Dan Hiney
CMST 14
Mock Congress Case Brief
Open with impact: An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have
to back up his actions with his life.-Robert A. Heinlein, American author 1907-1988
Statement of proposition
I. Resolved: The Federal Government should adopt a national concealed weapons permit
standard.
Definition of terms
I. Concealed weapon: Any weapon that can be concealed on one’s person, usually a
handgun.
II. Concealed weapons permit: A permit issued by law enforcement that allows a person
to carry a concealed weapon.
III. CCW: An abbreviation for concealed carry weapons.
Statement of arguments
I. Under the current system, the issuance of permits is left up to the states creating a
system with little uniformity or reciprocity. By reciprocity, I mean that the states do not
reciprocate with one another and honor their respective permits.
A. According to Gun Owners of America, Utah accepts most other states’
permits, California accepts no other states’ permits, and most other states fall in
the middle somewhere.
B. According to the USA carry website, there are 22 states that are “shall issue”
to residents only, there are 18 states that are “shall issue” to residents or non-
residents, there are 6 states that are “may issue” to residents or non-residents, 3
states that are “may issue” to residents only, and Illinois does not issue permits at
all.
C. A person with a valid CCW from one state can be arrested and charged with a
felony for simply driving across state lines while carrying. If our drivers licenses
are not nullified by crossing state lines, neither should our CCW’s
1. According to an article written by Buck Sexton and posted on the Blaze
website on Mar 20th, 2012, a registered nurse from Tennessee with a valid
CCW was visiting the Ground Zero Memorial. When she asked where she
could check in her weapon, (the responsible thing to do), she was
immediately arrested and charged with felony gun possession. The
mandatory sentence in New York for this crime is three and a half years.
Her only crime was trying to do the right thing.
D. Crime rates are higher in areas where guns are banned.
1. Personal ownership of guns is currently banned in Chicago Illinois. As
of September 2nd of this year, there have been 384 homicides in Chicago.
