Two Down, 48 to Go
In just 90 days, Alaska will join Vermont in becoming the second state to allow its citizens to carry concealed weapons without a permit. [Hat tip: Instapundit.] Unlike Vermont, the State of Alaska will continue to issue permits to those who apply for them and meet the existing statutory criteria. Which raises a Zen-like question: if you have a license that only authorizes you to do the same things you were able to do without a license, do you really have a license?
Actually, the non-rhetorical answer is “yes.” There is one thing a licensed permit holder can do which a non-permit holder cannot: carry a concealed weapon in other states. Many states honor CCWs issued by other states, but as far as I know, no state (other than Vermont itself, that is), allows Vermont residents to carry concealed weapons without a permit.
Meanwhile, California remains among the few remaining states in which only the likes of Dianne Feinstein, Robert Blake, and Sean Penn are deemed worthy enough to carry guns for their own protection. It could be worse, I suppose. At least we don’t throw people in jail for defending their families in their own homes. Yet. [Hat tip: Rachel Lucas.]
June 13th, 2003 at 10:17 am
Alaska OK’s Concealed Weapons Without Permits
XRLQ and InstaPundit each note that Alaska will shortly become the second state in the U.S. to allow its citizens to carry concealed weapons wihtout a permit….