This letter was printed on the Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial page on January 12, 2002.

January 6, 2002

Dear Sir,

I trust you are well. I am compelled to, once again, sit myself down at the keyboard and respond to a recent missive on your editorial page.

I refer specifically to the letter from a Mr. Roger Kane on January 6, 2002 titled, Could Concealed Guns Prevent Tragedies? In this letter Mr. Kane takes to task one Robert Wall for statements made in a letter this gentleman had printed on this page.

Mr. Kane’s ignorance and lack of common-sense, regarding concealed carry permit holders, is breath-taking. If Mr. Wall will allow me I wish to answer Mr. Kane’s queries of him. I will take them in order.

(1) Mr. Kane assumes that Mr. Wall, and other CCP holders, would use their weapons indiscriminately to shoot-up a place if they feel the need to defend themselves or others. What Mr. Kane overlooks is the fact that Mr. Wall had to take, and pass, a class on the safe handling of his pistol and the laws regarding its use. He then had to undergo a background check by the police department in the jurisdiction in which he lives (the same investigators who help select police officers, by the way). Having met the requirements of this check he then had his permit approved by a circuit court judge. I can assure you good citizens that I feel a lot more comfortable with Mr. Wall sitting next to me at a local eatery than the likes of a Mr. Kane.

(2) As for his training, most jurisdictions in the Commonwealth require a safety course by certified instructors before issuing a permit. Having been a certified instructor I can assure you that these courses are quite useful in acclimating the average citizen in the proper use of firearms.

(3)Regarding the Columbine tragedy, and others like it, can Mr. Kane assure me that an armed/trained staff member could not have ended the murders without further loss of innocent life?

(4)Regarding Luby’s Cafeteria I would acknowledge that armed patrons/employees could not have kept the criminal from crashing his truck through the front window, but I am willing to state that there is every reason to believe that fewer innocent patrons would have died, when the criminal got out of his truck and started shooting them, if some of them could have shot back.

Mr. Kane is among those who live under the illusion that everyone will obey gun laws (look up ‘criminal’ in the dictionary) and that the police are always nearby and ready to stop any crime from happening. Well, I am not willing to bet my life on the willingness of others to protect me and mine, or the hope that a police officer is coming around the corner any second now to save me.

I hope that I have been able to answer Mr. Kane’s concerns. By the way, what tool is it that police use to stop violent criminals?

Yours for liberty,

Floyd C. Bayne