These are indeed scary times when people with permits carry concealed guns on the streets of Oak Park and in stores, restaurants, banks, and other venues that do not have “no guns permitted” signs at the door. I simply do not feel safe in places like that.
Here’s why: People with concealed-carry permits are far more likely to inflict injury and death on individuals who do not present a threat, including police officers, than to use their guns self-defense (see the New York Times editorial of Oct. 26, titled “The Concealed-Carry Fantasy”).
In the Times of Dec. 13, there is a chilling account of how easy it is to obtain concealed-carry permits by people who do not have any training in how to deal with real-life situations in which a gun may be used. There is, for instance, no requirement for such training to obtain concealed-carry permits in Illinois.
Of note, even in the “best” of circumstances, such training may actually not be sufficient — as illustrated by the killing of four uniformed police officers in a coffee shop in Tacoma, Washington in 2009 by a sole gunman, even though these officers had guns at the ready and were trained in how to use them. Clearly, there is a risk to the public having people walk around with concealed guns. Therefore, I do not eat in restaurants and avoid stores that do not have a “no guns permitted” sign posted.
David Schweig writes in the Dec. 8 Wednesday Journal Viewpoints section that “Gun Free Zones” have not done anything except put people at risk, and he implies that concealed carry is important to fight off terrorists.
On the contrary, Mr. Schweig: First, none of the very few killings by people with concealed-carry permits that were deemed to be in self-defense were in response to a terrorist threat as far as I know. Second, the number of deaths inflicted by terrorist attacks in the U.S. between 9/11 and June of 2015, was 74 — 26 of which were by self-proclaimed jihadists and 48 by domestic terrorists such as white supremacists (New York Times, June 24).
Although we now have to add the 14 killed in the terrible San Bernardino incident, these numbers pale in comparison with those killed by people with concealed-carry permits but not in self-defense (approx. 100 per year) and those killed by guns in the U.S. (more than 33,000 annually).
Thus, there is no evidence whatsoever that arming U.S. citizens with concealed weapons prevents deaths from attacks by terrorists and criminals, whereas there is overwhelming evidence that concealed carry and lax gun regulation in general are annually responsible for tens of thousands of deaths, many more injuries, and a huge financial and emotional toll on the U.S. population.
Just think of all those who are grieving loved ones killed by guns each year, be it suicide, murder, accident, or cross-fire victims, not to mention the mental stress on emergency personnel who have to deal with gun deaths and injuries.
Maarten Bosland is a resident of Oak Park.