Texans with Concealed-Weapons Permits Arrested for Crimes
6/18/2002
In the first five years that the concealed-weapons law was in effect in Texas, 5,314 of the 218,661 people holding concealed-weapons permits were arrested for various crimes, the Associated Press reported June 12.
The study, released by the Washington-based Violence Policy Center, was intended to counter claims by gun advocates that crime rates dropped after passage of concealed-weapons legislation.
"License-holders are committing crimes, not preventing them," said Karen Brock, an analyst with the center.
The gun-control group released the study in Ohio because the state legislature is considering a proposal to allow residents to carry concealed guns.
[url]enews.millionmommarch.org/plugin.jtml?siteID=MMM&p=1&Tab=News&Object_ID=551840[/url]
Expect that "study" to become major ammunition for the next couple of years.
BTW, here is an excerp from the study:
Supporters of “shall issue†concealed carry laws maintain that only “lawabiding citizens†apply for and receive concealed handgun licenses. At an April 18, 1996, press conference in Dallas, then-National Rifle Association (NRA) chief lobbyist Tanya Metaksa asserted, “As we get more information about right-to-carry, our point is made again and again....People who get permits in states which fave fair right-tocarry laws are law-abiding, upstanding community leaders who merely seek to exercise their right to self-defense.†Clearly this is not the case. As shown in news articles and in the VPC’s License to Kill studies, concealed handgun license holders are arrested for a multitude of offenses, including violent crimes such as murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault. Most concealed carry states keep information on the crimes committed by their concealed carry license holders hidden. This does not mean that crimes do not occur. As illustrated by the few states that have “shall issue†concealed carry and have had their concealed carry programs (however briefly)examined, concealed carry license holders are not the “upstanding community leaders†that pro-gun advocates promised. Allowing the public access to the information necessary to evaluate a concealed carry program is the minimum that a state should do when overseeing a program that involves the use of lethal force.
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So, according to this report Texas CCW holders are not upstanding citizens. Sounds like fighting words to me.