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CHL holders not a threat to community
By Michael Clements
Texas City Sun
A recent study revealed that Galveston County, and in particular League
City, have per capita more citizens with concealed handgun licenses than any
most other communities in Texas.
Statewide the average is one in every 100 adults is licensed to carry a
concealed weapon. In Galveston, Montgomery and Brazoria counties that number
jumps to three in 100.
One law enforcement official quoted in an Associated Press story expressed
some concern at the relatively high number of citizens who may be armed.
Others pointed out the fact that the majority of license holders are white
and live in rural or suburban areas. What seemed to be missing, or at best
glossed over, was the crime rate among licensed gun owners.
According to the study, since 1995 the Texas Department of Public Safety has
issued more than 220,000 permits. In that time, more than seven years ago,
little more than 2,000 have been revoked.
That’s barely one percent since the state began its licensing program.
To get a concealed handgun license in Texas, a person must receive 10-hours
of classroom training, demonstrate basic skills in the use of a weapon and
undergo a background check. Citizens who don’t care about the law don’t
submit to this type of program.
In addition, each applicant is given a copy of Texas’ concealed carry law
which outlines when and where licensed gun owners can carry weapons.
Contrary to what some may believe, having a concealed handgun license
doesn’t give the holder the right to carry a weapon at all times.
Many of those revocations had nothing to do with a firearm except that the
license holder had a gun in his or her possession when they committed some
crime. For example, if a license holder is convicted of public intoxication,
and has a gun at the time of the violation, the license is revoked.
The simple fact is that the police, unlicensed residents and the community
as a whole has less to fear from licensed gun owners than from their
unlicensed counterparts.
Texas’ law is a lesson in how responsible gun owners can be trusted. Not an
example of an out-of -control gun culture.
— Michael Clements, Sun managing editor
© 2003 Texas City Sun. All rights
reserved. Used with permission of the author.
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"No
free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms."
-Thomas Jefferson |
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