concealed carry

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A Survey On Concealed Carry

November 3, 2013 by

Ron Larimer at When the Balloon Goes Up is a doing a survey on concealed carry. The survey includes questions on how often you carry, what you carry, and where on your body you carry your firearm.

Why is is running this survey? I’ll let him answer that.

One of the biggest challenges to the new concealed carrier is selecting a pistol and I think we can help.

I would like to create a free concealed carry gun guide that answers many of the new carriers questions about what is the right gun for them by polling actual concealed carriers.

Once the results are in I will compile the specifications on the guns, the popularity, price, ratings, demographics and infer the relative importance of multiple attributes and develop a free downloadable report.

I think this is a great idea. However, it will only be as good as the quality and quantity of the answers he receives. In other words, if you carry concealed, you need to participate.

You can find the very short survey here. Answering the survey won’t take more than a minute or two so head on over there now.

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The Outdoor Wire’s Concealed Carry Special Edition

October 30, 2013 by

The Outdoor Wire network of newsletters released their annual Concealed Carry Special Edition this morning. It features articles on training for concealed carry from Mike Seeklander, Michael Bane, Claude Werner, Tiger McKee, Rich Grassi, and Paul Erhardt. 

Dave Spaulding, whom I consider one of the best trainers out there, said it contains “good, useable information” on his Facebook page.

If you have a concealed carry permit or are thinking of finally getting one, I’d highly recommend this. We can all use more training.

You can open it from this link.

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North Carolina Is No. 27. Why Not No. 1?

October 25, 2013 by 8 Comments

The title to this post is reminiscent of the debates in North Carolina politics about teacher pay or student achievement. However, in this case it refers to where the state of North Carolina ranked in Guns and Ammo’s ranking of the states for concealed carry. North Carolina came in at the 27th position virtually tied with Minnesota. This ranked North Carolina behind all of our neighboring states except for Virginia which was ranked 32nd. (correction: VA ranks 11th and it is West Virginia that ranks 32nd)

The rankings were based upon such criteria as cost, training hours, method of permit issuance, reciprocity, the existence of a castle doctrine, and how gun friendly the state was. This was used to create an aggregate score. The scoring criteria is below. The editors of G&A are quick to point out that no state is perfect but some states (and the District of Columbia) are pretty bad. DC, by the way, ranked as a zero which shouldn’t surprise anyone who has ever read the work of Emily Miller.

To determine the best concealed carry states in 2013, we examined the following criteria and assigned numerical values to each category for a maximum of 100 points.

Permit Issuance: States were awarded up to 25 points based on their method of issuance.
Permitless/Unrestricted = 25 Points
Shall-Issue = 20 points
May-Issue = 5 points
No-Issue/Restricted = 0 points.

Reciprocity: The number of states honored in the issuing state were counted and assigned a maximum of 10 points. Next, the number of states where the issuing state’s permit is honored were counted and assigned a maximum of 10 points. The two totals were then added together for a maximum of 20 points.

Number of Permits Honored in the Issuing State
0 States = 0 Points
1-10 States = 2 Points
11-20 States = 4 Points
21-30 States = 6 Points
31-40 States = 8 Points
41-50 States = 10 Points

Number of States Where the Issuing State’s Permit is Honored
0 States = 0 Points
1-10 States = 2 Points
11-20 States = 4 Points
21-30 States = 6 Points
31-40 States = 8 Points
41-50 States = 10 Points

Training Time: Training time was scored based on the minimum number of statutory training hours required, for a maximum of 10 points. States with unrestricted carry automatically earned the maximum number of points.

0 Hours = 10 Points
1-3 Hours = 9 points
4-6 Hours = 8 points
7-9 Hours = 7 points
10-12 Hours = 6 points
13-15 Hours = 5 points
16+ Hours = 0 points

Application Fee: Application fees were scored with a maximum of 10 points based on the statutory cost paid by civilians to their state of residence in order to obtain the permit. Fees were not scored based on renewal or out-of-state permit costs, military/law enforcement/veteran rates or senior citizen discounts. Fees also do not include the cost of any necessary training course(s). States with unrestricted carry automatically earned the maximum number of points.
$0-$25 = 10 points
$26-50 = 8 points
$51-75 = 6 points
$76-100 = 4 points
$101-150 = 2 points
$150+ = 0 points

Stand Your Ground/Castle Doctrine: States’ scores were determined based on how strong their law is regarding self-defense in and out of the home, and whether you’re immune from civil prosecution in a self-defense situation. Maximum of 10 points.

Best States for Gun Owners in 2013: To Best determine how generally gun friendly the state is, each was awarded up to 10 points based on their overall rank in the Best States for Gun Owners in 2013.
Ranks 1-10 = 10 points
Ranks 11-20 = 8 points
Ranks 21-30 = 6 points
Ranks 31-40 = 4 points
Ranks 41-50 = 2 points

Duty to Inform: States were awarded points based on whether or not individuals who are legally carrying are required to immediately inform a law enforcement/peace officers they are carrying a gun upon initial contact
.
5 Points = Not required to immediately inform a law enforcement officer.
0 Points = Required to immediately inform a law enforcement officer.

Pre-Emption of Home-Rule: States were awarded points if state laws pre-empt local governing bodies from crafting their own legislation regarding concealed carry. In most states, pre-emption does not include local laws regarding the discharge of firearms within city limits.
5 Points = State laws pre-empt local governing bodies from crafting their own laws.
0 Points = Local governing bodies can make their own laws and are not subject to state pre-emption.

Permit Issued to Non-Residents: States earned points based on their method of issuance to non-residents.
5 Points = Permits are issued on a Shall-Issue basis to non-residents.
2 Points = Permits are issued on a May-Issue basis to non-residents.
0 Points = Permits are not issued to non-residents.

Where North Carolina fell down in the eyes of the G&A editors was on duty to inform and the issuance of non-resident permits. The Tar Heel State actually ranked behind Illinois (No. 42) on those criteria.

Read the whole story and find out where your state ranks on the list. If you ever have to relocate, lists such as this could be helpful in deciding where you want to live.

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Jumping The Gun On CCW In Illinois – A Warning

September 24, 2013 by 2 Comments



Despite the speculation by TTAG that Illinois is now a constitutional carry state with the Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Aguilar v People, Thirdpower at Days of our Trailers has a warning about not to tempting fate.

Even though TTAG is claiming that IL is a ‘Constitutional Carry’ State, you can still get your @ss arrested.

If we find somebody carrying a weapon, we’ll likely write a report and hand it over to the state’s attorney and let him use the facts of the case to decide whether he wants to prosecute. If we feel it’s necessary, there’s a very good chance we’ll seize the weapon.”

Given that Thirdpower is a lifelong Illinoisian and is active in Illinois gun politics, I’m going with him on this one. You might beat the charge of unlawful use of a firearm but you’ll probably never see your gun again.

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First Impact Of Illinois Supreme Court Ruling On Right To Carry

September 17, 2013 by 9 Comments

This past Thursday, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled unanimously in People v. Aguilar that the Illinois law that banned carry outside the home was illegal under the Second Amendment. Yesterday, this ruling caused Cook County Circuit Judge Ellen Mandeltort to reverse herself and drop charges against Deafalla Haddad. Mr. Haddad had been charged with the unlawful use of a weapon after he was found in possession of a handgun during a routine traffic stop.

Cook County Circuit Judge Ellen Mandeltort last week denied Deafalla Haddad’s request to drop the charges.

But the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that part of the state’s gun law was unconstitutional and advised prosecutors to drop charges in certain cases. That ruling fell in step with a federal court decision earlier this year declaring that the state’s gun laws violated the U.S. Constitution.

At Monday’s hearing, defense attorney Matt Fakhoury asked Mandeltort to reconsider the request in light of the Supreme Court decision. She agreed and found the case against Haddad violated his Second Amendment rights.

“This court finds that the charges (against Haddad) are unconstitutional,” Mandeltort said from the bench.

Fakhoury said it was the first case in Cook County to be dropped after last week’s ruling and that there could be more challenges filed.

“Basically the federal courts said one thing and the state court said another,” Fakhoury said. “But the state court is now following the federal ruling.”

Mr. Haddad, an IT professional and married father of three, obtained his FOID card and then a .45 caliber handgun after he was attacked while stopped at stop sign. Mr. Haddad also started carrying his pistol despite the general prohibition against carry by Illinois state law. This is what led to his arrest for unlawful use of a weapon.

His defense attorney, Matt Fakhoury, discusses the case in the video at this link.

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We Didn’t Skip Starbucks This Saturday!

August 25, 2013 by 8 Comments

In honor of “Skip Starbucks Saturday”, the Complementary Spouse and I treated ourselves to some nice coffee at our local Starbucks this afternoon. They weren’t busy when we got there but that soon changed.

Since the demanding Moms like to use handwritten messages so much, I decided to do the same as you can see below.

The Complementary Spouse went a step further and wore her Keep Calm and Carry t-shirt that we picked up at last year’s Gun Rights Policy Conference.

I, by the way, was pocket carrying my little Sig P238 in my cargo shorts. The Starbucks was not posted so everything was cool.

One of my favorite pictures of the day comes from Brandon Combs of the Firearms Policy Coalition who snapped a picture with the barista holding a “I Love Guns and Coffee” patch. He made it into a nice poster shown below.

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Safe Restaurants Project

July 31, 2013 by 2 Comments

In response to anticipated efforts by the gun prohibitionists, Grass Roots North Carolina is launching the Safe Restaurants Project. As the release below makes clear, it is an effort to encourage restaurant owners to NOT post their restaurants against concealed carry.

From the GRNC release:

Gun Group Targets Restaurants

GRNC ‘Safe Restaurants Project’ will admonish gun rights supporters to report restaurants which post against concealed handguns

Recently signed by Governor Pat McCrory, on October 1st House Bill 937 will expand North Carolina’s concealed handgun law into restaurants. Under the statute, restaurants may still elect to post signs prohibiting firearms.

Although concealed handgun permit-holders will still be prohibited from imbibing alcohol, gun control advocates are already planning to pressure restaurants to prohibit concealed carry.

Accordingly, and with great reluctance, GRNC is responding with its “GRNC Safe Restaurants Project,” to ensure the new law will provide its intended deterrent to violent crime.

The 3 objectives of the “GRNC Safe Restaurants Project”:

  • Provide education for concealed handgun permit-holders to avoid accidental violations;

  • Provide “Protection Preferred” signage enabling supporting restaurants to subtly identify their support to permit-holders and supporters; and

  • Create a “Restaurant “Don’t Buy List” which:

  • Allows thousands of gun owners to report posted restaurants;


  • Sends restaurants notification they have been reported and requests them to remove signs or inform GRNC that a mistake has been made;

  • Provides contact information for posted restaurants, enabling thousands of supporters to contact those restaurants to explain that they will not patronize posted establishments.

GRNC will distribute Restaurant Don’t Buy lists and relevant materials to tens of thousands of gun owners via:

  • GRNC’s email alert network, comprising 87,000 supporters;


  • Gun shows in Asheville, Hickory, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Lexington, Concord, Greensboro, Raleigh, Fayetteville and Jacksonville;

  • GRNC’s distribution network of nearly 50 gun shops;

  • Concealed handgun permit classes statewide; and

  • GRNC’s highly popular website.

Said GRNC president Paul Valone:

“It’s unfortunate GRNC must counter gun control activists’ attempts to undermine a law intended to deter restaurant crime and save lives. We fully sympathize with restaurant owners caught in the middle of a battle we’d rather not fight, but they should understand that, according to the Pew Research Center, gun rights supporters donate four times more and are more politically involved than gun control advocates. They should ask themselves whether they want to alienate the 399,268 North Carolinians who have applied for concealed handgun permits.”

This brings to mind a suggestion made many times by Tom Gresham when coming across a store or restaurant that is posted against concealed carry. Tom calls the establishment and says to the manager, “I wanted to shop (or eat) at your store (restaurant) but it was unsafe.”  When they ask what you mean, you tell them they have posted against concealed carry and you won’t subject your family to the risk. Then you tell them what you spent at their competitors. To really get the point across, you fax them a copy of your receipt from their competitor. Done often enough, it will get the message across.

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Dream On, Rahmbo

July 10, 2013 by 20 Comments

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel held a press conference today to bemoan the fact that Illinois will now finally have shall-issue concealed carry. He said he was glad Illinois was the last state to adopt concealed carry and that he hopes the Illinois General Assembly will allow Chicago to adopt its own stricter concealed carry ordinances.

He goes on to say that Chicago is different and that it “needs” gun control. I would agree with him that Chicago is different than Downstate – it has more shootings and murders than the rest of the state despite having much tougher gun control laws.

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.
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Quinn’s Veto Overriden In The Illinois General Assembly

July 9, 2013 by 1 Comment

Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of HB 183 was overriden in the Illinois House today on a vote of 77 for and 31 against. It now goes to the Illinois Senate where Sen. Gary Forby (D-Marion) has introduced a motion to override the veto.

Today is the day that the stay issued by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in the joint cases of Shepard v. Madigan and Moore v. Madigan expires.

UPDATE: Interestingly enough, the Illinois State Police is prepared for the bill’s passage. It has up a  FAQ page on concealed carry permits including the cost of permits and the qualifications to obtain a permit.

UPDATE II: Both houses of the Illinois General Assembly overrode Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto. The Senate vote was 41 to 17.

The State of Illinois now has concealed carry. While it will take a while to get things up and running, the state does have concealed carry.

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Gun Prohibitionists Waste No Time In Illinois

July 3, 2013 by 2 Comments

The gun prohibitionists were out in force yesterday in Illinois in support of Gov. Pat Quinn’s amendatory veto of HB 183. Perhaps the leading gun prohibitionists group in the state is the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence (sic) led by Colleen Daley. (I don’t know if she is related to Richard and Bill Daley or not). Gov. Quinn featured them prominently in his little soiree’ announcing his amendatory veto.

Daley and ICHV wasted no time in getting out a plea to their supporters along with a a chance to donate to their efforts. This tells me that the grassroots will be vitally important in getting the veto overridden. Our side knows it and so do the gun prohibitionist forces.

Dear Friend,

Today, Governor Pat Quinn stood with community leaders and concerned citizens as he announced his amendatory veto of HB 183, the Concealed Carry legislation that passed in the waning hours of the Spring Session of the General Assembly.

The Governor heard our concerns and made changes that make public safety a top priority!

The Amendatory Veto recognizes that guns and alcohol do not mix and bans guns in any place the serves alcohol. It also requires businesses to opt-in as opposed to opt-out if they would like guns in their establishment, it limits a license holder to carrying ONE gun and ONE magazine that can hold no more than 10 rounds, and removes the provision restricting home rule municipalities regulation of assault weapons.

To read the Governor’s changes click here.

The General Assembly is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, July 9th to deal with the amendatory veto. Representative Brandon Phelps, the sponsor of the bill has already filed a motion to override the Governor’s veto. Please call you legislators now and ask them to vote “NO” on the override attempt. Tell them you stand with Governor Quinn and support his amendatory veto of HB 183!

To find your legislators click here

The Governor has also created a website to make it easy for people to review the changes he has proposed. Visit the site by clicking here.

Call now and stand for common sense gun laws.

In Peace,

Colleen Daley

Executive Director

Here are Daley’s comments from yesterday. You will note she was the first speaker after Gov. Quinn finished his announcement of the amendatory veto.