The more that sensational gun violence afflicts the nation, the more that the myth of the vigilant citizen packing a legally permitted concealed weapon, fully prepared to stop the next mass shooter in his tracks, is promoted.
This foolhardy notion of quick-draw resistance, however, is dramatically contradicted by a research project
showing that, since 2007, at least 763 people have been killed in 579
shootings that did not involve self-defense. Tellingly, the vast
majority of these concealed-carry, licensed shooters killed themselves
or others rather than taking down a perpetrator.
The death toll includes 29 mass killings
of three or more people by concealed carry shooters who took 139 lives;
17 police officers shot to death, and — in the ultimate contradiction
of concealed carry as a personal safety factor — 223 suicides. Compared
with the 579 non-self-defense, concealed-carry shootings, there were only 21 cases in which self-defense was determined to be a factor.
I've come to the discovery that the term "VPC research study" ranks right up their with "military intelligence" on the list of oxymorons. We've discussed the inaccuracies of their "study" of permit holders in the past and we can revisit it if someone wants to.
ReplyDeleteAnd we continue to see defensive gun uses only counting if someone dies, aka justifiable homicide. Though it is interesting to note that even the VPC "study" admits to over 235,000 defensive gun uses against violent crime according to the NCVS.
There is an interesting Reddit page which documents defensive gun uses, anecdotal as it may be, but illustrates the frequency in the here and now as opposed to the year or two wait for government stats.
Says a member of "military intelligence." HA HA HA HA HA HA
DeleteI hadn't seen the suicide angle before - of course I might have and just forgotten. TS will let us know.
Delete"Says a member of "military intelligence."
DeleteSorry Anon, I cant claim to be smart enough for that area of expertise. I've spent my whole life in Infantry and Armor. All I'm good for is breaking things and shooting. And teaching others to do so of course.
The "suicide angle" is a very obtuse angle. How the hell would outlawing concealed carry prevent anyone from committing suicide?
DeleteWe'll Kurt, since there were only 223 suicides by permit holders over 8 years, vs 15,000 firearm suicides per year (meaning only 0.2% of suicides using a gun were by permit holders)- if say liberal issue of carry permits is a great way to battle depression and could save thousands of lives per year outside of the more obvious self-defense angle.
DeleteThink I forgot the darn link. Need to up the caffeine intake,
ReplyDeletehttps://www.reddit.com/r/dgu/