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Awesome Arizona

by Whaleoil on July 30, 2010

Today is the day gun-rights advocates have had in their sights for a long time.

Starting today, Arizona residents at least 21 years old can carry a concealed weapon without a permit.

The change is part of a broad weapons law by state Sen. Russell Pearce passed by the state Legislature in April that eases restrictions on concealed carry and stiffens penalties for committing a crime while carrying a concealed weapon.

The law is one of many passed by the state Legislature this past session that go into effect today.

Arizona joins Alaska and Vermont as the only states to allow concealed weapons without a permit.

My mate emailed me today to tell me about this. Arizona is also an Open Carry state where you are allowed to carry a gun in the open. He is in a wheel-chair and is a tetra-plegic, but that doesn’t slow him down. He already carries a Sig Sauer, but now with concealed carry without a permit, he can hide that away, though I’m not sure why you’d want to.

Proponents say that concealed carry is not substantially different from open carry, which the state already allows without a permit, and that the new law simply lets law-abiding citizens carry weapons in whatever way is most comfortable.

The law has already created changes for the firearms community, local businesses and police departments. It has also galvanized gun-rights groups to seek further deregulation.

In case you didn’t realise, handguns are heavy. Even a Glock is heavy when the mag is full. Having them yank on belts at funny angles and get in the way when entering and exiting vehicles makes open carry uncomfortable. A nice shoulder rig or purpose made bum-bag holster makes carrying much more comfortable

Proponents of the new law argue that open carry has not had any impact on public safety or gun violence and that concealed carry without a permit won’t alter that.

“It’s really just a matter of preference,” said Rachel Parsons, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association. “If a woman wants to carry her gun in her purse, she should be allowed to do that as easily as carrying it on her hip.”

Precisely.

As one astute commenter notes “I’d rather have one and not need it, then need one and not have one.”

Meanwhile here in little old New Zealand the only regularly armed people o the streets are the criminals.

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  • mediatart

    Well with over 400 muders a year, looks like crime is out of control even with the open carry rules. Expect it to climb even further now.
    BTW with a population of 6.5 mill, that means for 50% more population they have 8 times the murders in NZ.
    This gun thing is one of the most bizarre parts of american law.
    You would imagine 99% of small shop owners are armed, yet plenty would be killed anyway.
    In Australia all security guards are armed yet far more are killed on the job than the rare armed robber. All large businesses have armed security staff on the premises since it has become an ‘arms race’ which the crims all ways win.

  • peterwn

    I am not going there. I do not want some wanker to yell ‘freeze’ at me and when I tell him where to stick it, to be shot dead by him, and then he gets off on the grounds of self defence.

  • adze

    “here in lit­tle old New Zealand the only reg­u­larly armed peo­ple o the streets are the criminals.”

    By definition, yes :o )

    Having said that, I carried something for a while after I had been the victim of an unprovoked attack in town one night a few years ago. But I have heard that having a weapon handy is only useful if you regularly train to use it under stressful conditions.

  • oswaldbastable

    Gun paranoia:
    “A woman raped and strangled is morally superior to a woman with a smoking gun and a dead rapist at her feet.”

  • oswaldbastable