If you stop introducing new legislation when you get a concealed carry law, then yes, it’s a potential danger. But if you follow the Alaska model — establish a permit system, let everyone get used to the idea, and then introduce permitless concealed carry a few years later — then it can be a valuable stepping stone to our ultimate goal.

Right now, there is no significant political support for permitless concealed carry in most states. But that might change in another decade, so a strategy that slowly changes the laws bit by bit — eg, eliminating restrictions on concealed carry in National Parks — will eventually lead to a much better situation.

I’ve been trying to get positions on gun control from the Webb campaign for months, since before the primaries and they weren’t posting or giving information. While I don’t doubt his stance, I do smell something fishy with the timing of his announcement to bash NRA. Don’t take him at his word until the evidence proves otherwise. I’m not saying that it’s impossible NRA isn’t at fault here, as you know how many times I’ve bitched about them. It’s just that the evidence I’ve seen points to Webb or someone on his campaign screwing this one up.

Webb is clearly one of the better Democrats as far as guns are concerned. Whether or not Majority Leader Reid will allow him to be pro-gun if a .50 Cal ban or AW ban comes up for a vote is a subject of debate.