An armed society

Guns should not become easier to acquire

More Michigan residents may soon have legal consent to carry loaded guns in their cars or under cover on their persons. Pending legislation would make it harder to deny special permits for carrying handguns to people without a history of crime or mental illness. As private citizens wielding handguns are far more likely to cause accidental deaths than to protect themselves, Michigan legislators should oppose this bill and any future attempts to ease handgun regulations.

Under Michigan's current law, people applying for right-to-carry permits must convince gun boards that they need or deserve the special authorization. The pending bill, however, aims to revise the permit distribution protocol such that gun boards will have to find reasons not to issue permits to applicants. The proposed change would, in effect, reverse the state's nonverbal stance on gun control. By making permit denial the exception rather than the norm, Michigan would convey the unspoken message that normal private citizens should carry guns and that only aberrant individuals should not.

The danger of such a message is made duly evident by statistics highlighting the high frequency of deliberate and accidental misuse of private firearms. A 1986 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that, in cases involving guns kept in private homes, there were 43 suicides, homicides or accidental shooting deaths for every instance of self-protection. Accordingly, legislation making guns a more common public fixture will more likely jeopardize the safety of Michigan's citizens than protect it. Though the bill would mandate gun safety training, it would not ensure proper use of guns.

Proponents of right-to-carry laws, including the National Rifle Association, have this time framed their public push for legislation as a women's safety issue, maintaining that the bill will both deter crime and better enable women to protect themselves against violent criminals. Many of these proponents, however, neglect to consider that the legislation will not only arm women, but will also make it easier for criminals to arm themselves in public and will increase their ability to commit crimes against women.

Despite the NRA's push for the right-to-carry bill as a partial solution to violence against women, gun vendors find themselves serving an almost negligible number of female customers. In fact, more than 10 times more guns were registered to men than women last year. In Washtenaw County last year, less than five percent of all concealed weapons permits were issued to women. Furthermore, Rep. Mary Shroer (D-Ann Arbor) says that polls show women overwhelmingly oppose the terms set forth in the pending bill.

Any legislation that arms the public poses a threat to the nation's general safety. A gun-toting public will find itself riddled with accidental deaths and throngs of legally armed assailants. Though the package has a strong House backing, law enforcement groups, private citizens and legislators must oppose relaxing gun laws. The safety of Michigan's citizens rests heavily on regulations ensuring that weapons will not become a commonplace fixture in public.

06-08-98