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State law allows people to arm themselves with handguns
http://www.starnewsonline.com/artic...allows_people_to_arm_themselves_with_handguns
By Jim Ware
Night Editor
Published: Friday, October 10, 2008 at 2:13 p.m.
Newlyweds David Hall and Krista King of Wilmington are among thousands of people in Southeastern North Carolina arming themselves with handguns for protection and doing it legally.
From Dec. 1, 1995, when it became legal to carry a concealed handgun in the state, until July 31 of this year, sheriff’s offices in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties received 8,167 permit applications. The state total was 225,762 for the same time period.
The purpose of the law that allows North Carolinians to carry concealed handguns is to deter crime, said Richard White, a former Boiling Spring Lakes police chief and current investigator with the New Hanover County Public Defender’s Office.
“I’m a firm believer in it because it is a deterrent to crime,” White said of the law.
He cited a 1996 study by two University of Chicago economics professors showing that “allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes, without increasing accidental deaths.”
Furthermore, the authors of the study – John R. Lott Jr. and David B. Mustard – say the data shows 1,500 murders would have been avoided each year if states without right-to-carry concealed gun laws had adopted them in 1992.
The study that looked at data for U.S. counties from 1977 to 1992 also found “that concealed handguns are the most cost-effective method of reducing crime thus far analyzed by economists, providing a higher return than increased law enforcement or incarceration, other private security devices, or social programs like early educational intervention,” Lott and Mustard wrote.
While the U.S. Supreme Court this year affirmed the right of citizens to keep guns in their homes for protection, a Centers for Disease Control study concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater.
White, who grew up in Boone, said he was 18 or 19 years old before he fired a handgun. He was a military policeman in the Air Force, where he became a handgun expert while competing on the rifle and pistol team. While he was police chief in Boiling Spring Lakes, one of White’s officers – Mitch Prince – was shot to death with his own weapon during a 2005 traffic stop.
White has said he wants to make sure that people who have guns know how to use them safely and legally, and that people who shouldn’t own guns can’t get them easily. He teaches classes – on his own and through Cape Fear Community College – for people who want to apply for permits to carry concealed handguns.
Hall and King, both college students, took one of White’s classes in June. They received a certificate which allows them to apply to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. The fee is $80, plus $10 for fingerprinting, to apply for the permit, White said. It costs $85 to renew the permits, which also allow holders to buy handguns.
Hall, 21, said he bought his Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun from a relative soon after his 21st birthday. He said he got the gun out of concern for personal safety while traveling or in his apartment complex home, and King wanted protection when arriving home at night.
Hall said the permit will allow him to carry his handgun for other reasons, too.
“I enjoy shooting. I want to be legal carrying my gun around,” he said. “I’d much rather have it on me than leave it in the car.”
Having a permit to carry a concealed handgun in North Carolina doesn’t mean a person can carry his or her weapon anywhere, White said.
For example, a permit holder can carry a concealed handgun in a grocery store but not in a bank. A violation of that part of the law could result in a misdemeanor charge, White said. It also is OK to carry a concealed handgun in a mall, but not in a restaurant that serves liquor, he said.
The big no-no is carrying a concealed handgun on educational properties, such as schools, White said, because that could result in a felony charge. The definition of educational properties is so broad it could include churches or hospitals, especially those that house schools or classrooms.
And having a concealed carry permit doesn’t give the holder a license to shoot and kill another person, even if that person is committing a crime, White said. Also, North Carolina law does not allow private citizens to arrest anyone, he said.
Hall said since taking White’s class he would think twice about using his handgun.
“Just because you’ve got a gun on you doesn’t mean you have to use it. Just because you’ve got a gun on you doesn’t mean you get out and save the day,” Hall said.
Jim Ware: 343-2387
[email protected]
http://www.starnewsonline.com/artic...allows_people_to_arm_themselves_with_handguns
By Jim Ware
Night Editor
Published: Friday, October 10, 2008 at 2:13 p.m.
Newlyweds David Hall and Krista King of Wilmington are among thousands of people in Southeastern North Carolina arming themselves with handguns for protection and doing it legally.
From Dec. 1, 1995, when it became legal to carry a concealed handgun in the state, until July 31 of this year, sheriff’s offices in Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties received 8,167 permit applications. The state total was 225,762 for the same time period.
The purpose of the law that allows North Carolinians to carry concealed handguns is to deter crime, said Richard White, a former Boiling Spring Lakes police chief and current investigator with the New Hanover County Public Defender’s Office.
“I’m a firm believer in it because it is a deterrent to crime,” White said of the law.
He cited a 1996 study by two University of Chicago economics professors showing that “allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons deters violent crimes, without increasing accidental deaths.”
Furthermore, the authors of the study – John R. Lott Jr. and David B. Mustard – say the data shows 1,500 murders would have been avoided each year if states without right-to-carry concealed gun laws had adopted them in 1992.
The study that looked at data for U.S. counties from 1977 to 1992 also found “that concealed handguns are the most cost-effective method of reducing crime thus far analyzed by economists, providing a higher return than increased law enforcement or incarceration, other private security devices, or social programs like early educational intervention,” Lott and Mustard wrote.
While the U.S. Supreme Court this year affirmed the right of citizens to keep guns in their homes for protection, a Centers for Disease Control study concluded that in homes where guns are present, the likelihood that someone in the home will die from suicide or homicide is much greater.
White, who grew up in Boone, said he was 18 or 19 years old before he fired a handgun. He was a military policeman in the Air Force, where he became a handgun expert while competing on the rifle and pistol team. While he was police chief in Boiling Spring Lakes, one of White’s officers – Mitch Prince – was shot to death with his own weapon during a 2005 traffic stop.
White has said he wants to make sure that people who have guns know how to use them safely and legally, and that people who shouldn’t own guns can’t get them easily. He teaches classes – on his own and through Cape Fear Community College – for people who want to apply for permits to carry concealed handguns.
Hall and King, both college students, took one of White’s classes in June. They received a certificate which allows them to apply to the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office for a permit to carry a concealed handgun. The fee is $80, plus $10 for fingerprinting, to apply for the permit, White said. It costs $85 to renew the permits, which also allow holders to buy handguns.
Hall, 21, said he bought his Glock 9mm semi-automatic handgun from a relative soon after his 21st birthday. He said he got the gun out of concern for personal safety while traveling or in his apartment complex home, and King wanted protection when arriving home at night.
Hall said the permit will allow him to carry his handgun for other reasons, too.
“I enjoy shooting. I want to be legal carrying my gun around,” he said. “I’d much rather have it on me than leave it in the car.”
Having a permit to carry a concealed handgun in North Carolina doesn’t mean a person can carry his or her weapon anywhere, White said.
For example, a permit holder can carry a concealed handgun in a grocery store but not in a bank. A violation of that part of the law could result in a misdemeanor charge, White said. It also is OK to carry a concealed handgun in a mall, but not in a restaurant that serves liquor, he said.
The big no-no is carrying a concealed handgun on educational properties, such as schools, White said, because that could result in a felony charge. The definition of educational properties is so broad it could include churches or hospitals, especially those that house schools or classrooms.
And having a concealed carry permit doesn’t give the holder a license to shoot and kill another person, even if that person is committing a crime, White said. Also, North Carolina law does not allow private citizens to arrest anyone, he said.
Hall said since taking White’s class he would think twice about using his handgun.
“Just because you’ve got a gun on you doesn’t mean you have to use it. Just because you’ve got a gun on you doesn’t mean you get out and save the day,” Hall said.
Jim Ware: 343-2387
[email protected]
