The NRA has done great work over the last several decades in support of shall-issue legislation, which corrects its previous error of supporting the prohibition of concealed carry. This is a stark reminder from the past on the dangers of compromise. With a little luck, we'll get this right back.
"Shall Issue": The New Wave of Concealed Handgun Permit Laws (Clayton E. Cramer & David B. Kopel).
Laws prohibiting concealed carrying of handguns without a permit are, in most of the United States, relatively recent. While some statutes from before the Civil War did address concealed carrying, they did so by outlawing it entirely, rather than by setting up a system whereby concealed carrying would be lawful only with a permit. These antebellum statutes usually had no exemptions for sheriffs or other peace officers, even when on duty. [1] During the 1920s and 1930s many states adopted "A Uniform Act to Regulate the Sale and Possession of Firearms." This model law, adopted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and supported by the National Rifle Association, prohibited unlicensed concealed carry.
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In some parts of the United States, concealed handgun permit statutes were passed for frankly racist reasons, as a method of prohibiting Blacks from carrying arms. "The statute was never intended to be applied to the white population and in practice has never been so applied," in the words of a Florida Supreme Court Justice.While the motivations behind California's concealed handgun statute are not as clearly understood, the effect has been similar. California's legislative research body studied the issue in 1986 and concluded: "The overwhelming majority of permit holders are white males." Because so many victims of violent crime are female or non-white, the discrimination in granting of carry permits is especially hard to justify.
