Down in Racine an Alderman is working to make it legal for retired police officers to carry a concealed weapon. Am I missing something here? What makes a RETIRED police officer deserving to carry a concealed weapon when no other member of the public can?

For the record I am for a concealed weapon program in Wisconsin. However, I don’t believe the right to carry a concealed weapon should be restricted to select groups. A lot of people wrongfully assume that the right to carry a concealed weapon is rare. There are concealed weapon programs in 44 states. Wisconsin is in the minority. Opponents to concealed weapons like to scare the public with the threat that concealed weapons lead to violent rampages. That’s not true. There’s no doubt that there has been an increase in gun violence in unexpected areas, such as campuses or shopping centers. In all those cases, the perpetrator did not have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

I believe the idea that retired police should be able to carry concealed weapons stems from the idea that police officers are not part of the general public. The police love to refer to the public as ‘civilians’. What exactly does that make them? They are civil law enforcement officers, commissioned by civil authority. Police are civilians and should be treated as such. They do not deserve and should not receive special treatment by the legal system or be granted special rights.

I’m sure one argument in favor of granting retired police the right to carry concealed weapons is that violent criminals may seek to exact revenge on a particular police officer. That threat is no different for witnesses to crimes. If there is a perceived threat, the retired police officers should have the same options as the rest of the public, such as police protection.