Sheriff Margaret Mims’ magical thinking doesn’t make us safer

Does it strike anyone else as ironic that Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims justifies her opposition to Proposition 57 with an appeal to “public safety?”

This is the sheriff who bucks state policy and essentially grants concealed carry permits to every purportedly law-abiding citizen who applies. Her justification is apparently that deputies often won’t be there when needed, so county residents need to protect themselves. So much for public servants.

Unfortunately, handguns in the home, in cars and carried on the street, endanger everyone but the criminals, who often steal them. It’s magical thinking to believe that citizens “carrying” will somehow make us all safer – and not turn Fresno County into some nightmare reprise of the Wild West with an open invitation to a host of potentially violent crazies to take the law into their own hands.

This story was originally published September 10, 2016 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Sheriff Margaret Mims’ magical thinking doesn’t make us safer."