To the editor:

I read Tim Kraayenbrink’s recent article about eliminating a permit to carry a concealed weapon. First, I am not anti-gun, owning more than I need and I have held a concealed weapon permit for 30 years. Tim says we should not need a permission slip from the government to take a gun to the grocery store. But I do need a permission slip to drive a car, go hunting, fishing or trapping, install a septic tank, build a deck, travel overseas, vote, or for that matter, cut someone’s hair for a living. Does that make sense?

It was not difficult under the old system to get a permit, in fact far easier to get a concealed permit than a Commercial Driver’s License. I spent way more time and money on a CDL than a concealed permit.

Let’s explore a made up guy. Let’s call him Bruno. Bruno beats his wife, starves the son he has locked in the basement and sexually abuses his daughter. He makes meth for a living when he is not busy stealing. But Bruno is lucky, so far no felony convictions. Good thing the local Sheriff gets no input on his ability to take a gun to the gas station. We don’t want Bruno to need a permission slip, do we? Think Bruno does not live here? You aren’t reading the news. At some point, someone will die from this.

John Schmit

Rockwell City