An article in the Chattanooga Times Free Press begins reasonably enough, discussing how applications for concealed carry permits in Tennessee have "skyrocketed over the last five years..." The article also describes general requirements for licensure and locations which restrict licensed carry according to Tennessee law.2
Sergeant Mark Haskins of the Chattanooga Police Department, who teaches a handgun training course, believes "most people are seeking to protect their property or themselves in case they come in contact with a criminal," and said "he can't remember many examples of arresting someone for a gun crime who held a carry permit.3
Now for the Rest of the Story
Unfortunately, the second half of the article is influenced by Kristen Rand of the Violence Policy Center:
"What many people don't know is that there were two armed guards at Columbine that engaged that shooter and were simply outgunned," said Kristen Rand, legislative director for the Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center. "In Texas, we challenged their laws, and legislators produced one example of a permit holder stopping a crime, but we found that 5,314 people there were involved in committing crimes after receiving their permit." 4
Ms. Rand earned $136,881 in 2005 in total compensation, about 17.7% of VPC's total revenue. Her salary increased each year since 2003 to keep track of inflation while VPC's total revenue decreased5 What better way to restore flagging interest--and financial support--than claiming to discover heretofore unknown facts, proving one's worth as investigator-extraordinaire? 53.7%.
An article from CNN noted that when Columbine reopened:
The students will be met by armed guards at the entrances on Monday, and more guards will patrol the hallways. But those security measures are only temporary, designed mainly to facilitate first-day-back traffic.6 [Emphasis added]
USA Today noted that after Columbine reopened, students encountered "armed guards at the school's entrance, dogs sniffing the grounds for explosive devices and dozens of police officers patrolling the neighborhood..." Perhaps the reason armed guards were temporary is because the school district "heard shortly after the tragedy and from lots of people - students, staff, parents - that they didn't want their school to be turned into a fortress..."7
Multiple web searches yielded no media reports of "two armed guards" in Columbine on the day of the shooting. This, in conjunction with the school system's use of armed guards as a temporary security measure to ease the reopening process, indicates that regular armed security as a matter of policy did not exist.
Rand claims that 5,314 Texas concealed carry licensees "were involved in committing crimes after receiving their permit." VPC's own report, License to Kill IV: More Guns, More Crime, notes that 5,314 Texas licensees were arrested between 1996 and 2001.8 Ms. Rand's attitude is contrary to our legal system where a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. For example, after a defensive shooting, the RTC licensee might be arrested on suspicion of murder, but subsequent investigation determines it was justifiable homicide because it was done to defend against the commission of a violent felony, such as attempted murder, robbery, or rape. As explained by a member of the Texas Department of Public Safety:
Texas DPS may not suspend a CHL [Concealed Handgun License] until charges have been formerly filed. So even though an individual is arrested, if they are never indicted for a felony offense or the district/county attorney refuses the case, charges have not been officially filed.9
As far as only "one example of a permit holder stopping a crime," since the beginning of 2008 alone:
- One licensee stopped an assault where the attacker first tried to use his car to hit the defender's car, and then attacked with a baseball bat when they stopped at a traffic light.10
- Another licensee stopped two men who tried to rob him in the parking lot of a shopping mall.11
- A roofing contractor in Houston successfully stopped an armed robber who demanded his money and cell phone.12
Many more examples exist for anyone with an internet connection and the desire to verify citations to accredited news sources and police department news releases.13
Crying wolf may garner temporary notoriety, but only at the expense of reputation. These wild, unsubstantiated claims might be humorous, except that the intent behind it is to reduce personal liberty at the expense of truth.
About the Author
Howard Nemerov is a columnist for Texas State Rifle Association's TSRA Sportsman and "unofficial" investigative analyst for NRA News. His new book, Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn't It Working, deconstructs the gun control agenda and empowers readers to be better emissaries for gun rights. He can be reached at HNemerov [at sign] Netvista.net.
Endnotes
[1] Howard Nemerov, Does Violence Policy Center Represent the People? Arms and the Law. http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/VPCandPeople.pdf
2 Adam Crisp, Chattanooga: More packing licensed heat, Chattanooga Times Free Press, June 23, 2008. http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2008/jun/23/chattanooga-packing-licensed-heat/?local
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Form 990: Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, Guidestar. http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2004/521/571/2004-521571442-01b82729-9.pdf
6 Columbine students prepare to take back their school, CNN, August 15, 1999. http://www.cnn.com/US/9908/15/columbine/
7 Four months later, Columbine re-opens, USA Today, August 17, 1999. http://www.usatoday.com/news/index/colo/colo177.htm
8 License to Kill IV: More Guns, More Crime, Violence Policy Center, June 2002, page 10. http://www.vpc.org/graphics/ltk4.pdf
9 Email from Systems Analyst, Regulatory Licensing Service, Texas Department of Public Safety, June 7, 2005 at 10:03 AM. (512) 424-2968 office.
10 Associated Press, San Antonio road rage killing deemed self-defense, Houston Chronicle, January 2, 2008. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5418326.html
11 23-year-old killed in alleged robbery, Houston Chronicle, February 8, 2008. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5527081.html
12 Robbery Suspect Fatally Shot at 7800 Grove Ridge, Houston Police Department, May 27, 2008. http://www.houstontx.gov/police/nr/2008/may/nr052708-6.htm
13 Civilian Gun Self-Defense Blog, Clayton Cramer (selected for only Texas incidents). http://www.claytoncramer.com/gundefenseblog/labels/TX.html
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
From My
June 25, 2008 - 15:43 ET by kilrodFrom My Cold Dead Hand, and you better make dam sure i'm dead, cause if i aint, i will shoot you in the>>> !!
(GRINS) kilrod
Remember, only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American Soldier
Don't look and you won't find.
June 25, 2008 - 15:52 ET by ScrapironIt seems someone making in excess of $100K per year supporting the gun grab would at least do a little search before making an a** of themselves. If you have her EMail send her this site. http://gunwatch.blogspot.com/
I browse it weekly.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
VPC contact
June 25, 2008 - 17:58 ET by Howard NemerovViolence Policy Center has a contact page at: http://www.vpc.org/contact.htm
There is no publicly available email address, but you could call them. Usually, I get voice mail and non-response, but you are welcome to try.
This statement begs of a breakdown and clarification!
June 25, 2008 - 16:00 ET by JTPfound that 5,314 people there were involved in committing crimes after receiving their permit.
How many of this 5,314 lost their permit because of the "crime"?
That is all it would take to determine the actual conviction rate of these license holders.
Is this a one year total or over the lifetime of the permit history?
Is this a statistical total or actual?
So many unanswered questions as usual.
I had to hunt for it. But
June 25, 2008 - 16:28 ET by danboI had to hunt for it. But what I found. Looks like from Jan 1, 1996-Aug 31, 2001. Better than 5and a half years. I didn't see a conviction rate. Nor how many people kept their license after a conviction.
So as you may one day be charged with a crime. You're obviously a criminal. You can't be trusted.
"There is a clear attempt to establish truth not by scientific methods but by perpetual repetition."
- Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology, MIT
Lies and statistics
June 25, 2008 - 17:56 ET by Howard NemerovKeeping an article to a reasonable length requires making concise points. In this case, my point is that Kristen Rand claims that 5,314 Texas concealed carry licenees committed crime after licensure, but Violence Policy Center's own report shows that these were arrests only. (Report link available in endnotes.) If you want more in-depth analysis and rebuttal of such claims by VPC, they are in my new book, including an analysis of a VPC data set which proves that more guns correlates with lower violent crime rates. Also, Texas Department of Public Safety has come out with more recent reports for 2002-2006 which compare conviction rates for licensees and the non-licensee public. Where arrests might lead to prosecution, convictions are a far better indicator of relative lawfulness for the licensee population. This study is also in the book. (Is that shamelss marketing?)
It's good to see you around, Howard Nemerov
June 25, 2008 - 18:10 ET by sarcasmoWhen the other side is this blatant in misrepresenting the facts, it makes me wonder...Could she secretly be on our side and against victim disarmament?
Think about it...Her salary's literally bleeding the VPC dry as you showed, and now she's repeatedly doing all she can to destroy what little remains of their credibility, right? It sounds too good to be true, but maybe it is true! I'm about 3/4 serious here (but I'm under the influence of a trip to the dentist at the moment!).
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
Interesting point
June 25, 2008 - 18:52 ET by Howard NemerovSarcasmo - Whatever her motive, my plan is the outcome you mention. Who knows? Did you know that Josh Sugarmann, VPC's executive whatever, is an FFL? Does this make him a closet gun lover? Truth can be stranger than fiction, and you could be right.
It is more likely that these people, making big money and seeing their gravy train dry up, facing the prospect of getting a real job and having questionable job skills--based upon the poor quality of their publications and the refutability of their public statements--would instead take a page from National Enquirer in a last-ditch effort to save their bacon.
All we really know is that Rand doesn't appear to be able to research even her own organization's publications before making public testimony, much less take 15 minutes to check the veracity of her intended statements. The biased media accepts what she says as gospel, which makes her less likely to fact-check. But when I compile all this and present it to legislators, it tends to undercut VPC's credibility. That's our opportunity.
traffic tickets are "crimes" you know
June 25, 2008 - 18:48 ET by wizardjrI would challenge that person to show the breakdown of arrests by crime category and convictions by category split up and reported per year.
Traffic tickets are crimes. I'm sure there's all sorts of 'crimes' in there that are jokable like illegal parking, misdemeanor assault (you can be arrested for shouting at someone under that one), speeding, etc., etc.
As usual they try to make it seem that concealed carry holders are the bad guys. How about getting the press to report the over 1 million times a year a gun owner stops a crime with a weapon? Yeah. Sure. Any day now.
Arrests are not convictions
June 25, 2008 - 18:56 ET by Howard NemerovTexas has recently published new reports which compare convictions for licensees to those for non-licensees over age 21. (Must be 21 to get a concealed carry license.) This data provides a far more accurate indicator of relative lawfulness between the two groups. I examine this data set in my book.
some Texas numbers
June 25, 2008 - 19:00 ET by wizardjrfor year 2002:
Active License Holders: 224,172 Certified Instructors: 1,490
For year 2006:
Total License applications actually issued 75,939
Licenses Revoked 332
5,000+ crimes in 5 and half years is about 3 a day in a Texas population of nearly 21 milllion. It also represents about one third of one percent of the permit holders per year (using current permit population numbers, 288,909 for year 2007).
it's all on the Texas Dept. of Public Safety web site.
Kristen Rand and the VPC are
June 25, 2008 - 21:18 ET by marvlKristen Rand and the VPC are known for their complete disregard for facts or the truth. Indeed, their claims are so far out in left field that one wonders if they don't actually inhabit a parallel universe and live on the planet Mongo. If you wish to obtain factual gun statistics you need to refer to the writings of John Lott or a similar person with a predeliction for the scientific method.