Concealed carry permit holders responsible for over 800 gun deaths since 2007

According to the Violence Policy Center, "...Concealed handgun permit holders are responsible for at least 849 deaths not involving self defense since 2007, including 29 mass shootings that killed 139 people. That's close to 100 gun deaths per year from those cowboys who think they are protecting the public. It's time to put on the brakes and start limiting concealed carry to only those with a special need. I have talked to several of these people and they consider this a right given under the 2nd Amendment and it is not.

The VPC exclaims, “Our research makes it clear that allowing more guns in public places is making us less safe.” The organization's  Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “It’s also clear that state lawmakers who weaken concealed carry laws increase the risk that even more of these tragic, fatal incidents will occur.” Like Arizona, where the only requirement for a concealed carry permit is that the person must be a warm body. Pathetic.

2nd Amendment repeal not likely. I’ll settle for an amendment to the Amendment

The 2^nd Amendment: “A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

It rings in our ears because the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) has shoved it down our throats for years.  To this conglomeration of thugs it means that anyone can own a gun, take it anywhere they want, with little or absolutely no training.  The best example of a NRA state is Arizona with the loosest gun laws in the country.

It is followed, or maybe even equaled by, Florida, where the now infamous Stand Your Ground law made its debut, and is now probably responsible for the death of black, unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin at the hands of George Zimmerman’s gun, an inexpensive 9 mm semiautomatic known as the Kel-Tec 9 mm PF-9.  As a neighborhood watch captain Zimmerman wasn’t even supposed to be carrying a weapon and the 911 dispatcher told him to let police handle the situation.

Studies have proven that these gun worshippers sometimes try to replicate law enforcement in a situation such as this with results that are tragic, which this one was.  It didn’t have to happen; if only Zimmerman had stayed in his car.  And there would probably have been no altercation at all if there wasn’t a concealed carry law in Florida.  A total of 49 states have passed laws allowing citizens to carry certain concealed firearms in public, either with or without a permit.

There are three unrestricted states: Alaska, Arizona and Vermont.  An Unrestricted jurisdiction is one in which no permit is required to carry a concealed handgun.  In Arizona the concealed carrier can even skip a background check by making the purchase at a gun show where NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, proved it was as easy as…just asking.  But Arizona takes it one step further.  You don’t have to have firearms training.

Josh Sugarmann

Josh Sugarmann is the founder and executive director of the Violence Policy Center an organization that is attempting to reduce gun violence in the United States.  He cites an incident where Meleanie Hain insisted on taking her loaded Glock pistol to her 5-year-old daughter's soccer game in Lebanon, Pa.  This didn’t sit well with the crowd so they complained.  After the game her permit was revoked but reinstated by the court.  She became an open-carry hero.

The judge even urged her not to carry her gun to the soccer games, but Hain decided she knew best because she was afraid of murderers and terrorists.  Even others who might have concealed weapons to harm her like the young soccer players or other fans.  Do you believe this idiot?  She is more brain-washed than the NRA’s graying granny Marion Hammer. 

Sugarman says: “At least 402 victims have been killed in 32 states since May 2007 in non-self-defense incidents involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns.”

Sugarman continues, “In October 2009, Hain was gunned down in her home by her husband who, after firing six shots into her with his handgun (hers was in a backpack hanging off a door), went upstairs and ended his own life with a shotgun blast.  Meleanie Hain believed that a handgun—on her hip or in her home—guaranteed her personal safety.”  It didn’t.  Not only was she wrong about the security of a concealed weapon, her actions left her children without parents.

Constance Johnson, a Democratic State Senator in Oklahoma, thinks “Open Carry Is an Invitation to Chaos.”  She makes some good points like, are the armed gun owners trustworthy?; Open carry sounds good but is it realistic in today’s society?; reiterates that law enforcement is against these laws; the 2^nd Amendment in its inception was truly for protection during lawlessness but has evolved into nothing but a crutch for the NRA.

So is the U.S. Congress softening its stance on gun control?  On TownHall Brian Darling points out one bill among several designed to restore and preserve 2nd Amendment rights that have stalled in the House and Senate.  Among the bills ready for action is S.2205, the Second Amendment Sovereignty Act, that would bar the Administration from signing onto the Arms Trade Treaty.  The head of Gun Owners of America wants action if Congress expects their votes in Nov.

I know there are reasonable-minded gun owners out there; I have talked to them through comments on this blog.  There are also the gun nuts who are capable only of doing what the NRA tells them to.  It is the former group that must consider revising the 2^nd Amendment.  Things like mandatory background checks and adequate training for gun owners.  Closing the gun show loophole and eliminating open/concealed carry except for law enforcement and unusual needs.

This NRA bullshit of no compromise of any kind is getting old and probably beginning to open the eyes of many non-gun owners out there that are starting to believe that just maybe gun control is a good idea.  You can only push your point so far and when the negatives in your issue—like multiple shooting deaths on a daily basis now—begin to be obvious, the momentum is bound to shift.  I think we are on the verge of this happening today.

Gun deaths versus car crash fatalities…who wins?



NRA philosophy



A lot of articles have been written about this new report by the Violence Policy Center, many simply documenting the number of deaths on each side with the conclusion that in ten states, more people have died from firearms than in motor vehicles.  It is the kind of study that the National Rifle Assn. (NRA) and its members cannot argue with, considering the recent increase in obstacle driving causing auto accidents, like texting, while you are on the road.

There is also a good analysis of the report on the New Trajectory site that goes into detail on the study findings with quotes that point out just how much new gun control regulations are needed.  The report accentuates that while auto deaths are on the decline due to years of education and injury prevention strategy, “firearm deaths continue unabated.”  In my view, entirely the result of NRA pressure on conservative state lawmakers caving to the sheer force.

I thought I would concentrate on just one state in the study to point out just how loose gun laws have led to more gun deaths.  The state is Arizona…where I live.  Yes, we have the loosest gun laws in the country and it is the result of a bunch of gun loving fanatics backed by a state legislature and Governor that bow to this group in order to be re-elected.  It is still the Wild West here and many residents are proud of it.  Others, progressives like me, look at these people with pity.

Arizona had 856 gun deaths in this study of 2009 data compared to 809 motor vehicle deaths.  Here’s another interesting statistic I calculated: although Arizona is 2.1 percent of the U.S. population, it has 2.7 percent of its gun deaths.  Arizona is number 2 in the country behind number 1 Michigan with 1,095 gun deaths to 977 motor vehicle deaths, with Virginia coming in 3^rd with 836 gun deaths to 827 motor vehicle deaths.  You can see the other seven states in the report, above.

An interesting video on how gun ownership is diminishing:

Kristen Rand, Violence Policy Center’s legislative director, comments that firearms are the only consumer product not regulated by the federal government for health and safety.  Thanks to the NRA and its head thug Wayne LaPierre.  Americans are experiencing new safety regulations that protect them in their cars and from others on the road.  But not so with guns. 

Rand thought gun deaths exceeding motor vehicle deaths was “stunning,” considering that 90 percent of U.S. households own cars when only one-third own firearms.  More than stunning, it is tragic.



Members of Arizona legislature



Charles Heller of Arizona Citizens Defense League, a gun rights group, has his own figures.  To show you the inaccuracy of the NRA led, gun worshipping gang, Heller says there were 50,000 who died in crashes compared to 32,000 from guns, the latter close.  The VPC reports from their study that there were 31,236 firearms deaths in 2009, 36,361 motor vehicle deaths.  In Arizona there were 12.98 gun deaths per 100,000 residents versus 12.27 motor vehicle deaths. 

Arizona is hell-bent on allowing its gun toters to carry their weapons anywhere anytime.  They can already carry them into bars but were recently denied taking them on college campuses and in public buildings.  The state legislature has threatened to introduce both bills again.  State Sen. Ron Gould is running for the U.S. Congress and is firmly behind both pieces of legislation.  It is obvious that Gould is courting the gun-totin Tea Party that has a firm hold on Arizona politics.

TucsonSentinel.com quotes VPC on tightened gun regulations and education: “Comprehensive regulation of the firearms industry and its products could include: minimum safety standards (i.e., specific design standards and the requirement of safety devices); bans on certain types of firearms such as “junk guns” and military-style assault weapons…”  Now this would sound reasonable to most thinking individuals but not to dimwit gun nuts.

Arizona’s own Charles Heller, who rejected calls for weapons design changes, said: "You want them to be dangerous or they're no damn good. Making them safer adds complexity, and that has unintended consequences.  The only true safety in firearms is the person using it."

And therein lays the problem.  Too many of those “persons” walking around the streets of Arizona and other states throughout the country with a weapon they hardly know how to use.