Marine Veteran: I Gave Up Concealed Carry ‘Under Duress’ to Become Foster Parent

Marine veteran Bill Johnson says he gave up carrying his concealed weapon “under duress” as a way to meet the criteria necessary to become a foster parent to his grandson in Michigan.

The New York Times (NYT) reports that Mr. Johnson and his wife, Jill, are suing Michigan, “which bars foster parents from carrying concealed weapons.” The gist of the suit “is whether the state’s rules amount to a ‘functional ban’ on owning a firearm, in violation of the Constitution’s Second Amendment.”

On August 10, Fox News aired live coverage of the Johnson situation and pointed out that the Johnsons are willingly taking custody of their grandson from their daughter for unknown reasons, yet even in that act of benevolence, they are being punished by the state inasmuch as they are asked to forfeit a portion of Second Amendment freedoms.

Fox News pointed to court documents, published by the NYT, in which Johnson said, “They told me flat out, ‘You are going to have to give up some of your constitutional rights here if you want to keep that boy.'”

Yet Fox News correctly pointed out that concealed carriers are among the most law-abiding of citizens; therefore, they should be the kinds of people states desire for foster care. In other words, the state’s position against concealed carriers is antithetical to common sense.

On July 24, Breitbart News reported a Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) study showing that concealed carriers are the most law-abiding of law-abiding citizens. For example, in the state of Michigan, where the Johnsons reside, the CPRC study found the percentage of concealed permit holders convicted of aggravated assault in 2015-2016 was .003 percent. The percentage of Michigan permit holders convicted of aggravated assaults in 2014-2015 was .002 percent. And “the vast majority of … [cases involving concealed permit holders] are unlikely to involve firearms.”

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.