Brian F. Pendleton, PhD
Department of Sociology
The University of Akron
brian30@uakron.edu
Prepared for presentation at a debate on "Ohio Concealed Carry" sponsored by The University of Akron Sociology Club.

CONCEALED CARRY refers to allowing civilians who meet certain requirements to carry a concealed weapon, generally, but not limited to, a handgun. Requirements include the licensee to have no felony convictions, no substance abuse problems, no mental illnesses, and passed a training and certification course.

As of January 2003, 32 states are "shall issue right to carry" (RTC) states, and additional 11 are "right to carry limited issues" and only 7 (including Ohio) are completely "non issue."

Myth 1: Law enforcement officers are armed so they can protect us.

Fact 1: While most members of law enforcement certainly protect individuals when they can, they can't be everywhere all the time. The police are not required to protect individual citizens. In Warren v. District of Columbia (444 A.2d 1, 1981), the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled "official police personnel and the government employing them are not generally liable to victims of criminal acts for failure to provide adequate police protection... a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection to any particular citizen... [the police] are provided to benefit the community at large by promoting public peace, safety and good order." In Bowers v. DeVito, "there is not a constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen."

Myth 2: We have no right to self-defense (battered women and rape victims please take note).

Dennis Henigan of the Brady Center (formerly Handgun Control, Inc.) said that self-defense is "not a federally guaranteed constitutional right" (USA Today, 11/20/91). Pete Shields, former HCI Chair, "[If attacked] put up no defense - give them what they want" (Guns Don't Die- People Do, N.Y.: Arbor House, 1981). There are some women's self-defense classes currently being taught in neighboring counties with the prescription that women should "...not resist an attack, you could be severely injured or, worse, killed - let the rapist have his way and then seek medical and mental health care afterwards."

Fact 2: Citizens can, and do, defend themselves.

Fact 2a: The right to self-defense has been recognized for thousands of years. In Beard v. United States (158 U.S. 550, 1895; see also the U.S. Supreme Court in U.S. v. Cruikshank (92 U.S. 542, 1876) a person "may repeal force by force" in self-defense and concluded that when attacked a person "was entitled to stand his ground and meet any attack made upon him with a deadly weapon, in such a way and with such force" as needed to prevent "great bodily injury or death." The laws of all 50 states recognize the right to use armed force in self-defense and the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Firearms Owners' Protection Act of 1986 reaffirm such.

Fact 2b: Criminologist Gary Kleck of Florida State University found that "robbery and assault victims who used a gun to resist [this does not mean the gun was fired] were less likely to be attacked or to suffer an injury than those who used any other methods of self-protection or those who did not resist at all" (Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, 1991; see his updated 1997 book).

Fact 2c: At least 400,000 lives each year are saved in about 2.4 million gun-related "incidents." (Kleck and Gertz, Jr. of Criminal Law and Criminology, Fall 1995). As a tribute to the accuracy of these numbers, the late Marvin Wolfgang, one of this country's leading anti-gun advocates, noted "The methodological soundness of the current Kleck and Gertz study is clear. I cannot further debate it... I do not like their conclusions that having a gun can be useful, but I cannot fault their methodology" (Jr. Of Criminal Law and Criminology, Fall 1995, pp. 188-192).

Fact 2d: The Dept. of Justice found that 34% of felons had been "scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim," and 40% of felons have not committed crimes, fearing potential victims were armed (J. Wright and P. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms, National Institutes of Justice, 1986 research brief, and Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms, Expanded Edition, 1994, Aldine de Gruyter).

| Where are we? Law enforcement does not have an obligation to protect individual citizens (although most officers act to protect individuals, they cannot be with everyone all the time). Individuals need to protect themselves from predators, and they have a right to protect themselves from predators. Self- defense DOES work. Concealed carry is one (only one) of the options available to women and men who choose to engage in self protection.

Myth 3:Concealed carry will result in increases in gun related deaths, accidents, road rage and crime in general. Letting qualified civilians carry concealed will result in gun fights in the streets and the "wild west" in our neighborhoods.

Fact 3: Exactly the opposite happens.

Fact 3a: As of 2002 RTC states had 24% lower total violent crime, 22% lower murder, 37% lower robbery, and 20% lower aggravated assault when compared with non-RTC states (FBI crime statistics).

Fact 3b: The nation's crime rate has decreased every year since 1991 and in 2002 hit a 23-year low (i.e., it is now equal to the crime rates of the late 1970's).

Fact 3c: If those states which did not have RTC provisions had adopted them in 1992, about 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, and more than 60,000 aggravated assaults (covering 1992 to 1996) would have been avoided. The estimated annual savings from allowing concealed handguns is at least $6.2 billion. John Lott and David Mustard ("Crime, Deterrence, and Right to Carry Concealed Handguns," Jr. of Legal Studies, v. 96, pp. 1-68, 1997). Also see Professor Lott's "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws," 1998, Univ. of Chicago Press Studies in Law and Economics.

Fact 3d: "Concerns that permit holders would lose their tempers in traffic accidents have been unfounded. Worries about risks to police officers have also proved unfounded... National surveys of police show they support concealed handgun laws by a 3-1 margin... There is also not a single academic study that claims RTC laws have increased state crime rates. The debate among academics has been over how large the benefits have been" ("Should Michigan keep new concealed weapon law? Don't believe gun foe scare tactics," Detroit News, 1/14/01).

Fact 3e: "Whenever a state legislature first considers a concealed-carry bill, opponents typically warn of horrible consequences... But within a year of passage, the issue usually drops off the news media's radar screen, while gun-control advocates in the legislature conclude that the law wasn't so bad after all" (David Kopel, "The Untold Triumph of Concealed-Carry Permits," Policy Review, July-Aug., 1996:9).

Fact 3f: As evidenced in the tables that follow, from Lott (1998, referenced above) and "Firearms: A Handbook for Health Professionals," (1999, Doctors for Responsible Gun Ownership, D. Stolinsky, M.D. and T. Wheeler, M.D.), changes that occur before and after the introduction of RTC laws are self explanatory (note: states that most recently adopted RTC laws are not included because there are not enough post-treatment years during which data have been collected). Also note that trends are obtained "after taking into account and factoring out the effect of other variables that could account for the reduction in violent crime, such as changes in population, income levels, racial and age breakdown, changes in arrest rates, conviction rates, increased sentencing penalties, and changes in other gun control laws. For example, one of the other conclusions an analysis of the data provided was that waiting periods appear to have no effect on the violent crime rate" (Attorney Jeff Snyder in "Fighting Back Crime, Self-Defense, and the Right to Carry a Handgun," in Policy Analysis, p. 18).

Myth 4: People are not responsible enough to conceal carry... "if you give someone a gun they will use it."

Fact 4a: Revocation of RTC permits are almost non-existent relative to the number issued. As of mid-2002, for those states reporting RTC numbers (please note that these numbers are cumulative, not annual; and "revoked for any reason" includes non-firearm reasons. If Florida is representative, most of the revoked licenses are NOT due to firearm related causes):

State RTC Permit Statistics
Florida (10/1/87-2/29/02) 798,732 issued, 146 (0.02%) revoked due to firearm violation by licensees. (Dept. of State)
Kentucky As of 10/31/01, 71,770 valid permits. From 10/1/96-12/31/01, 585 (0.8%) revoked for any reason. (State Police)
Louisiana (11/1/96-2/28/02) 15,319 issued, 67 (0.4%) revoked for any reason. (State Police)
Oklahoma (2/28/ 2002) 35,329 issued, 108 (0.3%) revoked for any reason. (SBI)
North Carolina (12/1/95-9/29/01) 47,046 issued, 242 (0.5%) revoked for any reason. (SBI)
South Carolina (8/96-5/26/02) 33,492 issued, 164 (0.5%) revoked for any reason. (SLED)
Texas (1/1/96-5/1/02) 223,584 issued, 1,772 (0.8%) revoked for any reason. (DPS)
Tennessee (12/96-5/4/02) 130,187 issued, 1,126 (0.9%) revoked for any reason. (DPS)
Utah As of Dec. 31, 2001, 44,173 issued, 565 (1.3%) revoked for any reason.
Virginia (7/95-4/02) 172,347 issued, 372 (0.2%) revoked for any reason. (State Police)
Wyoming (10/1/94-2/02) 7,480 issued, 20 (0.3%) revoked for any reason. (Dept. of Criminal Investigation)

Fact 4b:Only about 1-5% of the people eligible to apply for a concealed-carry permit actually complete the application and eligibility process. Of those, a small percentage will be carrying a firearm at any one time. Some use the permit to carry lethal non-firearm weapons or firearms on only an occasional basis. However, predators do not know who is carrying and must assume that any target they identify will be carrying, thus increasing the risk to the criminal and, as the numbers show, greatly decreasing the risk of crime and injury to law abiding citizens. "One has to realize that the criminal is always weighing the risks... the riskier you make it for him, the lower the risks for you" (Joe Harpold, FBI Behavioral Science and Services Unit).

Fact 4c: Every day, 550 rapes, 1,100 murders, and 5,200 other violent crimes are prevented just by showing a gun. In more than 99% of all "gun incidents" the gun is never fired (yes, that's correct, less than 1% of the time is the weapon fired!) (National Crime Victimization Survey, 2000, Bureau of Justice Statistics and BATF estimates).

Fact 4d: Most "gun violence" occurs between criminals and this should be the focus of public policy. 71% of gunshot victims have previous arrest records and 64% have been convicted of a crime; each had an average of 11 prior arrests (R. Lumb & P. Friday, City of Charlotte Gunshot Study, Dept. of Criminal Justice, 1994). Most "child" gun violence occurs among those ages 17-21 and are gang and/or drug related. They do not involve concealed carry holders.

Myth 5: Law enforcement is opposed to civilian concealed carry.

Fact 5a: For the first time a concealed carry question was included in the National Association of Chiefs of Police annual survey. The 2002 survey was mailed to 23,000 Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the U.S. and included the question "Do you agree that a national concealed handgun permit would reduce rates of violent crime as recent studies in some states have already reflected?" 68% agreed with the statement!

- "Gun control has not worked in Washington D.C. The only people who have guns are criminals. We have the strictest gun laws in the nation and one of the highest murder rates. It's quicker to pull your Smith & Wesson than to dial 911 if you're being robbed" (Lt. Lowell Duckett, Special Assistant to D.C. Police Chief; President of the Black Police Caucus, The Washington Post, 3-22-96).

- "All the horror stories I thought would come to pass didn't happen... I think it's worked out well, and that says good things about the citizens who have permits. I'm a convert" (Glenn White, President, Dallas Police Assoc., Dallas Morning News, December 23, 1997).

- "I... [felt] that such legislation present[ed] a clear and present danger to law-abiding citizens by placing more handguns on our streets. Boy was I wrong. Our experience in Harris County, and indeed statewide, has proven my fears absolutely groundless" (John B. Holmes, Harris County Texas District Attorney, Dallas Morning News, December 23, 1997).

- "...no record of any accidents or incidents from a lack of training" and that "Florida's concealed weapon law has been very successful. All major law enforcement groups supported the original legislation and in the eight years the program has been in place none of these groups has requested any changes...(S)ome of the opponents of concealed weapon legislation in 1987 now admit the program has not created the problems many predicted." (John Russi, former Florida Licensing Division Director in testimony before the Michigan House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, 12/5/95).

| Where are we? When civilian concealed carry programs are based on a licensing system that requires holders to have no felony convictions, no history of mental illness, no substance abuse problems, and to complete a training and certification program that includes registration and qualification:

- by a ratio of more than 14 to 1, lives are saved with the defense use of firearms;
$murders, rapes and assault crime rates plummet;
- license holders overwhelmingly do not violate the responsibility of carrying a concealed weapon;
- the streets do not turn into bloodbaths (violent crime goes down)
- police and civilians are not shot by crazed permit holders (people who attack police and civilians are called criminals and they will attack and shoot people regardless of the law);
- there is no increase in accidental shootings or deaths with passage of concealed carry laws, and
- concealed carry permit holders are law-abiding citizens; they follow the law and currently cannot carry in the state of Ohio; predators are not law-abiding citizens; they do not follow the law and currently carry lethal weapons in the state of Ohio.

Why would people still be opposed to concealed carry? Many have a deep seated fear and distrust of firearms that has developed from unrepresentative sensationalism rooted in an emotional response to events, as opposed to a reasoned analysis of information. This actually is addressed by Dr. Martha McCaughey, noted feminist, sociologist, and Director of the Women's Studies Center at Virginia Tech....

"Gun control strategies must be evaluated for how adequately they serve the needs of those whose lives could be saved by the self-defensive use of a firearm, for instance battered women. Physical feminism is not just the practice of self-defense, then. It involves the reevaluation of policies, legislation, and other strategies for change with the counterdiscourse of self-defense in sight. A physical feminism adds the muscle the women's movement needs to bring rape culture to its knees" (McCaughey, p. 211, Real Knockouts: The Physical Feminism of Women's Self-Defense, New York University Press, 1997; see also Sayoko Blodgett-Ford, 1993, "Do Battered Women Have a Right to Bear Arms?", Yale Law and Policy Review 11:509-60).