Concealed carry permit holders are the most law-abiding citizens in the U.S. A report by The Crime Prevention Research Center notes that it is “very rare for permit holders to violate the law” and compares the crimes committed by permit holders to police officers and the general population. Police committed 103 crimes per 100,000 officers, while the general population committed 3,813 per 100,000 people, 37 times as much as the police crime rate. And yet, the same metric shows an even lower crime rate for permit holders.
“Among police, firearms violations occur at a rate of 16.5 per 100,000 officers. Among permit holders in the rate is only 2.4 per 100,000. That is just a seventh of the rate for police officers. The data are similar in other states.” The report found that while concealed carry-permits have surged since 1999, the murder rates have declined.
According to the report, the permit holder total surged by 190 percent from 2007-15, and in that same time period violent crime declined by 18 percent, as well as murder rates by 16 percent.
“The 25 states with the highest rates of permit-holders experienced markedly lower rates of murder and violent crime,” according to Lott.
The main takeaway from the report: concealed carry permit holders are the most law-abiding group in the country and are a deterrent to crime. Please, let’s deal in facts, not emotion.
John Branthoover
Arlington
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