Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JANUARY 2017 17 OPINION/EDITORIAL R ecently the Mon- tana Sheriffs Ass- sociation issued a statement con- cerning the importance of requiring permits to carry a concealed firearm. Here are some of the major points the Sheriffs made con- cerning this important issue. “Montana has some of the least-restrictive gun laws in the country which is a good thing. “Carrying firearms in Mon- tana is free of many restric- tions unless the firearm is concealed. Even Montana’s concealed firearm laws are some of the least restrictive in the nation, which is also good. “The common-sense laws we have are intended to pre- serve the peace in our cities and towns. “They are firmly grounded in the Montana Constitution, which states that the right of any person to keep or bear arms in defense of his own home, person, and property, or in aid of the civil power when legally summoned, shall not be called in ques- tion, but nothing herein con- tained shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. “A person in Montana may carry a concealed firearm while they are hunting, fish- ing, hiking, ranching, or on their own property, and the list continues. “However, when they enter a city or town, a permit from the county sheriff is required to carry a concealed fire- arm. “Montana’s current laws strike an equitable balance between citizens exercising their Second Amendment rights with as few limitations as possible while also protect- ing the safety of the public. “When applying for a con- cealed weapon permit, the applicant is subject to a more thorough background check than the background check done when purchasing a firearm. “The sheriff checks to en- sure the person is not wanted for a crime, a past felon, or restricted from carrying fire- arms for other reasons. “The sheriff may deny an applicant a permit to carry a concealed weapon if the sheriff has reasonable cause to believe that the applicant is mentally ill, mentally dis- ordered or mentally disabled, or otherwise may be a threat to the peace and good order of the community. “At the time an application is denied, the sheriff shall, unless the applicant is the subject of an active criminal investigation, give the appli- cant a written statement of the reasonable cause upon which the denial is based. “Prior to issuing a permit, the sheriff may require the applicant to demonstrate DARREN CAMPBELL A ccording to the Centers for Dis- e a s e Co n t r o l and Prevention (CDC), an agency that tracks all manners of death in the United States, there were 4,285 deaths attributed to “legal interventions” from 2003-2012. This data, covering a 10- year period, includes all deaths caused by govern- ment action, including legal executions. Over the past decade, there have been on average 429 deaths per year caused by government agents or law enforcement. All life is precious and is a gift from our creator. I am not making the argument that there is an acceptable level of loss. What I am try- ing to show people is things need to be kept in perspec- tive. In 2013, there were 16,121 people murdered in the United States, according to the CDC. This is 16.3 times the rate of death from use of force by law enforcement. I would contend there while there is a homicide problem in the United States, there is not a problem of law enforcement abuse. In 2015 The Washing- ton Post reported it had discovered 990 deaths at- tributed to law enforcement actions during that year with 30,208 deaths caused by falls, 33,804 caused by motor vehicle accidents, 41,148 suicides and 251,454 deaths by medical error. You may need to read that last sentence a few times for it to properly resonate. Another important point to remember is that many of those 990 law enforce- ment-attributed deaths were justified by the actions of the deceased. In 2014, there were more than 48,000 assaults on law enforcement officers; nearly 14,000 of these assaults re- quired medical treatment for the officer. These numbers come from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports. They further report that of these 48,000 assaults, 9,704 involved the use of deadly weapons against the officer. Among the weapons clas- sified as “deadly” were guns, knives, cutting instruments, clubs and motor vehicles. When the deadly weapon assaults against law enforce- ment are compared to the citizen deaths attributed to law enforcement it turns out there is one citizen death for every 10 deadly weapon at- tacks on an officer. As the leader of a law enforcement agency, we work very hard to bring good customer service to the doorsteps of everyone in Iredell County. We train our deputies to de-escalate situations to avoid having to utilize deadly force. We work with the commu- nity at schools and churches to teach them how to have a pleasant encounter in the event they ever get pulled over on the side of the high- way. We are doing what we can to ensure we do not have deadly force encounters, but if the situation calls for its use, our deputies will be trained and ready to respond accordingly. Darren Campbell is the sher- iff of Iredell County in NC. some familiarity with fire- arms including issues sur- rounding safety. “If these criteria are met, the sheriff must issue a con- cealed weapon permit. “A concealed weapon per- mit entitles a person to carry a concealed weapon, skip the background check when purchasing a firearm, and carry concealed in the 43 states with which Montana has reciprocity. “In the 2013 and 2015 legislative sessions, Montana Governor Steve Bullock ve- toed bills that would allow any person legally allowed to possess a firearm to carry a concealed weapon in a city or town without a permit. “House Bill 304 in 2013 would have effectively elimi- nated Montana’s concealed weapon permitting process by allowing anyone eligible to possess a handgun to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. “The measure would have allowed individuals to decide whether they are eligible to carry a concealed weapon. “Our Association asked Governor Bullock to veto HB 304 and others like it because we strongly believe the current law provides an additional necessary check to ensure public safety when carrying a concealed weap- on in Montana’s cities and towns. “We support the existing permit requirements for con- cealed weapon permits, as a matter of public safety. “Opposing unrestricted concealed carrying of weap- ons by anyone, anywhere, does not equate to opposing the Second Amendment. “While we support the Second Amendment, we also support the existing permit requirements for concealed weapon permits as a matter of public safety.” Cynthia Brown is the pub- lisher of American Police Beat. Montana sheriffs support permits for concealed carry Number of deaths at hands of police is actually low CYNTHIA BROWN