Download This Issue - US Concealed Carry

left: In the past 20 or so
years, the application for
a concealed carry permit
has proven, for many law
abiding citizens, the portal
to a lack of fear of violent
assault from criminals.
right: The Dru Sjodin Sex
Offender Public Website
is named in memory of a
young woman who was
raped and murdered; it
was what allowed author
Burton to discover a
perpetrator’s history of
rape and enabled her to
send him back to prison.
©iSTOCKPHOTO - COSINT
My son’s 17-year-old friend was
raped. In the aftermath, because this
was someone for whom I cared, I dedicated
myself to helping the police find
these people and seeing them arrested,
and also finding witnesses who could
testify. There were three offenders involved.
I went online and found that
one of these people was already a Level
3 sex offender with two convictions for
child rape. While I wasn’t able to get
enough evidence to get him arrested, I
was able to go to the parole board with
my evidence and have his parole revoked.
He went back to prison. While
we couldn’t nail him for the new rape,
we could indeed see that he went back
to prison to finish out his sentence for
the previous child rape. I felt very happy
because shortly after he was arrested
he temporarily escaped and was recaptured
soon afterward which added
several more years to his sentence. I
thought to myself, “Thank you, stupid
person, for actually adding more time
to your prison term.”
Now I find myself in a situation where
there is a very real, statistically more
probable likelihood that I might be attacked.
Though I managed to get one of
the rapists put away, there are two more
of them out there. It is very likely they
know who I am, and that I am the one
who landed their fellow rapist in jail.
I’m thinking they are probably somewhat
irritated by that. I still know the
victim, and they certainly know her and
where she lives. She spends time at my
house. All it would take for them to find
me would be to follow her. For a while
after the attack, she actually lived with
me, though she has now moved into an
apartment across town. I found her an
unarmed-self-defense instructor. If she
were actually old enough to own a gun
I would teach her to shoot; however,
she is not. She wants a handgun and
concealed carry permit the instant she
turns 21. I don’t blame her.
As I write this, it occurs to me this
would be an excellent time to teach her
to shoot. A few years lead time to build
up her skill level before owning and carrying
a gun would certainly be an excellent
idea. Being skilled with any weapon
you carry is just a highly desirable thing
for anyone who really cares about their
own safety.
While visiting the corrections department
(during which I told them that I
was going to dedicate myself to helping
put a multiple child rapist back
behind bars), one of the women
working there did not want me
to leave the building until I had
done the paperwork to renew
my carry permit. It was not her
job to do this, but she went
and found the paperwork herself
and asked someone from
another department to come
and take my fingerprints
right then and there (it took
her less than five minutes
to drag someone over to do
them). Then she personally
found an ATM for me to withdraw cash
for the fee. It was profoundly frightening
to have someone in corrections so
concerned that I have a carry permit
again as fast as possible.
In the near future I am going to be doing
much experimentation on the best
way to carry and conceal a Glock 19. As
I sit here typing this, I am expecting a
shipment from Galco in the next few
days containing six different holsters: a
thigh holster, two belly bands, a fanny
pack and two different holster purses.
Stay tuned to hear what I learn from the
upcoming experimentation. H
Florida has been the role model
for other states passing shall-issue
concealed carry permits (sample permit
shown, law allowing same passed in
1988) though Washington state where
Burton lives has had a shall-issue
concealed carry permit system in place
since 1965.
MAY/JUNE 2011 n CONCEALED CARRY MAGAZINE n USCONCEALEDCARRY.COM
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