It is of interest to note that in the first full year of Mainers having the right to carry a concealed firearm without a permit, that the number of homicides in Maine in 2016 stood at 16 (as reported in the Press Herald on Jan. 2), which is 36 percent below an average year and more than 30 percent below 2015.

This is more clear evidence that restrictive gun laws affect only those of us who obey the law to begin with and have little to no effect on crime.

Perhaps we as citizens can be trusted to exercise our rights after all. Maybe places like Chicago, with its impossibly restrictive gun laws and 762 murders in 2016, should take notice.

Gene MacVicar

Windham