April, 28 2010, 11:13am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Sally Martinelli,(202) 822-8200 x104,smartinelli@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
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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