“Because most state systems that allow the carrying of concealed handguns in public by private citizens release little data about crimes committed by permit holders, the VPC reviews and tallies concealed handgun permit holder killings as reported by news outlets. It is likely that the actual number of fatal criminal incidents involving concealed handgun permit holders is far higher.”
The web site, CCW Killers, is updated monthly.
There are five categories.
Law Enforcement Officers Killed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders
May 2007 to the Present
Private Citizens Killed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders
May 2007 to the Present
Total People Killed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders
May 2007 to the Present
Mass Shootings Committed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders
May 2007 to the Present
Murder-Suicides Committed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders
May 2007 to the Present
“In 2009, the Violence Policy Center began an ongoing research project to identify killings beginning in May 2007 to the present by individuals with concealed handgun permits. As the result of a massive campaign led by the gun lobby, almost all states maintain a veil of secrecy around those who have been issued permits to carry concealed handguns. Therefore, the VPC is forced to rely primarily on news accounts for reports of killings by concealed handgun permit holders and subsequent legal proceedings.”
“Click on the tally for each category to be linked to vignettes describing the circumstances for each killing, listed by state.”
http://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm
Also see:
NRA Quietly Winning Battles For Looser Gun Laws
ERIK SCHELZIG | 12/12/09 12:10 AM |
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/12/nra-quietly-winning-loose_n_389684.html
They don't provide any statistics on what the rest of the population's rates are though? They don't provide any data to tell you if CCW holders are a lower, equal, or higher ratio compared to the general population. They mention 9 peace officers killed by CCW holders, what percentage is that of the total number of peace officers killed in that time compared to how many ccw holders vs gun owners there are? What if we find out ccw holders are 5 times less likely to attack a peace offcer than a regular citizen, wouldn't that be valuable information? Why don't they provide the data?
ReplyDeleteWithout the rest of the data, the figures mean nothing, and it's just fear mongering.
You’re right; most of the people that have a permit to carry do not commit violent crimes. But the NRA claims that "these citizens don't commit violent crimes”; at all.
ReplyDeleteNRA; “As we get more information about right-to-carry, our point is made again and again...People who get permits in states which have fair right-to-carry laws are law-abiding, upstanding community leaders who merely seek to exercise their right to self-defense." Yea right. http://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm
50 years ago I looked forward to reading the American Rifleman. It’s mostly junk now. The NRA is making people who do like firearms seem like freaks to most people. It is extremely counterproductive.
I grew up with firearms and hunting during a time when you could plink with a 22. You could hunt pheasants almost anywhere there was a field within flying distance of a cornfield.
I honestly don’t know what best way is to control deliberate firearm violence and the many accidental deaths and injuries.
I draw the line with assault weapons like the AK-47 that was spraying bullets around Coatesville. They are a scary problem for police. I can’t see a legitimate reason why an ordinary person needs a firearm that will penetrate vests. It’s for military use. Otherwise it’s for killing rival drug dealers or killing police. In Coatesville not long after Walker, Mathews and Legree cut the police force in half someone was allegedly giving guns to young men and boys from a car parked on 8th Ave. Ironically it was not far from the house where ChesCo DA Joe Carroll now lives. Joe, by the way, is a good shot. For the next 4 months or so after that incident people near 6th Ave. and Lincoln Highway picked bullets out of their cars and walls outside and inside their homes. There were bullets flying all over Coatesville.
One incident involving an AK-47 was a running firefight that went from the East to West End of town. I know some of the people that were in the Little Chef when the guy with a fully automatic AK-47 walked in.
We heard gunshots any time, but mostly at night. People in hotspot areas did not sit near a window. Nobody sat on their porch. I remember seeing boys that obviously had a gun in their pants holding it while running across the street. That was amusing in a kind of sad way. The shooting stopped right after the police began doing stop and search.
I think each person needs to decide on their own whether to own and or carry a firearm. Is it a real threat or a what-if threat? Is it worth the risk of having a weapon that can easily kill near you on a regular basis?
Keep in mind that every boy whose father has a gun plays with it at least one time when nobody’s home.
I knew a man who accidentally shot and killed himself. He was a security guard and had a carry permit. It was an automatic with the magazine out, one round in the chamber. It is heartbreaking to see a family lose a son in such a senseless way. I knew another young man who died from an accidental gunshot in a similar way. Revolvers are safer and they don’t jam.
A man I know lived in a rough neighborhood in Philly. He shot and killed a young man stealing a car in front of his house. He could afford an attorney but still did a short amount of time in jail. He said, “The gun just went off”. If you do decide to carry a gun, make sure you can afford a good attorney; in case you ever need to use your firearm. If you can’t afford a good attorney be prepared to lose everything you own or even worse, go to prison. It may be fun to shoot but a few unfortunate seconds with a firearm can destroy your life. Keep that in mind. People that like hunting and or shooting and use firearms do not need the NRA “supporting” them. The people now leading the NRA make every firearms owner a leper in the eyes of most people. You don’t just conceal your firearm, you conceal that you even know anything or like firearms because of the NRA.
The Violence Policy Center claims that there have been 319 (presumably illegal) killings by concealed carry license holders since 2007. According to MSNBC, there are some six million such licensees in the United States. That works out to about one in 20,000 who commit murder, or .005%. Please name another class of licensed person that is safer--certainly not drivers or medical doctors.
ReplyDeleteWhat this illustrates is that statistics are more dangerous to the user than to the target and ought to be banned.