Gun sales and permits explode after new constitutional carry bill went through in Maine

On October 15th a bill was passed in Maine legislature allowing citizens to conceal and carry a firearm without a permit. Gun shop owners have reported crowds of people coming in to buy guns and also holsters to carry their guns concealed.

They also reported a higher customer base of couples – where one spouse has convinced the other to carry- and a higher amount of women coming in. One gun shop vice president has even designated Wednesdays for the increasing amount of female costumers to use the indoor shooting range for free, according to MPBN News.

“I have a Glock 40 and I have a .22 magnum and I have a .380,” says Crystal Boone of Lincoln.

 

She says she had some familiarity with firearms and decided to sign up for a training course at Trident Armory. She says the instruction has greatly improved her level of confidence and sense of comfort in using a handgun and that the idea of concealed carry is going to quickly catch on among single women concerned about personal safety.

 

“I personally know at least five other women that are interested in taking this course so that they can get confident with their guns,” Boone says. “To me that’s why a lot of women don’t carry is because they’re not confident and I feel like there’s going to be a lot more people doing it because of this concealed carry law coming up.”

Many uninformed people are expecting huge spikes in crime and gunfights over line-cutting and parking spot-stealing. These people must not be aware of the fact that Vermont- their neighbor- was the number one safest state in the country in 2013. Vermont was one of the first states to have implemented concealed carry and they have some of the most lax gun laws in the country.

Many experts have weighed in on the topic too, including a prosecuting attorney in Michigan who was, at first, against a similar gun bill that went through in 2001. He recalls the mayhem and panic from law enforcement and the public about how if the ownership of guns increased, crime would follow. “What happened surprised everyone, in the fact that there just hasn’t been the problems that folks expected.”

Author and professor Brian Anse Patrick, who has researched America’s gun laws and attitudes extensively, has a similar view.

 

“Not much happens when states enact these laws. People who already have guns, if they were really malevolent or crazy, they could have already carried them without the permit. The people who do gun murders are not the same as regular gun owners,” said Patrick, who teaches at the University of Toledo and whose upcoming book is titled “Propagunda.”

People need to understand, the stigma that guns are bad and cause crime is an outright lie. A study by the Harvard Journal of Law actually concluded that a high number of guns in an area actually reduces crime. Take for instance the areas in the U.S. where the most crime and murder happens, they are all areas with the strictest gun control or complete firearm bans. 92% of mass shootings since 2009 have happened in gun-free zones.

Compare Chicago and Detroit, where the gun laws are opposite and observe the deadly effects of gun control. Rampant crime and injustices happen when you infringe on a citizen’s right to the Second Amendment and render them defenseless.

Good for Maine and its people for reinforcing the constitutional right to carry. Their people will discourage future criminals, protect and defend.