Show Me Your Glock

By: Mr. Wilson on July 6, 2006

The Lincoln Police Union has voted to support Mayor Seng's proposed concealed weapons ban (PDF). The vote shouldn't surprise anybody. In general, police officers don't want citizens to possess weapons. Who can blame them? It is in their interests to tip the balance of power in their favor whenever possible. Two things are worth noting at this point. First, when thinking about and/or discussing Mayor Seng's ban, be sure you know what is meant by "concealed weapon":

9.36.140 Concealed Weapon; Definitions. (a) For the purposes of Section 9.36.130 of the Lincoln Municipal Code, unless the context otherwise requires: (1) Concealed weapon shall mean any firearm, stun gun, knife, switchblade knife, any gun which releases any propelled object by spring mechanism, compressed air or compressed gas, or any other instrument the use of which is intended or likely to cause death or bodily injury; (2) Knife shall mean any dagger, dirk, knife, or 1 stilleto with a blade over three and one-half inches in length or any other dangerous instrument capable of inflicting cutting, stabbing, or tearing wounds; (3) Stun gun shall mean any handheld electronic device that is powered by an internal power source such as batteries, and that is capable of introducing an electrical current into the body of a person which when introduced to the body shall be capable of disrupting a person's central nervous system and rendering the person temporarily incapable of normal functioning, for any period of time whatsoever. The electrical current may be introduced into the human body by means of direct pressure to the body from fixed electrodes on the electronic device and/or by one or more electrodes attached to a length of wire or other connection and which upon being fired from a firearm or any other mechanical device, strikes the human body and produces the reaction described herein.

It is a fairly broad definition that I think a lot of folks will be uncomfortable with. It's not necessarily that police officers will go around charging everybody possessing a pocket knife, fork, or toothpick with a felony, but a concealed carry charge could legally be brought against an individual for something that minor if the LPD really wanted to stick it to somebody (so to speak). In my opinion the definition invites too many opportunities for abusive interpretations of the law. Second, remain aware throughout any discussion that Police Chief Tom Casady is not a statistician. He is, on this issue, a salesman. He is marketing an idea he supports. He is obligated not to lie, but he has already shown a willingness to stretch the truth and use innuendo to support his cause. Consider two statistics he cites:

From January 1996 to August 2001, 5,314 Texans with concealed carry permits were arrested for various offenses, including 41 cases of murder or attempted murder, 79 sexual assaults, 833 assaults and 60 other sex crimes.
Last year, 1,395 people in Florida committed a crime serious enough to have their concealed weapons permits revoked.

What's wrong with these data? Two things. First, Chief Casady is playing the correlation = causation game. It's a common trap; don't fall for it. Second, there are not comparison data provided for persons without concealed carry permits. We don't know, from these data, whether persons with concealed carry permits are more or less likely than the rest of the population to commit the crimes mentioned here. I don't doubt that the statistics are true, but so what? They are meaningless in the absence of context. I don't know if the universe of crime data support a concealed carry ban or not, but I do know that Casady could find some much more meaningful statistics to aid his case. Instead, he has chosen to be a scare-monger. Hold him accountable. Demand better data. As the ban stands right now, I oppose it. Not only have supporters failed to convince me that there is a problem needing to be solved, the majority of their efforts to date have consisted of little more than lame ghost stories. There are perfectly valid reasons to get behind this sort of a ban, but so far I've heard very few of them put forward by our government officials. (A few citizens, on the other hand, have made the case more effectively.) Until Mayor Seng, Police Chief Casady, and others in local government do a better job of justifying their motives, I'm giving them a thumbs down.

Lincolnite

Show Me Your Glock

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