As of mid-October, 28,197 new concealed weapons permits have been issued this year by South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division.

It’s an annual record that already has surpassed the 14,630 new permits issued in all of 2008 and by far outstrips all previous years, according to SLED statistics.

Marin County, California:

In August, a man shot two people to death on a bridge near San Francisco. At the moment of the killings, two on-duty Marin County sheriff’s deputies were within 100 yards of the shooter. One was close enough to see the muzzle blast of the shotgun. The police officers, however, did not move against the culprit. One, stuck in traffic, called in a description of the killer’s vehicle as he fled. The other positioned her car to prevent traffic from entering the crime scene.

These two law-enforcement officers did what police officers tell the public to do: Don’t intervene. Get a description of the offender. Call the police. Be a good witness.

Much debate ensued about whether the officers’ behavior was appropriate, but the real tragedy is that the victims of this rampage did not have the legal opportunity to arm themselves. To them, the message was clear: Be a good victim.

“May Issue” can be better than “No Issue”, but it’s a compromise that can work against the God-given and Constitutionally-guaranteed right to bear arms. Sheriff Robert Doyle in Marin County requires applicants to demonstrate “extreme need” before he’ll okay a permit. That’s like forcing drivers to demonstrate that they’re going to be in a traffic accident before the government allows them to put on their seat belts.

Rittgers writes about the District of Columbia and concealed carry, adding:

Tom Palmer (disclosure: Tom is my colleague at the Cato Institute), once used a handgun to deter a mob of violent aggressors who were yelling death threats at him. Tom’s right, and the right of any other citizen, to arm himself should not be subject to approval by a civil servant who will not be present to protect them.

Criticism leveled at he Marin sheriffs for the August incident may not be warranted. Though close, they may not really have been able to do anything.

Which is exactly the point.

Here’s a quote from Helmke on the bill:

“We need to do more to make it harder for dangerous people to get dangerous weapons,” said Paul Helmke, President of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “Michigan should reject this bill, just as all other states have done.”

Helmke apparently didn’t elaborate on how the first part of his quote (about making it harder for dangerous people to get guns) related to the second part of his quote (about guns on campus).

Getting past the predictable input from the Bradys, here’s more on the topic:

The MSU Board of Trustees voted in June to allow those with concealed weapons permits to carry firearms through campus. But concealed weapons are not permitted in dorms, classrooms, arenas or stadiums and this would not change, said state Rep. Jase Bolger, R-Marshall.

“(These) are pistol-free zones and that wouldn’t change at all,” Bolger said. “They are prohibited today, and they would be prohibited tomorrow. Michigan State would not change a thing because of this law, because Michigan State has passed policy that is consistent with state law.”

But some university officials disagree.

MSU Trustee Colleen McNamara said weapon regulation on campus should be determined solely by the university.

“It’s our campus,” McNamara said. “And we have responsibility for the safety of the students and the employees of the university, and our policy on guns should be our policy, not the state’s.”

MSU spokesman Kent Cassella said the university could not speculate on proposed legislation.

The bill is included in a package of bills supported by the Michigan State Police to eliminate inconsistencies in statewide firearm regulation.

“We have a situation right now where the state has said, ‘Our laws are going to be the only laws that are going to (be) applicable on this topic,’” said First Lt. Matt Bolger, legislative liaison for the Michigan State Police.

The State Police backing the bill should give it a better chance.

Here’s some input from a Wayne State University (in Detroit) student:

Second-year Wayne State University medical student Peter Howard told the committee he should be able to carry a concealed weapon on campus. He arrives at school early in the morning, and doesn’t leave until late at night.

“I take precautions to walk in lighted areas, (but) a close friend of mine got robbed at gunpoint last year,” Howard said. “I’m not living in fear, but it’s something I’d like to take precaution with.”

The whole “living in fear” claim is made quite often, and opponents of concealed carry or guns on campus will try to make it look like gun owners are paranoid and irrational. Just ask the opponents if putting on a seat belt indicates an irrational fear of being in a car accident.

Finally, here’s this from a Michigan State student:

Psychology and art senior Megan Davis said the university has a right to regulate weapons on campus and concealed weapons should not be allowed on campus at all.

“It’s a big campus and it could be very dangerous,” Davis said. “Walking on the campus in the evening is already scary.”

So walking on campus is “already scary” without concealed carry. Sounds like she should consider getting a gun, some training, and a concealed carry permit for evening walks on the dangerous campus.

UPDATE: Comment from Wayne State’s Peter Howard who was quoted above:

So the reporter called me up and asked me “are you afraid?” I sensed what she was up to and asked her to clarify the statement. I told her I’m not afraid, but I’d like to take precautions since my buddy got robbed two blocks from school. Way to butcher my quote lady. She totally tired to trap me into saying something retarded.

Nice.

A 43-year-old woman shot and killed a suspected purse snatcher who confronted her at a northwest Detroit gas station this morning, according to police.

Two men approached the Detroit woman at about 5:30 a.m. at the Schoolcraft and Southfield Mobil station, Detroit Police spokesman John Roach said. The woman is licensed to legally carry a gun for self-defense, he said.

“They didn’t realize she has a CCW (license), so she had a weapon of her own,” Roach said. “She fired several rounds at the suspects and they fled.”

The pair made off with the woman’s purse. But about a half-hour later, a man with several gunshot wounds went to Sinai-Grace Hospital for treatment and died later this morning.

This is just the latest example of media excitement over non-felons not prevented from getting permits that felons can’t get. Understand? This man, who is NOT A FELON, got a permit that FELONS CANNOT GET.

And this, says the media, is reason for concern.

Fletcher is one of them, despite his repeated run-ins with the law. Several felony charges over the years that would have disqualified him for a gun permit were either reduced to misdemeanors or dismissed.

In other words, he was NOT CONVICTED of a felony.

This type of scare story, about how not being a felon was a loophole that allowed some folks not be classed as felons, was all the rage in Florida for a while.

If people don’t like people with rough pasts plea bargaining themselves out of a felony conviction and then getting guns, get the people with rough pasts convicted of a felony when they’re charged with one. Don’t pretend it’s some sort of loophole.

More at SayUncle, Walls of the City, and Snowflakes in Hell.

WAIT! WHERE?!?

UPDATE: From the comments:

We’re not all do-gooder gun-grabbing assholes out here. Just a lot of us.

From one who is certainly not one of them.

Now Caleb writes Friends don’t let friends carry nylon.

I don’t have anything to add other than I’m not sure that anything in the shooting world seems more dependent on personal preference than holsters.

Illinois:

Derek Howald of Chillicothe has had his Utah permit for four years. It’s reciprocal (that means it’s a valid permit) in 29 other states.

In Illinois, it’s worthless.

“It’s sad,” Howald said. “I think with the rich heritage of hunting and fishing, especially when you get to central and downstate … you have very pro-Second Amendment people here.”

The divisive statewide issue of concealed carry has gained a lot of attention in the Peoria area in recent weeks after Mayor Jim Ardis said he wants to see Peoria serve as a pilot city for some sort of responsible state law.

Illinois and Wisconsin are the only two states with no form of concealed carry available to regular citizens.

Also, the understatement of the day:

Struggles to get any kind of concealed carry measure adopted in Illinois hits a roadblock every legislative session in Springfield, where the battle over gun rights often boils down to geography.

Downstate lawmakers of both parties tend to oppose gun control, while officials in Chicago tend to support it.

I’m not sure how a “test city” case would work. It seems to me that it would as tough (or maybe even tougher) to get something like that passed than it would be to pass concealed carry for the entire state.

Still, there’s such a huge gap between the sensibilities of Chicago-area politicians and the rest of the state that it might be the only hope at this point. Maybe we’ll see that efforts to get a limited-area approved fail but fire up enough Illinois voters to bring the thing to a vote on the state level. We can only hope.

UPDATE: Say Uncle points out Many Chicagoans Carry Handguns Illegally.

Which is, as he points out, unpossible.

From the NRA_ILA:

Efforts in the House of Representatives to override Governor Phil Bredesen’s veto of House Bill 962 were successful today. In a show of strong bipartisan support, the House voted 69-27 to override the governor’s May 28 veto of HB 962. This NRA-supported bill will enable law-abiding right-to-carry permit holders to carry a firearm for self defense in restaurants. Today’s victory is a crucial step in the passage of this important legislation that will expand the right of self-defense. The measure now goes to the Senate for consideration.

More at SayUncle. Of course.