Concealed-Carry Movement Spreads Throughout U.S.

Josey1

Concealed-Carry Movement Spreads Throughout U.S.3/8/2002 Email Print Subscribe New Mexico is the latest state to pass a concealed-carry law, highlighting a trend that has been growing across the United States, Knight Ridder reported March 1.According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, in the 1980s, 40 or more states prohibited concealed weapons. The first concealed-carry law was passed in Florida 15 years ago. Since that time, gun advocates have been successful in overturning laws against carrying concealed weapons in other states.Today, just four states -- Illinois, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin -- ban concealed weapons completely. Concealed weapons bills are pending in Kansas and Missouri."The pendulum is swinging the other way now," said Jim Supica, an antique gun dealer in Lenexa, Kan., and a member of the National Rifle Association's (NRA) board of directors. "I think there is more of a sense of personal vulnerability, a seriousness of the issue of personal defense."Jon Vernick, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research in Baltimore, Md., said he is surprised by the victories. "The NRA and other advocates have been very successful in promoting this kind of change," he said. http://www.jointogether.org/gv/news/summaries/reader/0,2061,548882,00.html

Iconoclast

Undoubtedly he's well aware of that, Saxon. Deflecting attention from one's own shortcomings and attributing one's failures to a demonized group has been a favorite trick of demogogues since the dawn of time.