We are responding to the recent letter (May 25) claiming that the “freedom to carry guns results in lower crime rates.”
The writer mentions six states that have laws similar to the legislation being proposed for Maine that would eliminate the need to get a concealed-weapons permit.
While saying that others manipulate facts and he will now tell us the real story, the writer then proceeds to not give any actual data.
Here is some data we found with a quick search of the FBI website. In 2013, one of the states mentioned in the letter (Alaska) had the second highest violent crime rate (640 per 100,000 residents) in the country. Maine had the second lowest (129 violent crimes per 100,000 residents).
Our very low violent crime rate compared to states that allow concealed handguns without registration tells us that we are already following the correct path. This legislation is unnecessary.
Mike and Maggie Dumais
Topsham
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