What began as a conversation about the procedures for carrying at the State Fair with my wife’s family evolved into a discussion about requiring a “mental health evaluation” before getting a CHL. Both my in-laws are health care professionals, and even though my father-in-law has a CHL they both were of the opinion that CHL applicants should undergo a mental health screening to “weed out the crazies.” I, on the other hand, disagreed that it would be beneficial to the CHL process. While this is going on, our waitress (mid 20’s, and born in Jordan we later learned) was refilling our drinks when my mother-in-law asks her “Do you think that people should be cleared by a mental health professional before being licensed to carry a gun?,” to which our waitress replies rather loudly, “I don’t think anyone should be allowed to carry a gun!”
Surprisingly, she wasn’t frightened off by my mother-in-law’s question. In fact, she stuck around for a while and talked with us about her views on gun control (which I was more than happy to share my views on as well). She explained that she is a student at SMU, and for her political science class she is participating in a “mock-UN” forum on the Small Arms Treaty. (I can already hear the groans from some of you folks, but I assure you that no one brought up any ideas of a “New World Order” or other tinfoil hattery) Apparently, her assignment is to act as the representative of a small African Nation and to represent that country’s stance on the treaty.
During our discussion, she began by proposing the idea that if guns were banned then there would be no gun-violence.
Obviously, I corrected her by pointing out that criminals would not obey the law and turn in their guns, and that they would be the only ones with guns. Next, we talked for a bit about black market guns and how it’s too easy for kids and gang members to get them and how banning guns would do nothing to stop the flow of illegal weapons. Eventually we got back to discussing the UN small arms treaty when she mentioned that the US is one of the only countries who won’t sign the treaty. My father-in-law pointed out to her that the 2nd amendment would prevent the enforcement of any sort of UN treaty. In response, she stated that “the second amendment only applies to the military in modern times.” Obviously, I corrected her by referencing the recent Supreme Court decisions affirming that the second amendment is an individual right, and also that it refers to the right of “the people,” just like the first amendment. However, she would not accept this argument.
She left to take a few people’s orders, but came back to our table a few minutes later to talk some more. She asked us if we were pro-gun, and we said that yes, we are very pro-gun. Next she asked “Do you all have gun permits?” to which my father-in-law replied that he and I do. “Are you carrying a gun right now?!” My father-in-law answered that he was not, but that I was (
I’ll have to remind him later that “concealed means concealed”); however, she did not seem to be affected very much by the fact that I was carrying concealed. She asked what kinds of places we were allowed to carry guns, so I pointed out that we could carry pretty much anywhere accept schools, federal buildings, etc. We got to talking about keeping a gun in your car, and she was totally surprised to learn that it was completely legal to keep a gun in your car, loaded even! After telling her about the legal requirements for keeping a gun in your car, she admitted to not even knowing the requirements to buy a gun or carry concealed in Texas. I laid out the requirements for her for both and told her the process for buying a gun, and it sounded to me like she was genuinely coming around to the idea of owning a firearm.
After that we all talked some more about her assignment for class, and the subject of gun control in other countries came up. We told her about the differences in the gun laws of countries like the UK and Sweden, and she was shocked to hear that violent crime rose to such high levels after handguns and most other firearms were banned in the UK. It was at this point in the conversation that I offered to lend her my copy of “More Guns, Less Crime” by John Lott, and she seemed genuinely interested in hearing more of the “other side” of the gun control debate. I’ll be bringing her my copy of the book on Monday during my lunch hour.
All in all, I thought it was a great encounter. Hopefully she’ll come to view the issues of gun ownership and concealed carry in a more favorable light after reading Dr. Lott’s book. Honestly I don’t really care if she returns it as long as she reads it. I just wish all “anti’s” were as receptive as this girl was.
