May, 12 2011, 12:39pm EDT
Analysis Details 300 People--Including 11 Law Enforcement Officers--Killed Since May 2007 by Persons Allowed to Legally Carry Concealed Handguns as Wisconsin Legislature Holds Hearings on Allowing Concealed Loaded Handguns in Public
Wisconsin Concealed Carry Proponents Ignore Bloody Record of Police Deaths, Mass Shootings, and Attempted Political Assassination
WASHINGTON
While Wisconsin concealed carry proponents promise that proposed legislation allowing the carrying of loaded concealed handguns in the state will increase public safety and aid law enforcement, since May 2007 at least 300 people--including 11 law enforcement officers--have been killed by private citizens legally allowed to carry handguns in killings not ruled self-defense according to Concealed Carry Killers, an on-line resource (https://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm) from the Washington, DC-based Violence Policy Center (VPC). These numbers, which are updated monthly, do not include any killings determined to be lawful self-defense.
These killings include not only the deaths of 11 law enforcement officers-most recently two Virginia sheriff's deputies were slain in March by a concealed handgun permit holder-but also 18 mass shootings where private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns have taken, or have been charged with taking, the lives of 79 innocent victims. In all except one incident--Jared Loughner's January mass shooting in Tucson (in Arizona legal gun owners can carry concealed handguns without a permit) that left six dead and 13 injured, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords--the killer had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Wisconsinalso experienced a "permitless carry" shooting when "open carry" advocate Jesus Gonzalez shot two men, killing one and paralyzing the other, in an altercation in May 2010. Gonzalez, a spokesperson for the "open carry" movement, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the case.
Violence Policy Center Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, "Like every state before it, Wisconsin concealed carry proponents will promise that permit holders commit no crimes, prevent mass shootings, and aid law enforcement. These claims have been road-tested in numerous states and proven demonstrably false. Concealed carry permit holders don't prevent mass shootings, they perpetrate them. They don't support police, they shoot them. Any Wisconsin legislator or citizen concerned with public safety should reject the dishonest and self-serving arguments peddled by concealed carry proponents."
Wisconsin-based WAVE Educational Fund Executive Director Jeri Bonavia adds, "This report clearly and indisputably proves false the gun lobby's claim that Wisconsin families would be safer if more people are carrying guns in public. More people carrying more guns will only lead to more tragedies."
The Violence Policy Center's Concealed Carry Killers database documents 205 incidents in 30 states since May 2007. In nearly three quarters of the incidents (152) the concealed carry killer has already been convicted (65), committed suicide (84), or was killed in the incident (three). Of the 53 cases still pending, the vast majority (41) of concealed carry killers have been charged with criminal homicide, two were deemed incompetent to stand trial, three incidents were unintentional shootings involving the gun of the concealed permit holder, and six incidents are still under investigation.
Because most state systems that allow the carrying of concealed handguns in public by private citizens release little data about crimes committed by them, the primary source for Concealed Carry Killers is published news reports. It is likely that the actual number of fatal incidents involving citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns is far higher.
A detailed summary of each of the 205 incidents is available at https://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm, clicking on each category leads to a state-by-state breakout for the incidents with current known status. To review all deaths by concealed carry killers, click on "Total People Killed by Concealed Carry Killers." While the incident summaries of the few concealed carry killers who were found not guilty or were eventually not charged are listed on the site, those numbers are not included in the Violence Policy Center's totals.
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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As the international community marked World Press Freedom Day on Friday, journalists and advocates across the globe mourned and celebrated those killed in Israel's ongoing assault on the Gaza Strip.
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"Since the Israel-Gaza war began, journalists have been paying the highest price—their lives—to defend our right to the truth. Each time a journalist dies or is injured, we lose a fragment of that truth," said CPJ program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna in a Friday statement. "Journalists are civilians who are protected by international humanitarian law in times of conflict. Those responsible for their deaths face dual trials: one under international law and another before history's unforgiving gaze."
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The Paris-based group nominated Palestinian journalists covering Gaza for an annual award from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)—an honor they received during a ceremony on Thursday.
"Each year, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Prize pays tribute to the courage of journalists facing difficult and dangerous circumstances," said Audrey Azoulay, the U.N. organization's director-general. "Once again this year, the prize reminds us of the importance of collective action to ensure that journalists around the world can continue to carry out their essential work to inform and investigate."
Palestinian journalists covering Israel’s war on Gaza have been awarded UNESCO’s World Press Freedom prize. More than 100 journalists, mostly Palestinians, have been killed in the war. pic.twitter.com/uSfIKsqTyQ
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 3, 2024
Nasser Abu Baker, president of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate and vice-president of the International Federation of Journalists, accepted the prize on behalf of his colleagues in the besieged enclave.
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“Palestinian journalists have seen what no journalist has.”
For #WorldPressFreedomDay, we spoke to Palestinian journalist Hani Aburezeq, who's been showing the world Israel’s war on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/YikPzX12a7
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) May 3, 2024
While Israel has repeatedly claimed—as it did to CNN on Friday—that "the IDF has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists," members of the press and others have cast doubt on such comments.
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Progressive advocate and former congressional candidate Lindsey Boylan said she was "deeply, irretrievably disappointed" in Schumer for planning to invite Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress.
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Rail workers voiced outrage Thursday after U.S. President Joe Biden quietly nominated a former Trump administration official with a history of supporting deregulation to Amtrak's board of directors, a move that one alliance of unions called a "slap in the face."
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Well, it seems @POTUS has truly outdone himself this time, nominating Ronald L. Batory—yes, the deregulation aficionado from the Trump era—to the @Amtrak Board of Directors. https://t.co/dVMWEApL5D
— Railroad Workers United ✊ (@railroadworkers) May 3, 2024
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