Coverage of the Aurora tragedy continues to be peppered with articles bemoaning the NRA’s unyielding, unreasonable opposition to commonsense gun control laws. I’m not the biggest fan of the NRA, and I’m not a member despite being a gun owner and supporter of the second amendment, but articles like this one pretending that support for gun control among NRA members is somehow news continue to go right up my nose:
The study, which was conducted in May by GOP wordsmith Frank Luntz, revealed the following data points as well:
- 74 percent of NRA members believe concealed carry permits should only be granted to applicants who have completed gun safety training.
- 68 percent of NRA members believe concealed carry permits should only be granted to applicants who do not have prior arrests for domestic violence.
- 63 percent of NRA members believe concealed carry permits should only be granted to applicants 21 years of age or older.
- 75 percent of NRA members believe that concealed carry permits should be granted only to those applicants who have not committed any violent misdemeanors.
Yep! I, and apparently a majority of NRA members, believe that a concealed carry permit should only be issued to well-trained people over the age of 21 without a history of violence. On these points we’re right alongside gun control advocates calling for these simple, commonsense reforms.
Where we disagree with them is on whether permits should be issued, period, an item conveniently omitted from that list. Gun control advocates generally want concealed carry regulated on a “may issue” basis, which is to say that the issuing authority can decide to give you a permit, but aren’t required to. They could, in fact, deny you a permit for no reason other than that they don’t much like your hair. This is not a commonsense gun control measure, it’s a back door to a blanket ban on concealed carry.
We’d really rather they used a “shall issue” basis, meaning that unless you fall into some pre-defined disqualifying category (e.g. ex-felon, serial spousal abuse, etc) the issuing authority must issue the permit. That’s a far bigger sticking point than any of the items appearing on Huffpo’s list there.