< PREVIOUS ] [ 2000 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >
Our legislature is at it again, pondering some firearms legislation that got rudely interrupted after the Columbine High School shootings on April 20 last year.
Among the issues under consideration then, with
discussion just recently resumed, is the issuance of
concealed carry permits.
As it is, the local
sheriff or police chief can issue one, but pretty much at
his own discretion. Some will issue to almost any
law-abiding citizen, others require some proof of need and
others seldom, if ever, issue permits.
Most discussion of firearms issues starts with the Second Amendment to the federal constitution. But let's skip that and look at the state constitution, since that's the charter for our General Assembly.
Article II of the state constitution comprises a bill of
rights. Section 3 says that All persons have certain
natural, essential, and inalienable rights, among which may
be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives
and liberties, of acquiring, possessing and protecting
property, and of seeking and obtaining their safety and
happiness.
Thus as a Coloradan, you have the right to defend yourself, protect your property and seek your safety -- all of which appear to have some relevance to firearms.
The more explicit provision is Section 13: The right
of no person to keep and bear arms in defense of his home,
person and property, or in aid of the civil power when
thereto legally summoned, shall be called in question, but
nothing herein contained shall be construed to justify the
practice of carrying concealed weapons.
This prose is hardly a model of clarity, but it essentially says that the state cannot regulate the keeping and bearing of arms when those arms are used for defense of your home, self or property, or when you've been summoned to join a posse.
And it's clear that the carrying of concealed weapons is not a constitutional right in Colorado.
These words appeared in the original state constitution adopted in 1876, back in the days of the Wild West when many men didn't feel fully dressed until they'd strapped on a hogleg, and thus the absolute right to be armed in Colorado, as long as the gun is visible.
From what I've been able to gather in my readings from that time, that era deemed concealed weapons a tool of low-down sorts like a tinhorn gambler who hid a derringer inside the polished upper of his stovepipe boot.
In the 19th century, real men carried their weapons in plain sight; it was the wimps and sneaks who toted hide-out guns. Perhaps our values have changed since then, although that doesn't seem to be reflected in the legislative debate.
Last year, the legislature was considering a law that would have standardized the issuing of concealed-carry permits by sheriffs and police chiefs. That measure collapsed with the Columbine tragedy. This year, some Republicans in the legislature want to change the state public-records law so that the list of concealed-gun permit holders is a state secret.
So if a sheriff issues permits only to campaign contributors, or to his cronies, or to felons for that matter (under state law, they can get the permit, even if they can't legally own the gun), it's none of our business.
Rep. Don Lee said You have to trust your elected
officials,
and Sen. Ken Chlouber said that a published
list of permit holders in Larimer County was
outrageous,
and did no public good that I know
of.
Well, I'd like to trust my elected officials. But the only way I can know whether they are worthy of that trust is to be able to examine their conduct in office. And to examine their conduct, we must be able to observe their actions.
Or, as Ronald Reagan once said, trust, but
verify.
If we can't verify that peace officers have been acting
in a responsible way on concealed-carry permits, then
there's no basis for trust. And of all the peace officers
who can issue permits, only the sheriffs are the elected
officials
whom Lee says we have to trust. The others,
the police chiefs, are all bureaucrats, and it's strange to
see Republicans promoting bureaucratic empowerment and
secrecy.
It's also strange to imagine the cowardice of some gun owners. They're strong enough to pack a hidden pistol, but afraid that someone will found out that they have a permit. In other words, they're sneaks and wimps -- the same sort despised by the men who wrote our state constitution, but now appeased by some state legislators.
< PREVIOUS ] [ 2000 Index ] [ Ed Quillen HOME ] [ SEARCH ] [ NEXT >