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For Immediate Release
June, 11 2010, 12:04pm EDT
Contact:
Marty Langley,
202-822-8200 x109, mlangley@vpc.org
Hialeah Mass Shooting Most Recent by a Concealed Handgun Permit Holder
At Least 65 Innocent People Have Been Killed in Recent Mass Shootings Involving Concealed Handgun Permit Holders
WASHINGTON
Gerardo Regalado, the 38-year-old man who shot seven
women, killing four, earlier this week at a Hialeah, Florida,
restaurant is at least the 16th person licensed to carry a concealed handgun
reported to have committed a mass shooting (three victims or more) since May
2007 according to Violence Policy Center (VPC) research. The 15 prior mass
shootings, two of which occurred in Florida,
are detailed on Concealed Carry Killers (https://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm),
an on-line resource that tallies from news reports killings by concealed
handgun permit holders. Not including this most recent shooting, the website
reports that since May 2007 concealed handgun permit holders have killed a
total of at least 166 people, including nine law enforcement officers.
According to news reports, Regalado, who killed himself
after the shooting, had a concealed handgun permit--even though relatives
described him as "pure evil" with a history of abusing women and
having served "hard time" in a Cuban prison.
Prior to the Hialeah shooting, concealed handgun permit
holders had claimed 61 innocent lives in 15 mass shootings since May 2007 (six
of the shooters killed themselves, four have been convicted, and five cases are
pending). Regalado's attack brings the total number of innocent victims
reportedly killed by concealed handgun permit holders in mass shootings during
this period to 65, including a 2009 attack at a Pennsylvania health club where, like
Regalado, the shooter targeted women--killing three and wounding nine.
The Hialeah shooting is the third known mass
shooting in Florida
by a concealed carry permit holder since September 2007. In November
2009, concealed handgun permit holder Paul Michael Merhige allegedly opened
fire at his family's Thanksgiving dinner, shooting six relatives and killing
four, including his 76-year-old aunt, his pregnant sister, and a six-year-old
cousin. In May 2009, concealed handgun permit holder Guillermo Zarabozo
was found guilty of the September 2007 murders with an accomplice of the four
crew members of the charter boat Joe Cool and was sentenced to five consecutive
life terms in prison plus an additional 85 years to be served consecutive to
the life terms.
In response to this latest tragedy committed by a concealed
handgun permit holder, VPC Legislative Director Kristen
Rand states, "Concealed handgun permit holders don't
prevent mass shootings, they commit them. How much blood must run in the
streets before state legislators act to disarm these rampage
shooters?"
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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