Opinion Editorial | |
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Since 1986 the number of states making it legal to carry concealed weapons has grown from nine to 31. Contrary to the claims of opponents to
right-to-carry laws, liberalized concealed carry has not endangered public
safety. Rather, right-to-carry laws have contributed to widely reported
declining crime rates - which is good news for Coloradans who may soon be
allowed to carry concealed firearms more easily than under current law.
Some opponents of concealed carry laws argue that there are no good reasons
to carry a handgun. The reality is that criminals commit nearly 10 million
violent crimes a year in the United States. And nationwide, with only than
75,000 to 80,000 police officers on duty at any one time, police are simply
unable to prevent most of the crimes that occur.
This means that citizens are ultimately responsible for their own defense.
Fortunately, research shows that they are often up to the task. Victims
use firearms approximately 2.5 million times each year in self-defense,
according to Florida State University criminologist Gary Kleck.
Others argue that concealed weapons won't deter crime. However, studies
have found that robbery and rape victims who resist with a gun are only
half as likely to be injured as those who do not resist. And, in his book
More Guns, Less Crime, University of Chicago's John Lott demonstrates that
right to carry concealed handgun laws reduce murder by 8.5 percent and rape
by 5 percent. Had right-to-carry prevailed throughout the country, there
would have been 1,600 fewer murders and 4,200 fewer rapes.
Vermont has long had both the least restrictive firearms carry laws,
allowing citizens to carry guns either openly or concealed without any
permit, and among the lowest violent crime numbers in the country. For
instance, in 1980, when murders and robberies in the U.S. had soared to 10
and 251 per 100,000 population, respectively, Vermont's murder rate was 22
percent of the national murder rate and its robbery rate was 15 percent.
However, not every state has seen the drop in crime that has accompanied
the liberalization of concealed carry laws. States like Colorado which
allow concealed carry but grant local officials the discretion to issue
concealed carry permits have issued relatively few. These states suffer a
30 percent higher murder rate and a 19 percent higher incidence of rape
than states with more liberal laws. This should change for the better with
the new law.
Opponents of concealed carry have claimed that it would boost impulsive
killings. Yet FBI data show that at the same time as the number of persons
carrying concealed handguns has increased, killings as a result of
arguments continue to decline as a share of all homicides. And some
opponents have been convinced by experience with liberalized concealed
carry laws. For example, The Dallas Morning News quoted, Glenn White,
President fo the Dallas Police Association, "I lobbied against the law
in 1995 because I thought it would lead to wholesale armed conflict.
That hasn't happened. All the horror stories I though would come to pass
didn't happen. No bogeyman. It think that it has worked out well,
I'm a convert."
Opponents of concealed carry also argue that such laws put guns in
untrained hands. However, civilians are even more careful with firearms
than police officers -- while there are only about 30 mistaken civilian
shootings nationwide each year, the police commit more than three times as
many erroneous killings as civilians.
Furthermore, Dade County, Florida, kept meticulous records for six years,
and of 21,000 permit holders, there was no known incident of a permit
holder injuring an innocent person. In addition, since Virginia passed a
right-to-carry law more than 50,000 permits have been issued, but not one
permit holder has been convicted of a crime and violent crime has dropped.
Finally, opponents have objected that right-to-carry laws would increase
accidental gun deaths. There has been no increase in accidental shootings
in counties with right-to-carry laws. Nationally, there are about 1,400
accidental firearms deaths each year -- far fewer than the number of deaths
due to medical errors or automobile accidents. The death rate from
firearms continues to decline even though 22 more states have instituted
right-to-carry laws. The fatal firearm accident rate has declined more
than 19 percent in the last decade and the number of firearms-related
accidents among children fell to an all-time low of 185 in 1994, a 64
percent decline since 1975.
Former Governor Rohmer vetoed previous attempts to liberalize Colorado's
concealed carry laws. He evidently feared armed citizens more than
criminal violence. In contrast, Governor Owens apparently recognizes that
advocates for gun control have none of the facts on their side. Keeping
honest, law-abiding people unarmed and at the mercy of armed and violent
criminals was never a good idea.
This Op Ed ran in the Colorado Springs Gazette March 8, 1999.
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