Colorado took a step closer to becoming a CCW shall issue state. 'Shall Issue' legislation is successfully moving through the state house and senate. Currently concealed weapons permits are subject to the whims of localities, meaning that in high crime urban areas such as Denver, they are almost never issued.

Sadly, opponents of the bill are using the Columbine tragedy to forward their cause, despite the fact that the Columbine perpetrators broke countless existing firearm's laws.

Tom Mauser, father of Columbine High School victim Daniel Mauser, joined opponents in testifying against the bill.

Mauser, a state employee, said many Coloradans do not want to see more guns on streets or in public workplaces such as hospitals and college campuses. He also said that many people have become more fearful of concealed weapons since learning that the alleged killer of Colorado State University student Lacy Miller had a concealed-weapons permit revoked shortly before her disappearance.

Both parts of that argument are irrelevant. Who cares if Coloradans don't want people to carry firearms? This is just another case of collective mentality and mob rule lending credibility to an otherwise immoral policy. Besides, if the poll on the article is any measure of public attitude, (and it isn't), people support the legislation 89% to 11%.

The last part of his argument is a complete red herring. Mauser is trying to convey the thought that it was a concealed weapon that caused the murder of Lacy Miller, and he follows it up with the proverbial 'wild west' argument, a favorite of the anti-CCW crowd.

"Is this what it's come down to in American society?" Mauser said. "We've given up? The answer to violence is to put more hidden loaded guns on the streets?

"If that's what it's come to, it's a very sad day, a very, very sad day," he said.

Actually, what it has come to is that disarming Americans has fostered violent crime. People that used to feel safe walking around their home town, now cower in fear, and head indoors after dark. It is time to stop penalizing people who freely exercise their God-given right to self protection.