Fact or Fiction - Concealed Carry

Reproduced here with permission from USCCA. Read their full article here.

"Noted in “ Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms ,” 1994, Professors James D. Wright and Peter Rossi performed research for the National Institute of Justice. The pair interviewed and polled felony prisoners in 10 state correctional systems. Fifty-six percent of the prisoners said that a criminal would not attack a potential victim whom they knew to be armed. Thirty-nine percent of the felons had personally decided not to commit a crime because they thought the victim might have a gun, and 8 percent said that this had happened “many times.” Criminals in states with higher civilian gun ownership rates worried the most about armed victims.

Questions: How many concealed carry permit holders are charged with crimes committed with a concealed handgun?

Answers: 0.59 per 100,000 in the U.S.

“ An Analysis of the Arrest Rate of Texas Concealed Carry Handgun License Holders as Compared to the Arrest Rate of the Entire Texas Population 1996 – 1998, Revised to Include 1999 and 2000 Data” — William E. Sturdevant, 2000

John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, compared the behavior of CCW holders to police. He concluded that, “concealed handgun permit holders are extremely law-abiding.” And added, “In Florida and Texas, permit holders are convicted of misdemeanors and felonies at 1/6 of the rate at which police officers are convicted.” Among police, firearms violations occur at a rate of 16.5 per 100,000 officers. Among permit holders in Florida and Texas, the rate [of firearms violations] is only 2.4 per 100,000. That is just 1/7 of the rate for police officers. In addition, misdemeanors which cost permit holders their licenses might have been speeding violations or other simple violations having nothing to do with violence or concealed carry. So CCW holders are likely even more law-abiding than these numbers suggest."