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By
Michael Clements
Texas City
Sun
Published January
02, 2003
A recent
study revealed that Galveston County, and in particular League City,
have per capita more citizens with concealed handgun licenses than any
most other communities in Texas.
Statewide the average is one in every 100 adults is licensed to carry a
concealed weapon. In Galveston, Montgomery and Brazoria counties that
number jumps to three in 100.
One law enforcement official quoted in an Associated Press story
expressed some concern at the relatively high number of citizens who may
be armed. Others pointed out the fact that the majority of license
holders are white and live in rural or suburban areas. What seemed to be
missing, or at best glossed over, was the crime rate among licensed gun
owners.
According to the study, since 1995 the Texas Department of Public Safety
has issued more than 220,000 permits. In that time, more than seven
years ago, little more than 2,000 have been revoked.
That’s barely one percent since the state began its licensing program.
To get a concealed handgun license in Texas, a person must receive
10-hours of classroom training, demonstrate basic skills in the use of a
weapon and undergo a background check. Citizens who don’t care about
the law don’t submit to this type of program.
In addition, each applicant is given a copy of Texas’ concealed carry
law which outlines when and where licensed gun owners can carry weapons.
Contrary to what some may believe, having a concealed handgun license
doesn’t give the holder the right to carry a weapon at all times.
Many of those revocations had nothing to do with a firearm except that
the license holder had a gun in his or her possession when they
committed some crime. For example, if a license holder is convicted of
public intoxication, and has a gun at the time of the violation, the
license is revoked.
The simple fact is that the police, unlicensed residents and the
community as a whole has less to fear from licensed gun owners than from
their unlicensed counterparts.
Texas’ law is a lesson in how responsible gun owners can be trusted.
Not an example of an out-of -control gun culture.
—Michael Clements, Sun managing editor
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