Maybe it is too late, but I do want to express my support for the training that is part of the current concealed carry permitting process.

I have a concealed weapon permit and am in a much better position to use a handgun safely and intelligently having taken the required course. It is frightening to consider the prospect of anyone off the street buying a gun at a show and lugging it around in his pocket, influenced by misinformation about his rights and powers as a gun bearer.

He or she is a serious hazard to everyone. A training course is hardly a serious restriction on rights of law-abiding people who want a gun for home and property protection. The problem is not so much with deliberate law breakers as it is with law-abiding people totally untrained in dealing with a concealed weapon confrontation. I think such encounters differ fundamentally from those where a gun is carried openly.

There is no need to change the current law.

Bob Whitten

New Portland