April, 28 2010, 10:57am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Marty Langley, Violence Policy Center, 202-822-8200 x109, mlangley@vpc.org
Concealed Handgun Permit Holders Have Killed at Least 161 Since May 2007, Including 9 Law Enforcement Officers--"Concealed Carry Killers" Web Site April Update
Concealed handgun permit holders have killed
at least nine law enforcement officers in addition to 152 private
citizens
(including 15 shooters who killed themselves after an attack) since May
2007
according to the latest update of Concealed Carry Killers, a Violence
Policy
Center (VPC) on-line resource that tallies news reports of such
killings.
The web site, located at https://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm,
is updated monthly to include new fatal shootings since
WASHINGTON
Concealed handgun permit holders have killed
at least nine law enforcement officers in addition to 152 private
citizens
(including 15 shooters who killed themselves after an attack) since May
2007
according to the latest update of Concealed Carry Killers, a Violence
Policy
Center (VPC) on-line resource that tallies news reports of such
killings.
The web site, located at https://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm,
is updated monthly to include new fatal shootings since May 2007 by
concealed handgun
permit holders and any changes in the legal status of permit holders
facing
criminal charges. (Any concealed handgun permit holders who are
eventually acquitted of their alleged crimes are not included in the
tallies
maintained on the site although the facts surrounding the shooting are
detailed.)
The VPC web site categorizes the 95
incidents, which
occurred in 25 states, and offers detailed descriptions of each incident
(some
incidents may fit into multiple categories). Of these incidents, 15
were
murder-suicides involving firearms and 15 were mass shootings (three or
more
victims) that claimed as many as 11 lives at a time. Law enforcement
officers were killed in Alabama, Florida (two incidents), Idaho,
Ohio, and Pennsylvania (two incidents). All of
the law enforcement killings were committed with guns.
Private citizens were killed in Alabama,
Arkansas,
California (two incidents), Colorado, Florida (16 incidents), Georgia,
Idaho
(two incidents), Indiana (two incidents), Kentucky (two incidents),
Massachusetts (two incidents), Michigan (eight incidents), Minnesota,
New York,
North Carolina (five incidents), Ohio (nine incidents), Oklahoma (two
incidents), Oregon, Pennsylvania (seven incidents), Rhode Island, South
Carolina (two incidents), Tennessee (eight incidents), Texas (three
incidents),
Utah (five incidents), Virginia (five incidents), and Washington. All
but
one of the killings were committed with guns.
Violence Policy Center Legislative Director
Kristen Rand
states, "Each
month
we are finding more and more killings by concealed handgun permit
holders. Just as opponents of weak concealed carry laws warned, we now
know
that concealed handgun permit holders are killing people in road rage
incidents, arguments over parking spaces, and domestic disputes. The
incidents we document graphically demonstrate how the presence of a
handgun
escalates an argument to a homicide. How many more people must die at
the
hands of concealed carry killers before state legislators act to fix
these
laws?"
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 primarily as reported by news outlets.
It
is likely that the actual number of fatal incidents involving concealed
handgun
permit holders is far higher.
The Violence Policy Center (VPC) works to stop gun death and injury through research, education, advocacy, and collaboration. Founded in 1988 by Executive Director Josh Sugarmann, a native of Newtown, Connecticut, the VPC informs the public about the impact of gun violence on their daily lives, exposes the profit-driven marketing and lobbying activities of the firearms industry and gun lobby, offers unique technical expertise to policymakers, organizations, and advocates on the federal, state, and local levels, and works for policy changes that save lives. The VPC has a long and proven record of policy successes on the federal, state, and local levels, leading the National Rifle Association to acknowledge us as "the most effective ... anti-gun rabble-rouser in Washington."
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