July, 05 2011, 12:02pm EDT
Arizona Mass Shooter, Conviction of Concealed Carry Cop-Killer, Among the June Additions and Updates to VPC's Concealed Carry Killers
At least 319 people, including 11 law enforcement officers, have been killed in incidents not ruled self-defense involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealedhandguns according to the June update of the Violence Policy Center's (VPC) Concealed Carry Killers on-line resource (https://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm).
WASHINGTON
At least 319 people, including 11 law enforcement officers, have been killed in incidents not ruled self-defense involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealedhandguns according to the June update of the Violence Policy Center's (VPC) Concealed Carry Killers on-line resource (https://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm).
New cases include: a mass shooter in Arizona who killed five during an hours-long shooting spree before taking his own life; a Tennessee concealed handgun permit holder who was killed with his own gun after it was taken away from him by a man he had just shot following a road rage incident; and, a Kentucky two-year-old who accidently killed herself after finding her father's permitted handgun in the family's SUV. Updates include three new convictions, including that of Alabama cop-killer and CCW holder Bart Johnson.
"Less than a year after loosening its restrictions on the carrying of concealed firearms, Arizona has already experienced two major mass shootings. States with permissive concealed carry laws continue to rack up tragedy after tragedy. Wisconsin is now poised to join this list. If signed into law, it will only be a matter of time before Wisconsin experiences its first concealed carry tragedy," states VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand.
The Violence Policy Center's Concealed Carry Killers database documents 216 incidents in 31 states since May 2007. In three quarters of the incidents (161) the concealed carry killer has already been convicted (69), committed suicide (87), or was killed in the incident (five). Of the 51 cases still pending, the vast majority (41) of concealed carry killers have been charged with criminal homicide, three were deemed incompetent to stand trial, and seven incidents are still under investigation. Four incidents were fatal unintentional shootings involving the gun of the concealed handgun permit holder. Nineteen of the incidents were mass shootings, resulting in the deaths of 84 victims.
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 216 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 involving 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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