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by classylib
Given the current status quo I'd say these positions are reasonable, but I do have one minor angst over conceal carry I'll share for what it's worth. My thoughts on this are complex but I'll try to be as concise as possible (which I will fail at since I'm the long-winded sort). The shortest way I could express my thought is: Concealed carry permits may not be all they are cracked up to be, and if you can trust someone to open carry in many situations, you can probably trust them to carry concealed in most situations.
In my view the right to keep and bear arms, especially for personal defense, should be considered a basic civil right, every bit as dear as voting or being able to express your own cultural, ethnic, or religious distinctiveness. There are a number of reasons conceal carry is wiser than open carry, including reduction of general public angst at seeing weapons all the time, and not presenting yourself as a potential target for persons who might want to cause harm. Ironically it is open carry that is more often the default form of carry even though one has to have better discipline and situational awareness to do so safely.
I've never known a prohibited possessor to carry openly, nor to refrain from carrying concealed for lack of a permit. I haven't seen any science to indicate that communities like Arizona, where concealed carry for non-prohibited possessors was largely decriminalized, have experienced any greater rate of issues than they had prior to decriminalization of concealed carry.
I'd encourage collecting statistics on this so there can be an actual evidence based judgement on this, but I suspect we may ultimately find that the real importance is in determining who should be prohibited possessors and enforcing that line vs. the fuss about conceal carry in general, though I certainly could see a reason for special permitting and test for sensitive areas (schools for example). I know that doesn't really help with the assurance of training, but open carry doesn't really tend to have that requirement that either. Honestly since firearms and associated rights are such a major part of our culture I find it odd we have high school classes on health and driving, but don't have a class on weapon safety and basic proficiency. I'd be very interested to see science done on the effectiveness on public safety of proper law and proficiency training for firearms similar to driver's ed at the High school level.
Just my opinion for what it's worth (since thoughts were requested).