“My Parents Open Carry”: A New Teaching Tool in the Gun Control Debate

“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

–Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States

Are handguns unsafe?

Proponents of gun control would want you to believe they are.  The way to increase safety in urban areas, they say, is to reduce the number of guns.

Libertarians take exception to that claim–insisting, instead, that an armed citizenry is the best defense against crime.  If you make guns illegal, they say, the only people who will have guns will be the criminals.

The libertarians cite research which substantiates their claim, for example:

• A Wall Street Journal state-by-state analysis of crime statistics in 2012 showed that armed citizens had shot an assailant 326 times in 2010, and many others had chased away a would-be assailant by brandishing a weapon.
• And a 1995 study by Northwestern University School of Law researchers Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz revealed that there are between 2.1 and 2.5 million defensive gun uses each year.

According to a 2012 Gallup Poll, 43 percent of Americans have a gun in their home.  Most states have in place licensing requirements, which likely include mandatory education on handgun safety and handgun use.

This week, a new children’s book has taken the lead in promoting safe, responsible gun use and open carry legislation.

My Parents Open Carry, written by Brian Jeffs and Nathan Nephew and illustrated by Lorna Bergman, surged onto the best-seller list after television hosts Bill Maher and Stephen Colbert made fun of the book on their shows.

Written and illustrated in a style intended for children, My Parents Open Carry tells the story of a typical Saturday for 13-year-old Brenna Strong, who runs errands with her parents while they carry handguns in plain sight, or “open carry.”

The authors are Brian Jeffs, a senior geologist with the state of Michigan, and Nathan Nephew, a software developer.  The two are co-founders of Michigan Open Carry, Inc., a non-profit organization that promotes the open carry of a handgun and works to protect all firearm rights.

Jeffs and Nephew explain that their goal is to provide a wholesome children’s book that reflects the views of the majority of the American people; i.e., that self-defense is a basic natural right and that firearms provide the most efficient means for that defense.

 *     *     *     *     *

Now here’s where I want to hear from my readers:  

Do you support tighter restrictions on gun ownership?  If yes, would you prohibit ownership of handguns by private citizens?

Or if you are an advocate for permitting citizens to possess legal firearms, what limits would you impose?

Please explain and defend your position in the comments below.