Quote:
There are some states we classify now as "shall issue" that have a provision whereby a cop can write a statement to the effect of "this guy is a crook we haven't caught yet" or "numerous calls on violence issues at this guy's house" or "known drunk" or whatever.
In such cases, no permit.
There's been very little abuse of such systems (none that I've heard of) as long as the cop has to write under oath, and the applicant gets a copy and can make a challenge.
|
Jim March beat me to the mechanics of what I would consider a structured "may issue" system.
There are some sketchy characters around who do not quite meet federal disqualification standards, but would be scary legally carrying a gun. Some folks amass impressive police records without being nailed with a specific federal disqualification. And then there are the benign nutjobs; I would not want the guy who lives a couple of miles down the road and sometimes flags down passing cars in the wee hours of the morning to invite the drivers to shop at his permanent yard sale to legally concealed carry.
A "shall issue" system based on federal disqualifications would not provide any opportunity to catch the types at the edges. That would probably result in more restrictive objective standards being added to address the outliers. At some point, it could be preferable to have a shorter list of absolute standards and some discretion than a ridiculously long list of standards.