New subject: Australian Customs (was Re: Holy cow... )

7 Aug 2004

At 02:51 PM 8/7/2004, you wrote:
...
 der Mouse, you obviously know nothing about what it
takes to get a 
concealed weapons permit in the US. I have a concealed weapons permit and 
I also have done practical pistol shooting. I would not want untrained 
individuals putting my life at risk. Having a permit in the US does not 
require training or anything but the money and no criminal record. I did 
my training at different opportunities in my life and without any 
requirement to do so. 
South Carolina requires training and has a written test and a shooting test 
that people must pass before receiving a concealed weapon permit.  Most 
other states have training requirements also.
But, none of them are very arduous and yes many states don' t have training 
requirements at all as you say.

But it really doesn't seem to matter.

The majority of people in the USA live in areas where good citizens can and 
do legally carry concealed firearms,
even in places that serve alcohol.
And innocent people are just *not* being hurt by people with a concealed 
weapon permit -- training or no training.

You're more likely to be hurt by a PC or an iPod  (woman in Tennessee 
killed her boyfriend with an iPod)
http://www.liquidgeneration.com/rumormill/ipod_killing.html
or by a police officer or government storm trooper than a citizen legally 
carrying a concealed weapon.

You don't even *need* a permit to have a loaded handgun in your car in 
South Carolina, Georgia, Flordia, North Carolina and Virigina.
Yet people aren't having shootouts in parking lots or on the highways.
Just the occasional rapist or carjacker being blown away is all you hear about.

I don't know what training people would think necessary to carry on an 
airliner, but I'd be happy with anyone who could shoot a decent score on an 
IPSC or IDPA classifier stage.

http://www.ipsc.org/ics/short/CLC-01.jpg

But training or not, Glaser Safety Slugs or not, I'd much rather be on a 
flight where people with concealed weapons permits could carry
than one that could be splashed by some highly trained F16 pilot because 
some bureaucrat, worried about "training" (read CYA), denied me the means 
of effective self defense.

Until they start asking, "Carrying or Non-Carrying?", I'm like Joe, if I 
can't drive, I likely won't go.

Ed

Holy cow... Concealed weapons