Banning Open Carry And Concealed Carry
1277 WordsDec 12, 20146 Pages
When citizens have the freedom to legally defend themselves, but are restricted by unaccommodating gun laws, what defense possibilities do they have? With population based restrictions on open carry and concealed carry, residents of California cannot possess firearms unless the weapons are stored inside of their homes or in the trunk of their cars. Although Californians can certainly defend themselves at home, self-defense becomes much more problematic when they leave their private residence as they cannot possess firearms with rare exceptions. With that being said, how does the state of California reasonably expect its citizens to defend themselves without the ability to possess firearms in a public setting? State laws prohibiting open…show more content… Although the opponents of open carry are armed with rational concerns, they need not worry about it in the state of California as open carry is prohibited there. California is also one of the most restrictive states when it comes to gun control, yet according to the FBI’s uniformed crime report, California led the nation with 151,879 violent crimes (murder and non-negligent manslaughter, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) in 2013. In the state with the highest amount of violent crime, self-defense at home and in public is a necessity, but that necessity is compromised by the prohibition of open carry. The belief that criminals can easily remove a firearm from an individual exercising open carry is absurd considering modern holsters are now designed with retention in mind. Logically, criminals would avoid attacking someone who is exercising open carry due to the likelihood of being killed in an altercation or being forced to kill the individual and face capital punishment. Although people exercising open carry can cause panic from the community and police officers, the issue is generally resolved without complications and programs to raise awareness on gun rights would improve relations. Raising public awareness about open carry would benefit both open carry and the public due to an