Open Forum: More on Second Amendment rights, threats

Final of three parts

In this concluding interview with Bryan Hendricks, the outdoor editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, he shares his views on why he objected to the release by Arkansas Times of the names of 58,000 Arkansans who have concealed-carry weapon permits.

Downs: In his editorial “Staying Down” (Arkansas Times, March 12, 2009), Max Brantley wrote,  “Always fearful in the extreme, and therefore dangerous, the gunners became even more agitated when the Arkansas Times published on its blog a state database containing names and addresses of Arkansans who hold permits to carry  concealed handguns.”

Hendricks: Well, why is it wrong to be outraged when your rights are violated? As far as the death threats are concerned, we have caller ID, we have ways of tracking down e-mail messages by going through the server and finding out who sent them, I don't believe it happened. If you level a terroristic threat against somebody, that’s a felony, and would be grounds for losing your concealed-carry license. I don’t think the kind of people who would make such threats would have these licenses. So, No. 1, I don’t believe it happened, or No. 2, the threats were made by agent provocateurs. These things happen.

Downs: Are you comfortable with carrying a concealed weapon?

Hendricks: I don’t do it often, Bill, to be honest. But am I comfortable with it? No, I’m really not. It’s a small .357-caliber revolver.  I have a holster that’s pretty low profile, but I do not feel comfortable wearing it in public.

Downs: Even though you are uncomfortable with carrying a gun, do you support the “Concealed Carry” law?

Hendricks: Oh yeah! I’ll tell you why. In 1994, my wife’s cousin Stacy Errickson was on her way to work when she stopped at a convenience store, put gas in her car, dressed up real nice, going to work, goes in to pay for her gas and on her way out was abducted at gunpoint by a thug, taken to a bad part of town where he shot her knees out so she couldn’t run and then repeatedly raped her for I think two or three days before he finally murdered her and buried her in a shallow grave. She left behind two small children and her husband.

For people like Stacy, that outcome could have been different had she had a concealed handgun. I’m not saying it would have been different. But had she been carrying a means to defend herself, it could have been. For the defenseless of the world, for the underpowered, Stacy would not have had a chance against that guy. It was in broad daylight in the morning during rush hour and would most certainly have been an equalizer. I don’t think people take unnecessary chances when they are armed.

There’s a theory that if you have a gun you are more likely to walk into harm’s way, but that has not been my experience because I do not want to be put in the position of having to do that. I can only speak for myself, but I don’t think there are people out there who go out looking for trouble like Charles Bronson in “Death Wish.”

Downs: In concluding his column, Brantley said, “Bloodied, I’m unbowed in the belief that there’s a public interest in permit holders, a state regulated activity. The public knowledge also serves as a check on the gatekeepers.....Fear, suspicion and even paranoia ran deep among the angriest callers. They highly prize secrecy of armed movement among us. Sadly they were misinformed, along with gun instructor [Rep. Randy] Stewart,” the sponsor of HB 1623, the secrecy bill,  “who was simply wrong when he said the law provides an expectation of secrecy for public records. I’ll say this about fear. I never had much until I got crosswise with some concealed weapon fanatics.”

Hendricks: That is purely delusional. It’s almost as if he ginned up this controversy to crucify himself, to make himself be a victim. I don’t believe a word of it.

Downs: Anything else?

Hendricks: One of the funny things about the animal cruelty bill that came up. The proponents of that bill, for the two years that they debated it, was that 44 states have a law like this and therefore we need one too. Well, 41 have some form of open- or concealed-carry so aren’t we right to have it ourselves? If you are going to use the bandwagon argument, isn’t one bandwagon as good as another?

Actually,  I believe that under the Second Amendment I should be allowed to carry a gun with or without a permit. We have submitted to these laws, but while I abide by them,  I do not believe that carrying that gun is a privilege, as a license suggests, but is a right. And the Second Amendment says so.

Next week:  What you should know but may not know about stem-cell research.

Questions? Concerns?  Contact Bill Downs: downsw@sbcglobal.net.