A little over one week after multiple ISIS terror attacks in Paris, one of which was carried out a soccer stadium, the National Fraternal Order of Police is asking the NFL to reverse it's ban on concealed carry in America's football stadiums for current or retired law enforcement officers. From Fox News:
More guns are needed at NFL games to keep fans safe, according to the nation's largest police union -- which recently asked the league commissioner to let certain firearms owners pack heat on Sundays.
The National Fraternal Order of Police has asked the NFL to lift its ban on fans carrying guns at games, at least for retired and off-duty law enforcement officers who hold permits to carry concealed weapons. In a letter to Commissioner Roger Goodell, FOP President Chuck Canterbury said armed cops are the best bet for stopping a terrorist attack inside a stadium.
“Today, I am writing on behalf of the members of the Fraternal Order of Police to urge you to rescind this policy, which weakens the safety and security of NFL players, personnel and fans,” read the Nov. 20 letter, which was reported by BuckeyeFirearms.org. “The terrorist attacks and threats of attacks from organizations like the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are selecting targets based on the amount of death and injury they can inflict -- mass murder and casualty events.
“Well-attended venues and areas are being deliberately targeted by the radical killers who do not intend or expect to survive the assault," the letter continued. "Law enforcement, even when working actively with highly trained and skilled security professionals, cannot be certain that all threats will be detected and neutralized.”
It's a start. Better advocacy would be for concealed carry in stadiums as an option available to all with a permit.
I can already hear the "drunk idiots will be shooting each other" arguments in response to this proposal, but it's important to point out that when the Virginia legislature (home of many RedSkins fans) voted to allow concealed carry in restaurants and bars (for everyone, not just cops), the same argument was made. The reality seen, however, was a drop in crime at restaurants and bars by more than five percent. Like stadiums, people also watch football in restaurants and bars, where the law requires those practicing concealed carry to remain sober.
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Virginia's bars and restaurants did not turn into shooting galleries as some had feared during the first year of a new state law that allows patrons with permits to carry concealed guns into alcohol-serving businesses, a Richmond Times-Dispatch analysis found.
The number of major crimes involving firearms at bars and restaurants statewide declined 5.2 percent from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2011, compared with the fiscal year before the law went into effect, according to crime data compiled by Virginia State Police at the newspaper's request.
And overall, the crimes that occurred during the law's first year were relatively minor, and few of the incidents appeared to involve gun owners with concealed-carry permits, the analysis found.
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