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Editorial says conceal carry good enough for Arkansas

Mike

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http://media.http://www.thetraveleronline.com/media/storage/paper688/news/2008/10/20/Opinion/Content.With.Concealed.Carry-3494480.shtml

Content with concealed carry

The Traveler Editorial Board
Arkansas is one of six states that does not allow the open carry of guns, but one Arkansas citizen now is attempting to repeal the open-carry ban. This would translate into the ability for a citizen to have the right to carry a handgun in plain sight wherever he or she goes, rather than citizens being restricted to leaving guns in their homes or cars or carrying them in a concealed manner with the proper license.

Having the right to carry a handgun naturally falls under the right to protect yourself and your family against harm, and it is expressly articulated in the second amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Though it would be ideal to live in a community free of guns, they have become a necessary evil in order to guard against malevolent people who will carry guns whether or not it is legal.

Most disagreements about gun laws center around whether it is lawful to carry guns at all, but we think there's no argument there - the right to carry guns is clear. When the topic shifts to whether guns should be carried openly or concealed, however, the situation becomes cluttered.

While some might argue that allowing the open carry of guns would be a deterrent to criminals, we think doing so would only cause unneeded tension and fear. And at the very least, implementing an open-carry law could backfire by putting gun control on the minds of opponents, who might begin also to question concealed-carry laws.

The official Arkansas Petition for Open Carry of Handguns states that "self defense is a basic human right," and we couldn't agree more.

But with concealed-carry laws, trained U.S. citizens are aptly able to defend themselves. Attempting to change state law to allow the open carry of guns is simply unneeded - criminals don't need to see citizens' firearms to assume everyone has the ability to fight back.
 
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