’re inside and outside your home.

A Nice Little Fiefdom

 

cc_application_pic_500x333We’ve had a few discussions before about the proper size and scope of local government. While I agree that keeping government local has multiple advantages — e.g., ease of response to complaints, ability to fit local needs better, relative ease of voting with one’s feet, etc. — this case out of Rhode Island furthers my feeling that those advantages only go so far and that we shouldn’t understate the degree to which local governments can still abridge citizens’ rights.

In Rhode Island, licenses to carry a concealed weapon are issued through local police departments, which have great discretion over their issuance. Some towns and cities are relatively liberal in issuing licenses, while others make it nearly impossible for the average citizen to protect himself with a firearm outside of the home. East Providence appears to be one of the latter: by former Chief Joseph H. Tavares’ own admission, no license to carry a concealed weapon had been issued within the last decade in his city of 47,000 people with slightly below-average income rates and rather dull crime stats.

In the early winter of 2012, resident Norman Gadomski Jr. applied for a CCW license, citing his desire to protect himself while handling cash at work, cycling, and camping, as well as his intent to join a Massachusetts gun club (the Rhode Island license would allow him to apply for a non-resident license from Massachusetts). He filed the paperwork, submitted to an interview, and disclosed that he had been arrested twice as an adult: once for possession of alcohol before being of age, once for some kind of property damage. Both arrests were made more than 20 years earlier and both were dismissed after the young Gadomski agreed to pay the Witness Fund and court fees.