All of this missed out on in states where conceal-carry laws are illegal. This information, coupled with the FBI data from 1992 to "97 that said that the nation dropped 19% in violent crimes, while Missouri (which enacted a right-to-carry law in that time dropped almost 25 %(McDermott). Even governments officials recognize the importance of conceal/carry laws. Department of Justice statistics reveal that the police can get to a crime-scene within 5 minutes only about 28% of the time. And according to FBI estimations, there is a violent crime committed somewhere in America every 22 seconds (Snyder). In the wake of the devastating school shooting at Columbine High School, Minnesota governor Jesse Venture said in an official announcement, "To me, it justifies conceal and carry more." Upon social pressure from outraged citizens of Minnesota (where concealed weapons are restricted), however, the governor retracted his statement (Pearkstein). Would the massacre have been avoided if one of the teachers possessed a concealed weapon? No one can say for sure. But what is known is that, in order for people to truly be safe from crime, they must be able to prevent it themselves. And that means they need a gun. .
Once you've heard the problems associated with a country without these laws, you must also understand the reasons these laws are not in such high quantity. Despite the fact that strict regulations are in place in order to obtain a permit, the main reason these laws are not seen in every state is because of public ignorance. In order to obtain a conceal-carry permit in the states that allow them, one must be a resident of the state, must have a record free of any felony and drug/alcohol history, no previous cases of mental illness, must not have been convicted of a misdemeanor in the last five years (though they are prevented from obtaining a permit if they were convicted of a violent misdemeanor), they must have fingerprints registered with the state, and (as far as most states are concerned) they must have completed a given number of gun training courses (at the applicant's own expense) (Korwin).