In gun control meccas like Massachusetts and Maryland, people technically have the right to the concealed carry of firearms. But in practice, getting permission from the government often proves impossible. And sometimes even when you have permission from the government, it's only a matter of time before your subjected to the whim of some government bureaucrat on a power trip.

On an April afternoon seven years ago, Joseph Landers walked out of the M&M Food Shoppe on High Street with a sub sandwich in one hand, a pizza in another, and a stainless steel handgun holstered on his shoulder underneath his coat.

To Landers, a then 49-year-old retired machinist, it was just a normal day in which he planned have lunch with his father at home. The gun was something he carried regularly for protection.

But the trip to pick up lunch turned out to be his last as a licensed gun holder in Massachusetts.

Landers' coat was not entirely zipped up that day, and when the wind blew it open, a Dedham Police officer across the street zoomed in and noticed the gun. Upon request by the officer, Landers produced a valid five-year license issued in 1995 to carry the gun. But the problem was, state law required that he keep the weapon concealed.

While the officer let Landers go without an arrest, the Adams Street resident soon after received notice from Dedham Police Chief Dennis Teehan that his Class A license to carry firearms had been revoked due to the incident.

When you give the government the power to regulate something it ceases to become a right and becomes a privilege. And it doesn't take much for the government to deny you that privilege. 'Shall issue' laws force government officials to issue you a permit unless they have sufficient reason not to. Laws vary from state to state, but most times the reasons are spelled out in the law, and there is an appeals process for being denied a permit. But in 'May Issue' states, you can be denied a permit just because the sheriff doesn't feel like giving you one.