I am disappointed The Editorial Board worried about a setback to the gay rights movement and gun control in the same sentence. On one hand, The Editorial Board wants to grant more rights, yet on the other it wants to take rights away. Did you know Florida is actually a state where concealed carry has been legal since 1988? In all that time, only 0.02 percent of carry permits have been revoked. That means 99.98 percent of permit holders have been perfectly good, law-abiding citizens.
Carry permit holders are actually 13.5 times less likely than the general population to be arrested for a nonviolent crime, probably because they choose to be responsible and know the laws.
Did you also know Colorado State University has allowed concealed carry on its campus since 2003? Not only has it had zero incidents with this, its crime rate has dropped by 60 percent in the past four years.
On the other hand, the University of Colorado’s crime rate has actually risen by 35 percent in the same time period. This university does not allow concealed firearms.
I support gay rights because I support freedom in general. I would consider myself a hypocrite if I worked to grant certain people rights and at the same time fought to take them away from others.
There is actually a gun-rights organization called the Pink Pistols that advocates for the rights of gays specifically to bear arms, as carrying guns is the most effective way to protect people from prejudiced, hateful individuals who may violently attack someone based, in this case, on their orientation. You can check them out at www.pinkpistols.org.
Editor's note: This letter refers to this editorial.
