2ND AMENDMENT: New Mexico has become the 35th state to pass a "shall-issue" concealed weapon permit law. As opposed to "may-issue" laws, a "shall-issue" law requires the government to issue a permit to an adult who meets the objective qualifications, and does not leave it to the discretion of the issuing authority (usually a police chief). This is important, because in states like California that have "may-issue" laws, the police basically NEVER issue permits to anyone except their own friends and celebrities -- a gross abuse of power, in my opinion. This makes it impossible for normal people to get permits even if they meet the legal requirements.
This CNSNews article has a lot more information, and also has quotes by Dr. John Lott, an economist and senior research scholar at the Yale School of Law who's research statistically proves that violent crime decreases in counties that willingly issue concealed gun permits.
"When you're an academic, one of the reasons you do research is that you think you can do a better job than other people have done," he explained. "So I started looking at the gun issues more, and the one that stood out in terms of having any significant, real benefit on the crime rates was the 'right to carry' laws."The effect was fairly dramatic," Lott recalled, "and I was very surprised."
When ordinary citizens are allowed to carry weapons for their own defense, violent crime drops. Period. This means that the more people that carry guns, the less likely it is that anyone will have to actually use one in self-defense.
