Lawson for Congress

How to Make Friends and Influence People, according to Mike Huckabee:

Reckless and irresponsible remarks such as those by Mike Huckabee at the NRA’s national convention add nothing to civil discourse, and distract from Sen. Obama’s record opposing Americans’ fundamental right to self-defense. Such comments only encourage the gun control lobby to disarm and render defenseless law-abiding citizens.

Mr. Huckabee, please apologize for your remarks. I’m a fan of satirical humor, and have overstepped the limits of propriety on more than one occasion, so I understand what it’s like to say that I’m sorry. Your comments went beyond poor taste, however, and work against the interests of gun owners everywhere.

Update: Mr. Huckabee did apologize, as shown here:

Needless to say, I am a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, and as a Congressional candidate disagree strongly with our 11-term incumbent on this important issue.

It seems redundant to clarify that position, given that my entire Congressional campaign is based upon the Constitution as our nation’s framework for federal governance. But given my upbringing and background in neurosurgery, I didn’t arrive at a true appreciation for the Second Amendment until later in life. Here’s an email I exchanged on this topic:

For the record, historically I was never a “gun person”. I was raised in a gun-free home, and as a surgical resident, I only saw the ugly side of firearm violence. It wasn’t until the Virginia Tech shootings that I began to question and research my nominally anti-gun beliefs. How could a homicidal madman remain completely uncontested for such a long time? If I was in that situation, would I want to be a victim?

Once I began looking at the issues rationally, it became clear that armed, law-abiding citizens and common-sense measures like concealed carry permits have net positive effects. Permit holders are much more likely to defend themselves, or others, than to engage in gun violence (see this summary, or Crime, Deterrence and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns by Lott and Mustard).

More importantly, criminals by definition don’t obey laws.

The fact that our North Carolina campuses are “gun free zones” creates an illusion of security, and prevents those students and faculty 21 years of age and older (who can and may already have a permit to conceal off-campus) from potentially averting tragedy on-campus. Furthermore, since the penalties for carrying in a gun-free zone are so severe, if a permit holder’s travels might include campus on a particular day, that person just doesn’t carry at all (thus negating the value of the permit).

You might find this Web site interesting:

http://www.concealedcampus.org/

If 1% of the population is quietly and unobtrusively armed, criminals tend to think twice before they assume they have a defenseless victim.

The good news is that responsible gun ownership and a citizen’s right to self-defense is not a partisan issue in North Carolina. Here are some well-reasoned comments from a thread in the state Democratic blog:

http://bluenc.com/north-carolina-senator-supports-allowing-firearms-in-national-parks#comment-76315

We have a good concealed carry educational curriculum and licensing process in North Carolina:

http://blog.lawsonforcongress.com/2007/11/18/guidelines-for-the-use-of-deadly-force/

However, we need to enlighten our state legislators so we can remove the capricious, arbitrary, and counterproductive “no-carry zones” that disarm law-abiding citizens and leave criminals with an absolute advantage. For a summary of North Carolina gun laws, including no-carry zones, visit the NRA-ILA’s Gun Laws page and click “North Carolina”.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 18th, 2008 at 10:54 am and is filed under Second Amendment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.