A NJ gun store owner wanted to sponsor his son’s little league baseball team last October but his application was rejected–no specific reasons were given but one committee member seemed to think it would cause “controversy” and that the committee didn’t need that headache.  I don’t have a problem with private businesses and organizations making decisions like this (Starbuck’s has been in the news for allowing gun ownership recently, as well as California Pizza Kitchen who has not allowed open carry of firearms).

I don’t like however that the committee has allowed tobacco, alcohol, and inappropriately dressed woman (all of which are not age appropriate)  as sponsors but then deny a gun store. They are free to pick and choose, but I would seriously consider pulling my son out of that league for being so inconsistent in their sponsorship selection by rejecting a gun store but allowing other sponsorships that are equally likely to cause “controversy”.  I fully believe that gun owning consumers must vote with their dollars and purchase from stores that do not prohibit  legal guns in their stores. And make sure that you drop them a note saying that you are respecting their wishes by keeping your gun and your money out of their store (or that you are spending money at a certain location because they allow you to protect yourself with your personal firearm in their store).  Money speaks loud in the business world.

A recent experience at a Utah school–Utah Valley University–where a student, Nick Moyes,  was stopped for carrying a firearm has been getting some recent media exposure.  In Utah the issue wasn’t the fact that he had a firearm with him on campus but the fact that he was openly carrying that firearm. Nick was aware enough of his situation to pull out his iPhone fairly early in the encounter and posted his videos on YouTube here and here.

Utah is one of the very few places where citizens may carry a firearm on a school campus (Elementary through College) with a concealed firearm permit. And in Utah, where there is no law that prohibits openly carrying a firearm (as long as you have a permit) then it is not illegal to do so. And if it is not illegal, then it IS legal. It seems like a very black and white issue and Nick knew the laws of the state better than the law enforcement officers did (how can you uphold the law if you don’t know what the law is).  Well the school doesn’t seem to be concerned with what the law is (even though in Utah public schools are not allowed to trump state firearm laws).  One of the two officers who detained Nick even seemed to agree that the law was on Nick’s side–but he said that it was simply easier to conceal his firearm.  His logic? If you exercise your rights, then it will bring more attention to them–which could lead lawmakers to take that right away from you–so don’t bother exercising your rights because then you’ll lose it. I’m not making this stuff up–it’s all in the video. So if you can’t exercise a legal right when it is legal then do you really have a right? It might as well be illegal if you can’t do it when it is legal.

Through all of this, what has really stood out to me as I’ve followed the incident is the question of how far I would be willing to go in order to fight for something I believe in.  Nick Moyes has had that decision thrust upon him by some people who happen to have an opinion different than state law–and then enforced his opinion (and that of his superiors) as though it were law.  Nick initially complied with the requests of officers to conceal his firearm (after a lengthy debate until he realized that the officers would not reason with him or the law) and then he has started to push the incident step by step to try and regain his ability to exercise his legal right to open carry on campus again. But the school hasn’t budged. The incident is still ongoing, but it’s caused me to think about what I would do in a similar situation.

The aftermath of the initial incident resulted in the gun community in Utah to suggest ideas about how we can bring UVU and other public universities in Utah into compliance with the law rather than their opinion. The ideas ranged from contacting state legislators, the attorney general, the school itself and soliciting legal opinion–to wearing shirts with an arrow pointed to a concealed firearm saying “I’m Armed”–to using news/media outlets to increase awareness of the issue–to staging open carry events on campus to force the issue (some intentionally talking about doing so to get arrested and then to force the issue through the courts).

It’s more important now to fight for your rights. But just how far would you go to defend your rights.  Would you take the time and energy to constantly write/call/email your state reps and others who can help make changes? Would you spend the time and money needed to fight for changes? Would you willingly get yourself arrested and fight in courts? Would you give your life to fight for freedom?  This country was founded because people were willing to fight and die for freedoms. But where do we stand today? What’s the best way to truly change this country (for the better–unlike some other changes that are ruining our country)? I don’t have all the answers–but I wanted to thank Nick for giving me a close to home real life situation to help me contemplate where I personally stand.

If you want to learn more about Nick and his experience you can follow it here. And if you are interested in getting involved here is a good place to start:

UVU Chief Brewer’s email: brewerjc@uvu.edu

UVU Office of President Holland: REYESKY@UVU.EDU

Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff: uag@utah.gov

The guys over at Legal Heat were nice enough to send us a promo copy of their iPhone/iTouch app “Legal Heat: 50 State Guide to Firearm Laws and Regulations” for review. It is compatible with both the iPhone and iTouch (but you must have an updated firmware). I’ve had it for a few days now and have been able to play around with it. On a couple of occasions during conversations with co-workers and friends I’ve pulled out the app to answer questions I couldn’t recall off the top of my head (granted I probably talk about concealed weapons more than the average guy).

The app is basically a quick pocket guide for concealed carry laws for each one of the 50 states.  It covers the basics (definitely not a comprehensive review of all firearm laws) but captures most of the questions you would like to know when you carry a firearm using reciprocity laws. It has a page for each state CCW laws, then a “Transport Rules” section, and also every Attorney General phone number (an email for each AG would also be nice to have but isn’t currently included).  The navigation is very simple, clean, and easy.

The front page of the app gives you a rating from 1 bullet to 5 bullets (with Illinois and Wisconsin earning head stones instead of a bullet rating!) ranking their friendliness towards concealed carry.  From there you can go to the state you want with each state page including a section for prohibited areas (both state and federal) and any special notes or exceptions–this may include any weird laws or general attitudes that may be different than written laws in the state.  There are two reciprocity maps on the state page as well–first is what states honor the permit of the current state and the second is which state permits the current state will honor (not all maps are currently on there but Legal Heat has confirmed that they will be updated soon).

It would be nice to know if you were required by law to notify a police officer if you are detained (although we recommend doing this even if it’s not required by law). It would also be nice to know what the laws are when carrying a firearm in your car (with or without a permit) for when you are driving through a state that does not recognize your permit and you need to know if you can still have your firearm loaded or if it needs to be locked and hidden.  There are tons of other random things that could be included, but they’ve kept the information simple enough to where you can find the pertinent information at a glance.

From talking to Legal Heat they are really committed to making this the best app for concealed carry.  They just submitted an update yesterday to add reciprocity maps and add clarification on some points. They also have plans for a much bigger update coming next month which will include open carry information and some additional features.  For $1.99 it’s definitely worth snagging.  But before you run to iTunes we’ve got 3  promo codes for the app for free (thanks to Legal Heat and App Ventures) so we’re giving it away to three of our Facebook fans on Monday (March 1st). So make sure that you are a fan on Facebook and let us know that you want a free copy of the app.

Very few schools allow concealed weapons on campus. Colorado State University was one of the few that did–but recently they voted to ban concealed weapons on campus. The student association had previously voted to continue to allow concealed weapons by a vote of 21-3 but the school board didn’t seem to listen or care.  So the students wanted it, but the faculty board voted unanimously (7-0) to ban guns.

Just a state away, the state of Utah prohibits state owned schools from banning concealed weapons, which means that all Utah public colleges, in addition to all public elementary, middle, and high schools, allow concealed weapons. Other than suicide, I can not find any deaths caused by guns on a school campus in the state of Utah. Ever.  The Utah Supreme Court struck down the University of Utah’s attempt to ban guns in 2006. Since then there have been no problems that I know of.

There was a shooting at a mall in Salt Lake at Trolley Square in 2007. It was a posted gun-free zone and the shooter was pinned down after killing 5 people by an off-duty police officer who was carrying a firearm until emergency response showed up.  Nothing like this has ever happened at schools in Utah.

I personally have experience with carrying firearms into elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges and universities in the state. If nothing more than a convenience it isn’t worth banning them when they do not cause any problems. More than once, I’ve unexpectedly found myself on school property with my concealed firearm, and was glad that I didn’t have to turn around or break the law. I’ve never gone crazy and started shooting just because I am on school property. And when you add the benefits of reduced crime and the ability to protect yourself, I feel that every school in the county should allow concealed firearms. We’ve written about this before (specifically regarding teachers, not students) when a school district in Texas passed a law allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons and we haven’t had problems there. We see it over and over again–concealed carry does not lead to wild wild west shootouts and random gun fights.

Now–back to CSU. More compelling reasons to allow concealed weapons.  Here are some graphs for various crime trends (original source here)–note that in 2003 CSU changed their policy to allow concealed weapons.

Across the board CSU crime trends peaked in 2003, then decreased–usually dramatically–until 2009. I’m not sure what else you want to see, but this is convincing enough evidence for me. Guns do have a place at school.

We hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving day and nice break.  We hope you were safe through any holiday shopping and got to go out and shoot sometime this weekend.

There is so much to be grateful for even during this uncertain time. We have more freedoms and opportunities in this country. We have concealed carry in more states than ever and we are making progress in the other 2 towards CCW. In many states we have shall issue CCW and you can carry a firearm for protection almost anywhere you go.

Even though some gun rights are under attack and the country is headed down a dangerous path we have a great opportunity in America to correct the path. It may not be easy or fast, but we can do it. Continue to fight for our freedoms and for our country and remember all that you have to be grateful for. Happy Thanksgiving.

Read the thoughts of  Sgt. Brian Singer, stationed in Iraq, on gun-free zones. Seems like he understands that when you create a gun free zone you only dis-arm the law-abiding citizens and DO NOT dis-arm criminals. Sounds familiar . . .

“The tragic results of victim disarmament were made real with the shooting at Fort Hood, Texas. If this were a moral and proper world, as soon as the suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, drew his weapon, every person in the building would have had their sights leveled on him.”

See full story here.

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Thanks for your support and continued help in the fight for our freedoms and defending the Constitution.

The Illinois GOP debate has recently involved concealed carry. Republican Bill Brady has argued that concealed carry can help save lives. See here for the story.  Concealed carry could be getting close in Illinois (and Wisconsin).

As we all know firearms have the potential to be deadly. One mistake could be cause serious injury or death. So it’s important to take them seriously and understand the basic safety rules.

First, know that guns do NOT just go off. They are inanimate objects and need to be acted upon in order to be fired. There are four simple universal firearm safety rules that everyone must know when handling firearms. The wording may vary, but the message is consistently loud and clear. These rules are attributed to Jeff Cooper, who was a Marine in World War 2 and the Korean War.

1. The gun is always loaded. You always treat your gun as if it is loaded.

2. Never point the barrel of your gun at anything that you are NOT willing to destroy.

3. Keep your finger off the trigger UNTIL you have your sights on target and have made the decision to fire your weapon.

4. Identify your target and what is beyond your target. Remember that even if you hit your target the bullet may go through the target and hit something beyond that. You may also miss–so know what is behind your target and identify what you are shooting.

If you follow these rules exactly there is hardly an accident possible when dealing with firearms. Typically you have to break two or more of these rules for someone to get hurt.

There are a few errors commonly made–one of the most common mistakes when people are new to dealing with firearms is to put their finger directly on the trigger when they are just holding the gun. It is natural for someone to want to do this, but it’s a source for disaster if you jerk your finger or trip/stumble at the wrong time. Another common mistake is for people not to assume the gun is always loaded. Often the opposite occurs when people assume that the gun is NOT loaded. This is the source of accidental shootings when people didn’t think that the gun was loaded and was just playing around with it. Bottom line is that guns are not toys and they CAN NOT be treated as such. Follow these rules and be safe.

I just came across an article about a police officer that shoots an innocent man.  See article here. There are several things to learn from this situation. The first is obvious–pay attention to the 4 firearm rules:

1. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire

2. Always assume any firearm is loaded

3. Never point your firearm at something that you are not willing to destroy

4. Always identify your target AND what’s behind your target before you fire your weapon

The officer in this situation clearly did not identify his target and pointed his weapon at someone he was not willing to destroy. Now it is obviously a stressful situation when you are called to a home invasion situation, but there were several factors in this situation that could have avoided this tragedy. The homeowner instructed the 911 operator that he had a firearm and was holding the intruder at gunpoint. The homeowners wife had even told one of the three officers who arrived at the home that her husband was holding the intruder at gunpoint. But that information never made its way to the two officers who entered the home. The next mistake was that the officer did not identify the situation nor did he issue any commands. Instead he just shot at the first person he saw, which happened to be the homeowner in his back 6 times.

While this is all tragic, the worst part is that instead of getting help for the injured homeowner the officers drag the man out of his home to try and cover up their mistake.  Police officers are responsible for every bullet that leaves their firearm and it’s tragic that this officer didn’t receive information (that was given to other officers/operators) to help him assess the situation and then made a tragic judgment call (or simply reacted without thinking–both of which are tragic).

While there are many other things to learn from this, I’ll leave you with this last thought. It is always important to hold judgment on a situation until you know what is going on. Walking into a life and death situation halfway through can often be misleading–which can be deadly. While I have a great respect for law enforcement officers, this situation is unacceptable and tragic. It reminds me that when dealing with firearms you have to made the right decision every time.