Arguably, a well armed society is a polite society. And I actually think that the classic argument against gun control – that it only makes us less safe because criminals already breaking the law are pretty likely to obtain guns illicitly and use them against unarmed innocents – holds some validity. Having just visited friends in Newport News, VA, I got to read a horrifying expose in the local paper about how easy it was for teenagers to obtain guns and about how often they used them. The implication was that attempts to control access were accomplishing nothing. Whether or not stricter laws would correct that is debatable.

Of course, the traditional arguments of the anti-gun control crowd say nothing of the crimes of passion an ample supply of easily obtained arms enables. Are of the horrible things that the mentally ill or disturbed can choose to do with them, so….whatever.

But regardless, this bill should have been written so that concealed permits between states with similar/compatible concealed carry application/screening processes would carry over, instead of between all states – the differences are obviously drastic. I say this simply because as it was written it sounds like a rather foolish bill. The fact that it came within just a few votes of passing, despite being so poorly thought out and despite disregarding state rights is terrifying