During my 23-year law enforcement career, I have developed a good sense of the character and nature of the people who commit violent crimes. With very few exceptions, the perpetrator is not the father who is taking his children to a ballgame. It is not the mother walking into a dark parking lot after a long shift at work. It is not the college student walking home after a study session with friends. Sadly, these persons are often the defenseless victims of violent crimes.

In Illinois, it is the "solid citizen" who is precluded from possessing the tool that he or she needs for self and family protection - a firearm. While many Illinois lawmakers and law enforcement administrators scoff at the notion that honest, hard-working citizens should be granted their constitutional right to protect themselves and their families, this misguided and dangerous attitude serves only to empower and embolden the violent thug.

Two fundamental realities dictate both the efficacy of, and effect on society of gun control legislation, yet these realities seemingly escape the perceptions of many public officials. First, the violent criminal has always had a gun, currently has a gun, and will always have a gun. Gun control laws can be effective only when people choose to obey them. A criminal does not obey laws. It is the father, the mother and the college student who will obey gun control laws, while the violent criminal continues to have access to firearms from an array of illegal sources.

Secondly, bad people have always found weapons to hurt good people. Bad people will always find weapons to hurt good people. What could be more basic than these tenets? If the thug element could not, hypothetically, find access to firearms, they will manufacture some manner of weapon to harm law-abiding people and take their property. If firearms were inaccessible to criminals, and their weapon of choice became, say, butcher knives, I can only assume that these same officials would be decrying the evil of butcher knives, and demand strict butcher knife control legislation.

Once again, many of our "common sense" state legislators are promoting a bill that will permit the solid citizens of Illinois to possess concealed firearms. Among several good pieces of concealed carry legislation that have been introduced in the General Assembly, the Family and Personal Protection Act (HB 245) (as sponsored by Rep. John Bradley) will permit qualified persons, who meet some training qualifications and can demonstrate minimum firearm proficiencies, to bear concealed firearms.

HB 245 establishes that the Illinois State Police will be responsible for certifying the qualifications of concealed carry applicants, and issuing the permits to qualified applicants. Other similar legislation proposes to charge the sheriffs of the state with the duty to issue these permits to the residents of their respective counties. A hybrid system by which permits are issued, one in which both the sheriffs and state police have a role in a comprehensive process, should be devised and implemented.

The latest concealed carry legislative proposals are endorsed by the Illinois Sheriff's Association. As the only elected law enforcement officials in the state and the only law enforcement officials who directly answer to the people, the sheriffs of Illinois understand the basic right of their constituents to self protection. The sheriffs should be commended for their support of concealed carry legislation and the Constitution. However, many of these sheriffs must understand that their support for concealed carry is greatly diminished when they support politicians for higher officer who are staunch supporters of gun control laws.

Notwithstanding my belief that most chiefs of police privately support the concept of concealed carry, the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police is, again, opposing any legislation that grants your right to possess concealed firearms. Whereas the sheriffs of our counties do not answer to any higher governmental authority, most metropolitan chiefs of police must answer to mayors and city councils, which often lack the capacity to understand the unconstitutional and ineffective nature of most gun control laws. While it is true that some chiefs and other law enforcement officers and administrators do have a personal belief that the concealed possession of firearms by citizens creates a dangerous environment, I am confident that the great majority of law enforcement officers recognize the deterrent to crime that concealed carry will bring to our homes and streets.

I encourage you to contact members of the General Assembly and express your support for concealed carry legislation, and specifically HB 245. Your failure to energetically support your right to carry, and passionately oppose most gun control legislation, will ultimately result in an erosion of our constitutional rights. Contact information for all members of the Senate and House of Representatives can be found at www.ilga.gov

Dennis Presley served as the sheriff of Williamson County from 1994 to 1998.