I saw a sign on the front door of a business the other day that said......
"Criminals Beware! Concealed Carry Licensees welcome here."

Compare crime statistics of the state of Texas, against the cities of New York and Chicago. Texas has both concealed carry and open carry. New York and Chicago have the strictest gun control laws in the United States. All of this information is available on the internet. You will easily see that Texas has it right! There is much less crime in places where anyone could be armed and able to defend themselves and or others around them from the criminals. This is a no brained......all businesses should welcome gun owners to carry their weapons including banks.

I only do business with area establishments that allow concealed carry.

Crimminal profiles show that they prefer to hit establishments that ban concealed carry. To use the Patch's own words, the customers won't have "heat" to protect themselves or their loved ones. Places that ban concealed carry are also known as "victim zones." Wake up people, it's he bad guys that won't pay attention to a sign!

Why didn't you list the 3 businesses on the do not carry list?????????

"most of america is gun friendly" law-abiding gun owners should not be blamed for the acts of criminals and madmen."

Here is why we need an assault weapons ban. Civilians have no legitimate need for these weapons. We need to stop the flow of these weapons into our society and then have buy back programs to lower the number of these weapons in circulation. Assault weapons are meant for combat situations. They are the weapons of choice for mass shooters who are lashing out at society. If the weapons are not being manufactured or sold .... criminals will find it more and more difficult to obtain them over time. We will all be safer if these weapons are banned.

We need some sane responsible gun laws to protect our citizens. We have tried NRA policies for many years and it is time to try something different and smarter. We need a background check for ALL gun purchases. This includes private sales. We will need a national gun registry so that this can be enforced. This will make it more and more difficult for criminals to obtain guns. It will be worth the inconvenience since this will save thousands of American lives. These AR-15 rifles are a menace in this society. For our government to do nothing in response to all these incidents of gun violence would be pathetic.

"Civilians have no legitimate need for these weapons." Not up to you or the government to decide. As a law abiding citizen, I'll make my own decisions about legitimacy. No input from you needed. "These AR-15 rifles are a menace in this society" Do you hear yourself ? What a crock of baloney. Mine just mostly sits there and waits for me to fire it in a responsible and appropriate manner. Want more gun control ? Move to the Middle East. Giving away your rights ? Doesn't sound very American to me. National gun registry ? Not going to happen. Not your business (or the government's) about what legal weapons are in my house. Better background checks ? Certainly. More laws beyond that ? Absolutely not.

I am very happy to see that Earl agrees with me that a national gun registry is needed. Then, when a gun is used in a crime, it can be traced back to the owner who was supposed to be responsible for that gun. If they sold it illegally, they can be prosecuted and spend some time in the same jail cell with the criminal that used it in the commission of a crime. I also see that Ed agrees with me that better background checks are needed. Lets at least make it somewhat inconvenient for criminals and mentally unbalanced people who want to obtain guns. Then, we can all have a safer environment to live in. The AR-15 rifle was used in mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado .... Newtown, Conn. .... Webster, NY .... Brimfield, OH. How can anyone claim it is not a menace to our society?

Where is the outrage about the woman who put those weapons in the hand of her deranged son ? The mother knew her kid was a crackerhead, and still he had access to her guns. Talk about root cause. The Bushmaster rifle committed no crime. That blind-to-her-crazy-sons-behavior woman is at the beginning of the Newtown shooting. Jeff, you've simply got to stop blaming the gun for the crimes. The incidences you cite could have just as easily been committed with a semi-automatic handgun, shotgun, or a wooden stock hunting rifle. Absolutely NO gun owners will submit to a gun registry. The governments intrusion into my life ends at my front door. Imagine...the government taking inventory of our possessions. That's positively obscene. I'm a realist. I see things as they are. Guns are inanimate objects that do no harm on their own. It takes the mind of man to do good or evil with them.

I would like our government to actually take action to reduce the carnage in our society. I am also outraged that the woman in Newtown brought those weapons into her home and took her deranged son to the shooting range for training. My thought is that if the assault weapons ban was still in effect, she would not have been able to purchase the AR-15 or the 30 round magazine. The deranged son would still have gotten hold of the handguns and probably still attempted the crime. If he had to reload after 8 or 10 shots, someone might have been able to tackle him and stop him. The Tucson shooter was tackled while attempting to reload. More gun control is part of the solution in my opinion. It seems to work in Australia and England. I am sick of seeing news reports about these shootings. I would like to see some reasonable laws enacted to stop the gun violence or at least reduce it. I also agree with spending more money on mental health treatment and more security in schools.

One last thought from me here, and I'll rest. It's not working in Australia. Just as one might suspect, the criminals kept their guns (they weren't a gullible as the British who turned theirs in). The armed criminals are having their way with the unarmed citizens. As would happen here, except we're not stupid enough to hand over our guns. We are all sick of these occurrences . You're outrage is shared by all of us. We just choose to place the blame differently. And we differ in the solution. But we agree on a very important point: Background checks must be across the board for all gun purchases. No exceptions. No loopholes.

Too many idiots on here to even argue sensible points about gun reform. Which is needed.

More gun control laws won't help this violence....whackos will always find a way to get a weapon if they really want to. The real answer is to put a policeman in each school starting with our high schools. Having an armed & highly trained "first responder" at the scene is the best way to prevent or stop a mass shooting. Did anyone know that Sidwell Friends School (the place where Obama's daughter's attend) has at least 11 armed police at any one time on patrol? Geez, they must think the whole armed guard things works for their kids.....but not for ours.

When I mentioned idiots I was referring to Earl.

ooooooh. yea the redneck bigot was referring to me. I don't know why they even post articles because it is fillled with bitter nasty old me arguing with no valid points.