Twisted Cross
05-15-2002, 03:49 PM
http://www.utgoa.org/action/chickman.html
IS SENATOR BILL HICKMAN ANTI-GUN?
DON'T LET SEN. HICKMAN PROTECT CRIMINALS!
Senator Bill Hickman is currently the most vocal opponent of SB 121, Concealed Carry Permit Amendments. The bill would eliminate the mandatory training classes currently required to obtain a concealed carry permit.
From Utah Gun Owners Alliance's report on the committee meeting at which Hickman opposed the bill:
Sen. Hickman was by far the most offensive. He made his pro-forma speech about how "no one is a bigger supporter of gun rights than I am" and then proceeded to complain that our current concealed carry law is too lenient, and that no one should be able to get a permit without extensive training and proficiency tests. He also complained about issuing permits "carte blanche" despite the fact that we have a "shall issue" concealed carry law which mandates that any person who qualifies be given a permit. Hickman clearly doesn't understand Utah's concealed carry laws and must care more about political correctness than about stopping rape and murder. He is certainly entitled to his opinions, no matter how unfounded, but he should quit telling tall tales about being "a gun rights supporter". He was far more passionately hostile to this bill than anyone else.
The truth is that state-mandated training is completely irrelevant to safe concealed carry. In fact, it's counterproductive!
Training is expensive and time-consuming. This discourages many people from obtaining a permit and carrying a firearm. But research shows that the more people who carry guns, the less violent crime there is.
EXPENSIVE AND TIME-CONSUMING TRAINING INCREASES CRIME!
From the book More Guns, Less Crime, by Prof. John Lott, Jr.:
"...for each $10 increase in fees, the population getting permits is reduced by about one half of a percentage point. And requiring five hours of training (rather than none) reduces the number of permits by about two-thirds of a percentage point. In a typical state without any fees or training requirements, the percentage of the population with permits would grow from about 3 percent to a little less than 6 percent after a decade."
Why does this matter?
"For every 1000 people with permits, there are 0.3 fewer murders, 2.4 fewer rapes, 21 fewer robberies, and 14.1 fewer aggravated assaults... This raises the real risk that too few people will get permits, as permit holders personally bear all these costs but produce a large benefit for others."
In other words, if expensive training weren't mandated, the number of permits in Utah might well double. And if the number of permits in Utah doubles, statistically, there will be 12 fewer murders, 48 fewer rapes, 560 fewer robberies, and 196 fewer aggravated assaults! Shouldn't Bill Hickman care about protecting these people?
SEN. HICKMAN HAS SEEN AND HEARD THIS EVIDENCE. BUT HE IS SO COMMITTED TO EMOTIONAL ANTI-GUN HYSTERIA THAT HE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE FACTS - OR ABOUT SAVING LIVES!
Other states have tried this and IT WORKS! Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and some counties in our neighbor, Idaho, issue permits without training. These states have issued hundreds of thousands of permits - and they haven't had problems. They've proven that mandatory training is not necessary.
This is NOT just Utah Gun Owners Alliance's opinion. The bill is supported by
Utah Gun Owners Alliance
Gun Owners of Utah
The Utah Shooting Sports Council
National Rifle Association
PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT GUN RIGHTS SUPPORT SB 121...
PEOPLE IN FAVOR OF SAVING LIVES SUPPORT SB 121...
PEOPLE IN FAVOR OF PREVENTING RAPE SUPPORT SB 121...
CRIMINALS OPPOSE SB 121...
BILL HICKMAN OPPOSES SB 121!
We think the people of Washington and Iron Counties - and all the people of Utah - deserve better.
DON'T LET ANY MORE CRIME VICTIMS SUFFER IN VAIN!
Let Bill Hickman know what YOU think!
Senator Bill Hickman
214 N. Emeraud Drive
St. George, UT 84770
435-673-2671 (Home)
801-538-1035 (Capitol)
PLEASE HELP UTAH GUN OWNERS ALLIANCE SPREAD THE WORD! Download and print our flyer and make sure your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors see it. To download the flyer click HERE. You will need a copy of Adobe Reader, available at http://www.adobe.com.
IS SENATOR BILL HICKMAN ANTI-GUN?
DON'T LET SEN. HICKMAN PROTECT CRIMINALS!
Senator Bill Hickman is currently the most vocal opponent of SB 121, Concealed Carry Permit Amendments. The bill would eliminate the mandatory training classes currently required to obtain a concealed carry permit.
From Utah Gun Owners Alliance's report on the committee meeting at which Hickman opposed the bill:
Sen. Hickman was by far the most offensive. He made his pro-forma speech about how "no one is a bigger supporter of gun rights than I am" and then proceeded to complain that our current concealed carry law is too lenient, and that no one should be able to get a permit without extensive training and proficiency tests. He also complained about issuing permits "carte blanche" despite the fact that we have a "shall issue" concealed carry law which mandates that any person who qualifies be given a permit. Hickman clearly doesn't understand Utah's concealed carry laws and must care more about political correctness than about stopping rape and murder. He is certainly entitled to his opinions, no matter how unfounded, but he should quit telling tall tales about being "a gun rights supporter". He was far more passionately hostile to this bill than anyone else.
The truth is that state-mandated training is completely irrelevant to safe concealed carry. In fact, it's counterproductive!
Training is expensive and time-consuming. This discourages many people from obtaining a permit and carrying a firearm. But research shows that the more people who carry guns, the less violent crime there is.
EXPENSIVE AND TIME-CONSUMING TRAINING INCREASES CRIME!
From the book More Guns, Less Crime, by Prof. John Lott, Jr.:
"...for each $10 increase in fees, the population getting permits is reduced by about one half of a percentage point. And requiring five hours of training (rather than none) reduces the number of permits by about two-thirds of a percentage point. In a typical state without any fees or training requirements, the percentage of the population with permits would grow from about 3 percent to a little less than 6 percent after a decade."
Why does this matter?
"For every 1000 people with permits, there are 0.3 fewer murders, 2.4 fewer rapes, 21 fewer robberies, and 14.1 fewer aggravated assaults... This raises the real risk that too few people will get permits, as permit holders personally bear all these costs but produce a large benefit for others."
In other words, if expensive training weren't mandated, the number of permits in Utah might well double. And if the number of permits in Utah doubles, statistically, there will be 12 fewer murders, 48 fewer rapes, 560 fewer robberies, and 196 fewer aggravated assaults! Shouldn't Bill Hickman care about protecting these people?
SEN. HICKMAN HAS SEEN AND HEARD THIS EVIDENCE. BUT HE IS SO COMMITTED TO EMOTIONAL ANTI-GUN HYSTERIA THAT HE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE FACTS - OR ABOUT SAVING LIVES!
Other states have tried this and IT WORKS! Washington, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and some counties in our neighbor, Idaho, issue permits without training. These states have issued hundreds of thousands of permits - and they haven't had problems. They've proven that mandatory training is not necessary.
This is NOT just Utah Gun Owners Alliance's opinion. The bill is supported by
Utah Gun Owners Alliance
Gun Owners of Utah
The Utah Shooting Sports Council
National Rifle Association
PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT GUN RIGHTS SUPPORT SB 121...
PEOPLE IN FAVOR OF SAVING LIVES SUPPORT SB 121...
PEOPLE IN FAVOR OF PREVENTING RAPE SUPPORT SB 121...
CRIMINALS OPPOSE SB 121...
BILL HICKMAN OPPOSES SB 121!
We think the people of Washington and Iron Counties - and all the people of Utah - deserve better.
DON'T LET ANY MORE CRIME VICTIMS SUFFER IN VAIN!
Let Bill Hickman know what YOU think!
Senator Bill Hickman
214 N. Emeraud Drive
St. George, UT 84770
435-673-2671 (Home)
801-538-1035 (Capitol)
PLEASE HELP UTAH GUN OWNERS ALLIANCE SPREAD THE WORD! Download and print our flyer and make sure your family, friends, co-workers and neighbors see it. To download the flyer click HERE. You will need a copy of Adobe Reader, available at http://www.adobe.com.