The New York Times offers the data from this report from the Violence Policy Center that the NRA and its supporters would rather we not have, because it makes it clear that concealed carry costs more lives than it saves. In this editorial, the Times notes
There is no central tally of the effects, with states often barring release of concealed-carry data and Congress hewing to the gun lobby’s opposition to research on guns’ effects on public health. But a methodical gleaning of eight years of news accounts by the Violence Policy Center, a gun safety group, found that in research involving 722 deaths in 544 concealed-carry shootings in 36 states and the District of Columbia, only 16 cases were eventually ruled lawful self-defense — even though this has been a major gun rights selling point for the new laws.
But it gets worse:
More gravely, the study found that the fatalities included 17 law enforcement officers shot by people with legal permits along with 705 slain civilians. There were 28 mass shootings (involving three or more victims) in which 136 people were killed — even though concealed carry has also been sold as a defense against massacres like the one in Newtown, Conn.
Please keep reading.
Let's go through the statistics I have just offered.
722 deaths in 544 concealed carry shootings.
16 of those cases ruled legitimate self defense.
17 law enforcement personnel shot by concealed carry perpermits
705 civilians slain.
But there is more, also from the eitorial
177 cases where people with gun licenses were convicted of crimes including homicides,
218 cases gun suicide by the permit holder
and this
44 total lives taken by licensed individuals who first murdered others, then committed suicide.
In the time frame studied, there 28 mass shootings involving three or more victims in which 136 people were killed.
I am unaware of ANY of those cases where the mass shooter was brought down by a person holding a concealed carry permit.
We know the numbers are not complete.
We know some of those who have killed civilians have through various castle doctrines like stand your ground laws pushed by Alec not been prosecuted or like George Zimmerman not been convicted.
The RKBA folks can say whatever they want.
They and the NRA can accurately claim that Martin Luther King Jr. had a gun - but he had it in his home, and did not carry it.
The idiocy of our gun policy is multi-fold.
- there are too many guns
- there are too many, including Police, who for psychological or other reasons should not have access to firearms.
- there are too many accidental shootings
- Police can rightly be afraid of being shot by people with permits, which may make them more likely to use deadly force, an issue the editorial does not address.
Just remember one pair of statistics
17 - Number of law enforcement personnel killed by concealed carry permit holders
16 - number of cases of deaths caused by permit holders legitimately self-defense
That is the public record available from news reports. From only 36 states and DC.
It is a scary phenomenon.
Policy should be made on the basis of accurate information. That is why we demand transparency in so much.
That is why the editorial warns us that some law makers (who support concealed carry) don't want the data to be gathered. We have estimates of more than 11 million permits nationally (and remember, not every location requires a permit - see this Wiki article for information) with some people advocating for even more concealed carry.
That I can have a business where I cannot bar a private citizen from entering with a weapon is a violation of my property rights, is it not?
What about the safety of my family, if I cannot know who has a weapon, to refuse entry of that person to my household, or to prohibit my children if I had any from playing in that household? What about my rights and those of my loved ones to personal safety and freedom from the threat of firearm violence?
We have much wrong in this country.
We have too much money and power in too few hands.
We are restricting the right to vote.
We are empowering wealth.
We still allow too much discrimination.
We do not provide for the basic needs of all citizens.
And we certainly do a poor job of protecting human life when so many are killed by firearms each year.
The refusal to even allow the keeping of records and the official study of the data does not make us any safer. It just keeps us ignorant of how serious the problem is.
I feel no peace - or safety - in this.