How you ask, matters

How do you find out what people think about the right to carry a concealed weapon? How you ask the question may often determine the response and the answer you get.

At last week's town hall meeting in Carpentersville, Illinois State Representative Keith Farnham said the response from his constituents in the 43rd District was overwhelmingly against concealed carry.

Let's say you went to the Woodstock Square or Crystal Lake's downtown area or McHenry's Fiesta or any of the Fourth of July parades and began asking people what they think about concealed carry. What would you ask? (Or would you "say" what you think, instead of asking?)

If you were wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with "I DON'T DIAL 9-1-1-" and an image of a handgun on it, what would people think? When I saw that t-shirt at Rep. Farnham's town hall meeting, all I could think of was a .45 cal. bullet going through 2-3 people and zinging down the street through windows and thin walls. And I'm a gun owner and right-to-carry proponent!

How might a question be phrased?

- Do you believe law-abiding, trained, qualified men and women should have the right to carry a concealed weapon for the purpose of protecting themselves outside their home, a right that they have in all states other than Illinois?

Or what if you were asked these questions?

- Should gun nuts have the right to strap on high-powered handguns and strut around town like Butch Cassidy? (No offense, Butch)

- Kids are being killed in Chicago every day; should more people carry guns?

- Should people be allowed to carry loaded, heavy-duty guns out of sight, under their coats?

- Aren't you safe in "gun-free zones" (GFZs) like schools, churches, government offices? Why do people need guns?

- Wouldn't you be worried if the man next to you had a gun?

I recommend two books. The easy one, the fast-read, is From Luby's to the Legislature, by Suzanna Gratia Hupp, a Texas chiropractor whose parents and 20 other restaurant customers were killed in 1991 in a family-style restaurant. She had left her gun in her vehicle, because then-Texas law said you couldn't take it into a restaurant.

The other, harder to read and harder to digest, is Prof. John Lott's book, More Guns, Less Crime. If you like facts and figures, you'll like this one. Read his statements by police officials who at first didn't want concealed carry, but who found that the problems they expected never materialized.

How do legislators learn constituent opinions?

At Wednesday night's town hall meeting in Carpentersville, the heat was on Rep. Keith Farnham from the first question. In fact, I thought the man who stated his opinion on concealed carry might rise out of his seat and confront Rep. Farnham nose-to-nose. I felt he might have to be restrained before the meeting ended.

I admired Rep. Farnham for standing his ground and listening in an open manner to the question and to the man who was asking it. That man, who I think did not live in the 43rd District, addressed Rep. Farnham in an antagonistic, brash, aggressive and almost-threatening manner - totally out of place for the first question of the evening, before Rep. Farnham explained his position on concealed carry.

Rep. Farnham said that he had learned the opinions of his constituents by walking his district several times. One woman announced, "Well, you never came to my house!" Was she even home, when he walked her block?

One member of the audience respectfully suggested that Rep. Farnham might have a survey printed and mailed to every house in his district. We've certainly seen those surveys (occasionally) from Rep. Jack Franks' office, although not recently.

The advantage of a printed survey are several:
1. The survey can be sent to every household in the District;
2. Everyone gets asked the same question, in the same way;
3. Most bias in a question can be removed (or will be clearly evident);
4. Prepaid-postage return often assures a higher return rate;
5. Tear-off address portion may increase return rate, if respondent wants to remain anonymous;
6. Short response time may increase response rate, as it can reduce the survey's getting "lost" before being returned.

Electronic surveys are good, too, although they might draw responses from a small audience in some districts. And you have to get the word out, so that those with internet connection can respond.

Jack Franks' only website now is at http://www.franks4illinois.com/, and this is the one that is paid for by his political campaign, not by his State office budget. Would it be nice for his legislative office to maintain a official web presence with information about his official position on bills, laws and issues? If you would like to be on Jack's e-mail distribution list for Jack's political activities in the 63rd District, you can sign up for his e-mails on that website.

Jack cast a "Yes" vote on HB 0148, the concealed-carry bill in the most recent legislative session. Sixty-third District gun owners and concealed-carry (right-to-carry) advocates should continue to stay in touch with Jack to thank him for his support and to solicit his continued support of this legislation.

Illinois is now the only state to forbid its law-abiding, trained, qualified citizens the right to carry. Gov. Walker is expected to sign Wisconsin's law shortly after July 4th.