Ready, Aim, Gotcha!

Dear Kansas Chamber of Commerce,

I am writing to let you know that my wife and I were planning our summer vacation, and the great state of Kansas came to mind. Not only is Kansas the home of the Tallgrass Prairie Natural Preserve, the Kansas Speedway, and the Sedgwick County Zoo, but it is also known for dining at the T-Rex Café, splashing around at the Great Wolf Water Park, and hanging out at Dorothy's house. But, unfortunately, do to safety reasons, we won't be in Kansas anymore - at least in the foreseeable future.

You see, according to a law recently signed by Governor Sam Brownback, the citizens of Kansas will no longer be required to obtain a permit to conceal carry a firearm. More distressing than that, they will also no longer be required to attend extensive training in order to obtain that permit. That frightens me.

I’m from the great state of Ohio, and here extensive training is required to obtain the required permit to conceal carry. First off, I fully believe that the 2nd Amendment IS my "permit" to carry a firearm - concealed or otherwise. But secondly, I fully embrace, and am comforted by the knowledge, that a person carrying a firearm in my state has the appropriate skills to not only discharge a firearm, but has been trained in the proper use and procedures if such a situation arises to NEED to use said firearm.

I have wracked my brain to come up with a good reason to eliminate the need to be trained, and I am unable to come up with even one. Does your state require a person pass a written test concerning the laws of the road prior to obtaining a temporary permit for driving a vehicle? Or do you just hand out licenses to anyone who shows up at the DMV? (Are driver licenses even a requirement in Kansas?) And you can't convince me that a car cannot be used as a weapon. There are people in prison over vehicular manslaughter that should be released if that is true!

Maybe, this is an agenda of the mainstream media and the anti-gun lobby. As far as I can tell, there are no reports of crimes being committed by those with conceal carry permits. Why? Because of the training involved. Having no training (and no permit) would make crimes committed by conceal carry persons fodder for the media. And don't you think that they would be broadcasting those stories 24/7? Anytime the anti-gun lobby pushes our legislators to make laws restricting gun use, they would be screaming the senseless killings committed by those evil conceal-carry-permit-carrying bastards. But they don't. Why? Because there aren't any they can reference.

Removing training, and even permits, as a requirement of your citizens would then allow the media to "lump" them with concealed carry folks when it comes to reporting the wackos that commit heinous crimes (at our schools, for instance). That would criminalize law-abiding citizens.

I do have a question for your governor: How would you feel about untrained security personnel surrounding you when you make your next public appearance? I’m sure the President's Secret Service folks have had at least a little training.

So, I'm sorry to say that my wife and I will be looking elsewhere to spend our hard-earned money this summer. Safety and peace of mind have a lot of weight in our vacation plans.

Sincerely,

A person from a state with more brains.

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