February, 19 2010, 09:32am 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 139 Since May 2007, Including 9 Law Enforcement Officers--"Concealed Carry Killers" Web Site February Update
Concealed handgun permit
holders have killed at least nine law enforcement officers in addition to 130
private citizens (including 14 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
WASHINGTON
Concealed handgun permit
holders have killed at least nine law enforcement officers in addition to 130
private citizens (including 14 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 78
incidents, which occurred in 22 states, and offers detailed descriptions of
each incident (some incidents may fit into multiple categories). Of these
incidents, 14 were murder-suicides involving firearms and 13 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, California
(two incidents), Colorado, Florida (13 incidents), Idaho (two incidents),
Kentucky, Massachusetts (two incidents), Michigan (six incidents), Minnesota,
New York, North Carolina (five incidents), Ohio (six incidents), Oklahoma (two
incidents), Oregon, Pennsylvania (six incidents), Rhode Island, South Carolina
(two incidents), Tennessee (six incidents), Texas (two 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,
"When the National Rifle Association launched its state-by-state campaign
for lax concealed handgun laws, it made this promise: '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.' To the contrary, concealed handgun permit holders
are killing people over parking spaces, football games, and family arguments."
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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