Dick Hime

Integrity Publishing:

The recent passage of legislation, which overcomes the Hancock Amendment objections raised in 2003 regarding Missouri’s Concealed Carry law, will free up considerable funds for the Cass County Sheriff's Department to use at their discretion. Because of excellent foresight on the part of Sheriff Dwight Diehl, Cass County began accepting applications fairly quickly after the Supreme Court decision enabled them to do so in February 2004, and hence, for over a year now he has been accumulating these funds in the Cass County Sheriff's Escrow account until this legislation could be passed.

It might make for an interesting interview with the Sheriff to ask exactly how much money is now in the Escrow Account and what improvements the Sheriff's Department anticipates making with those funds. More power to them... I'm proud of their decision to act properly in this case and also proud of the way Capt. Jeff Weber has administered the permit program at Cass County.

This was a wise and just move on the part of the Sheriff. The City and County of St. Louis, and Jackson County, in comparison, have lost thousands of dollars in potential permit fees (not to mention the respect of thousands of law abiding citizens) by not accepting applications as soon as they could have. Many of the residents of those areas simply applied for out-of-state permits which must be honored by Missouri law and let those revenues leave their local counties since the administrative bodies in charge either did not understand, or, wish to comply with the law.

As predicted by those of us who understand and subscribe to the psychology of personal responsibility, law abiding citizens enabled to protect themselves and their families are NOT a threat to our communities... only the criminals are. And more so when they know their prey is defenseless. Simply not knowing who is and who isn't trained, qualified, and able to protect themselves is a great, but immeasurable deterrent to violent crime. Ask any prison inmate convicted of a random violent crime whom he would fear more... the police, or an armed and trained potential victim?

Thanks Dwight. Enjoy improving your department with the permit fees you have collected (and will continue to collect). You made the right decision and those of us who truly understand the issue, thank you for it.