What Can We Learn from Vermont?

Many people think that firearms,
especially handguns,
are inherently dangerous.

While they are tools capable of unleashing deadly force,
they cannot do so without something happening to them--
usually someone pulls the trigger,
but in rare cases an accidental discharge can occur
(if a loaded gun is dropped, for example).
A gun cannot cause harm unless it is made capable of causing harm.

Many people seem to accept as a corollary
that individuals who carry firearms are necessarily more dangerous than those who do not.

While that's true of criminals, it is not true of peaceful,
responsible individuals.

A person who carries a firearm for self-defense,
and who trains in safe handling and defensive handgun techniques,
is actually safer with the gun than most police officers.

Rather than being hot-heads who are cruising for confrontation,
these firearm owners try to avoid problems,
and resist emotionally charged situations.

They know that they are responsible if they do fire any shots,
and they take that responsibility very seriously.

Lawfully armed individuals are among the most self-controlled,
peaceful people in our society.

What does Vermont have to do with all this?

Vermont shows these assertions to be accurate.

In the state of Vermont,
any American citizen can carry a concealed weapon
so long as they do not do so for criminal purposes.

This sensible policy--
consistent with the US Constitution--
has been in place for generations.

As a result,
Vermont has consistently been among the safest states in America.

What does this mean?

It means that, in Vermont,
a would-be criminal can't easily tell by looking
who might be carrying a weapon and who is not.

Typically, the result is the criminal moves on--
to a situation where he's more sure that his target is unarmed.
(Although many criminals don't seem to care about the lives of their victims,
they are not so cavalier about their own;
they will act to protect their lives as much as they can.)

The low crime rates in Vermont are testimony to this logic.

Do you hear about drive-by shootings and similar crimes in Vermont?

Are there more gun-related assaults in this state,
where any lawful citizen who wants to can carry a gun?

No to both questions.

The gun owners of Vermont,
just as in every other state in the country
that allows concealed carry,
show self-discipline and restraint in their use of their weapons.

If we carry the Vermont example to a jet,
we can use the same logic to predict the outcome.

If citizens exercising their rights
were allowed to carry their personal weapons aboard commercial flights,
terrorists would never know who might be armed on the aircraft,
nor where they might be.

Most terrorists are prepared to die for their cause,
but no terrorist wants to be thwarted in his act.

So, if they have reason to suspect that passengers can mount an effective resistance,
they'll move on, choosing a different target.

As the heroic actions of the passengers and crew of United Air flight 93 showed us,
determined civilians can succeed
even when all the government and airline security
and intelligence safeguards have utterly failed.

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