With the concealed weapon permit reciprocity agreement now approved by the House of Representatives, California liberals are apoplectic in their concerns about the consequences. Again and again we hear the usual laments from such uninformed gun haters about concealed carry — how it would transform — DOES transform — a civilized society into the Wild West. You know the mantra — shootouts at fender-benders, bars ablaze with gunfights, etc.
It’s always fun to inject a dose of reality into such gun haters — it’s toxic to their wellbeing. Here’s a sharp needle-full of facts for your favorite anti-gun friends. They never actually check the empirical results of people legally carrying firearms — that just arrogantly assume that they know what the results are.
Here’s the updated URL-available stats about the ACTUAL experience of concealed carry weapons (CCW) permit holders in Texas. People pack heat with great frequency in the Lone Star State. About 5.9% of Texas adults have an active permit (paid up) — over 1.2 million adults. The adult (18 and over) population of Texas in July, 2016 was 20,256,000. Only Florida and Pennsylvania issue more permits, though a number of states have a higher ratio of CCW vs. the total population.
Texas is a “shall issue” state. If you don’t have a criminal record, a restraining order or mental health issues, the state will issue you a concealed carry permit. “Shall issue” states don’t cherry pick who gets to pack heat. These permit holders are “just folks.”
Turns out that these heat packers are far less likely to shoot someone than the rest of the population. In 2016 there were 218 convictions for murder in Texas. Only 2 were CCW holders. Hence the NON-CCW adults are 6.8 times more likely to commit a murder than a CCW permit holder.
Moreover, these stats don’t tell us if a firearm was used in the murders, or if the murder occurred outside of the home (most murders by non-criminals occur in the home). Many Texans legally own firearms at home but are not allowed the CCW option. The odds are that a CCW permit had nothing to do with one or both murders by CCW people.
Here’s more ammo — a link to the official 2016 crime statistics in Texas, comparing the crimes of concealed carry permit holders with the full population. NOTE: For all types of crimes in Texas in 2016, there were 50,869 convictions. CC holders were convicted of 148 of those crimes. Hence CCW holders, who constitute 5.9% of the adult population, committed 0.3458% of the crimes. Stated differently, the general Texas population commits crimes 17 times more often than CCW holders.
http://www.dps.texas.gov/RSD/LTC/Reports/ConvictionRatesReport2016.pdf
Could this be a one-year statistical aberration? It could be, but it isn’t. Here’s the link to get the annual Texas conviction figures for each year dating back to 1996.
http://www.dps.texas.gov/rsd/LTC/reports/convrates.htm
Here’s two interesting statistics.
1. Florida, Pennsylvania and Texas each have over 1.2 million CCW holders.
2. In Florida and Texas (states which track such statistics), these CCW holders are only one-sixth as likely to be convicted of felonies and misdemeanors as police officers!
But let me be fair — the odds are that such overwhelming empirical evidence is not likely to change a single progressive’s mind. To present such objective facts is to reveal that I’m surely in the employ of dark powers, and probably a racist to boot. This knee-jerk response is embedded deep in the progressive’s DNA — let’s not hold them personally responsible for this biological inability to process facts, or to rebut logical thinking.