In the aftermath of each mass shooting in the U.S. the debate about gun control always heats up. Some people want more restrictions on who can buy, what they can buy and how many they can buy.

Laws don't stop criminals or those with criminal intent. How many burglars are deterred from burglarizing homes and businesses by laws that are already on our books? Would more laws deter them? Based on evidence that we have thousands of burglars in our jails and prisons and on thousands and thousands of police reports of burglary, we have to conclude that laws against burglary do not deter burglars.

When we look at where these mass shootings take place, we see them happening in places where weapons, guns in particular, are not allowed by policy set forth by the business owner(s) or by laws. The Omaha mall restricts the carrying of guns but that didn't stop Robert Hawkins from killing 9 people. Schools are gun free zones but that didn't stop Klebold and Harris from killing 15 people including themselves. Virgina Tech banned the possession of firearms but that didn't stop Seung-Hui Cho from killing 33 people with guns. The Aurora, Colorado movie theater that was shot up by James Holmes is owned by the company Cinemark, company policy bans weapons from all of their theaters.

Clearly, gun free zones do not stop those with criminal intent from killing, on the contrary, gun free zones simply announce to would be mass killers where their victims are least likely to be armed.

I believe the answer lies in Concealed Carry for law abiding citizens. When Florida passed its CCW law in 1987 alarmists said there would be shootouts on the streets and freeways, that Florida would become the new Wild, Wild, West. These same predictions occurred each time another State liberalized it's CCW laws. None of these dire predictions have come true.

In fact, CCW permit holders are statistically the most law abiding group of citizens. Permits are revoked on occasion but the number of revoked permits is typically very small and the grounds for revocation in most states (other than an expired permit that is not renewed) is either a gross misdemeanor or a felony.

A 3-year study of Texas crime statistics immediately following passage of CCW legislation found that the most common crime committed by CCW holders that would be grounds for revocation was actually DUI, followed by unlawful carry and then aggravated assault. The same study concluded that Texas CCW holders were always less likely to commit any particular type of crime than the general population, and overall were 13 times less likely to commit any crime.

In Florida the first person to use their concealed weapon in self defense was a cab driver who shot his passenger after the passenger attempted to shoot him but forgot to take the safety of on his weapon. The passenger died from his wounds. It was also discovered that the passenger was a convicted felon that had been out of prison less than 8 hours before attempting to commit robbery. Fortunately the cabbie was unhurt and there will be no recidivism from the convicted felon this time.

If concealed carry was allowed in all of these places, could a citizen have stopped the crimes in progress? In Omaha a CCW permit holder left his weapon in his car when he entered the mall in accordance with the Westroads Mall policy of no firearms allowed. He said later in an interview that if he had been carrying he could have taken out the shooter because at one point he had a clear line of fire to the shooter while the shooter was firing in another direction. In at least this case, a CCW permit holder could have lessened the carnage. How many other places could this have happened if concealed carry of firearms by law abiding citizens is allowed?

When was the last time we heard about a mass shooting at a firing range? Or inside a police department? Or at a gun store? We don't hear about mass shootings at these types of places because would be killers know their chances of success are greatly diminished (if not eliminated entirely) when their potential victims can shoot back.

Remember, when seconds truly count when the lead starts flying, the police are just minutes away. It is your responsibility to protect yourself and your loved ones. In a perfect world this would not be necessary. In reality, we live in a world that is far from perfect and law abiding citizens must protect themselves.