
 Area: RTKBA 
  Msg#: 3115                                         Date: 22 Nov 94  06:50
  From: Victor Dura                                  Read: Yes    Replied: No 
    To: All                                          Mark:                     
  Subj: US-CCW stats           01

Date: Thu, 17 Nov 1994 22:01:35 -0500
From: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts)
Subject: CARRYING CONCEALED FIREARMS (CCW) STATISTICS

            CARRYING CONCEALED FIREARMS (CCW) STATISTICS

Violent crime rates are highest overall in states with laws severely 
limiting or prohibiting the carrying of concealed firearms for 
self-defense. (FBI Uniform Crime Reports, 1992)

-    The total Violent Crime Rate is 26% higher in the restrictive 
     states (798.3 per 100,000 pop.) than in the less restrictive states 
     (631.6 per 100,000).

-    The Homicide Rate is 49% higher in the restrictive states (10.1 per 
     100,000) than in the states with less restrictive CCW laws (6.8 per 
     100,000).

-    The Robbery Rate is 58% higher in the restrictive states (289.7 per 
     100,000) than in the less restrictive states (183.1 per 100,000).

-    The Aggravated Assault Rate is 15% higher in the restrictive states 
     (455.9 per 100,000) than in the less restrictive states (398.3 per 
     100,000).

Using the most recent FBI data (1992), homicide trends in the 17 states 
with less restrictive CCW laws compare favorably against national 
trends, and almost all CCW permittees are law-abiding.

-    Since adopting CCW (1987), Florida's homicide rate has fallen 21% 
     while the U.S. rate has risen 12%.  From start-up 10/1/87 - 2/28/94 
     (over 6 yrs.) Florida issued 204,108 permits; only 17 (0.008%) were 
     revoked because permittees later committed crimes (not necessarily 
     violent) in which guns were present (not necessarily used).

-    Of 14,000 CCW licensees in Oregon, only 4 (0.03%) were convicted of 
     the criminal (not necessarily violent) use or possession of a 
     firearm.

Americans use firearms for self-defense more than 2.1 million times 
annually.

-    By contrast, there are about 579,000 violent crimes committed 
     annually with firearms of all types.  Seventy percent of violent 
     crimes are committed by 7% of criminals, including repeat 
     offenders, many of whom the courts place on probation after 
     conviction, and felons that are paroled before serving their full 
     time behind bars.

-    Two-thirds of self-protective firearms uses are with handguns.

-    99.9% of self-defense firearms uses do not result in fatal 
     shootings of criminals, an important factor ignored in certain 
     "studies" that are used to claim that guns are more often misused 
     than used for self-protection.
     
-    Of incarcerated felons surveyed by the Department of Justice, 34% 
     have been driven away, wounded, or captured by armed citizens; 40% 
     have decided against committing crimes for fear their would-be 
     victims were armed.

                         OTHER CCW FACTS

     With adoption of CCW by Arizona, Tennessee and Wyoming in early 
1994, 19 states have CCW laws requiring the issuance of permits to carry 
concealed firearms for self-defense to citizens who meet fair and 
reasonable state standards.  Vermont, which ranks near the bottom in 
violent crime rates year-in and year-out, allows firearms to be carried 
concealed without a permit.

     In recent years NRA successfully fought for the adoption of 
favorable CCW laws now on the books in Florida (1987), Idaho (1990, 
amended 1991), Mississippi (1990), Montana (1991), and Oregon (1990).  
In recent legislative sessions, proposals for similar CCW laws have 
progressed in Alaska, Colorado, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

     Anti-gun forces oppose CCW with a variety of arguments, ranging 
from deliberate  misrepresentations of commonly available crime data to 
"studies" pretending to show that private ownership of firearms leads to 
death and injury rather than providing protection to the owner.

1.   Firearms ownership opponents claim that "violent crime" went up in 
Florida since that state enacted CCW legislation in 1987, a misleading 
statement for multiple reasons:


Continued in the next message...
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 Area: RTKBA 
  Msg#: 3116                                         Date: 22 Nov 94  06:50
  From: Victor Dura                                  Read: Yes    Replied: No 
    To: All                                          Mark:                     
  Subj: US-CCW stats           02

Continued from the previous message...

-    Florida's homicide rate has declined 21% since adopting CCW in 
1987.

-    No comparison of aggravated assault, robbery, and rape (99.3% of 
Florida violent crimes) beginning before 1988 is valid, according to the 
Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement.  In 1988, Florida changed its method 
of compiling crime statistics.

-    In Florida, as in the U.S., more than 70% of violent crimes do not 
involve guns.  Violent crime rates, therefore, don't necessarily reflect 
violent gun-related crime trends.  According to the most recent FBI 
Uniform Crime Reports (1992), nationwide firearms were used in the four 
violent crimes that make up the total "Violent Crime" category, as 
follows:  Aggravated Assault (58% of violent crimes) -- firearms used in 
25%; Robbery (35% of violent crimes) -- firearms used in 41%; Rapes (6% 
of violent crimes) -- firearms used in an estimated 5%-10% (survey 
data); and Homicides (1% of violent crimes) -- firearms used in 68%.

     In Florida: Aggravated Assaults (64% of violent crimes) -- firearms 
used in 25%; Robberies (30% of violent crimes) -- firearms used in 37%; 
Rapes (4% of violent crimes) -- firearms used in an estimated 5%-10% 
(survey data); and Homicides (0.7% of violent crimes) -- firearms used 
in 61%.

2.   Anti-gunners cite "studies" they claim show that firearms kept at 
home are "43 times more likely" to be used to kill family members than 
be used for self-defense.  (Other "studies" claim different ratios.)  
The 43:1 claim, based upon a small-scale study of Kings County (Seattle) 
and Shelby County (Memphis), is a fraud, because it counts as 
self-defense gun uses only those cases in which criminals were killed in 
the defender's home.  Approximately 99.9% of all defensive gun uses are 
not fatal shootings, however -- criminals are usually frightened off, 
held at bay, or non-fatally wounded.  Also, many defensive firearms uses 
occur away from home. Further, suicides were counted as "family member 
killings" in the "study," elevating that number more than 500%.  
Unfortunately, some of these "studies" are funded with taxpayer dollars, 
through grants from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 
division of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services. -- This 
information is presented as a service to the Internet community by the 
NRA/ILA.  Many files are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.nra.org 
and via WWW at http://www.nra.org

Subject: With CCW, Florida's Homicide Decreases While National Average Soars

    With CCW, Florida's Homicide Decreases While National Average Soars
                     Homicide Rates Per 100,000 Pop.

       AREA                1987*               1992                % CHANGE

       Florida             11.4                9.0                 -21%
       U.S.                8.3                 9.3                 +12%

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, F.B.I. Uniform Crime Reports
* Florida adopted CCW in 1987.


                  CCW Permits in Florida Issuance Rates

Population                                           13,277,000

% of Floridians                                      All - 62.7%
Who Own Guns                                         Male - 68.8%
                                                     Female - 57.3%

# of Floridians                                      8,325,000
Who Own Guns

# of Permit Applications                             239,411

Permits Issued                                       227,569

Permits Revoked Due To                               18 (0.008%)
Crime With Firearm Present


During the 6-1/2 year period from 10/01/87 (start-up date) through 
05/31/94, 227,569 CCW permits have been issued -- 69% new permits; 31% 
permit renewals.  Less than one-quarter of 1% of permit applications 
have been rejected due to an applicant's criminal history; less than 
two-tenths of 1% have been rejected due to an "incomplete application."  
Two hundred permits (less than one-tenth of 1%) have been revoked 
because a permit holder committed some kind of a crime, though not 
necessarily a gun-related or violent crime. Only 18 (less than 0.008%) 
permits have been revoked because a permit holder committed a crime (not 
necessarily violent) in which a firearm was present, though not 

Continued in the next message...
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 Area: RTKBA 
  Msg#: 3117                                         Date: 22 Nov 94  06:50
  From: Victor Dura                                  Read: Yes    Replied: No 
    To: All                                          Mark:                     
  Subj: US-CCW stats           03

Continued from the previous message...

necessarily used.

By contrast, the FBI reports that each year there are about 46,000 
gun-related violent crimes (assaults, robberies, homicides and rapes) in 
Florida.

Florida CCW Permit Source: Florida Department of State
--
This information is presented as a service to the Internet community by 
the NRA/ILA.  Many files are available via anonymous ftp from 
ftp.nra.org and via WWW at http://www.nra.org

Be sure to subscribe to rkba-alert by sending: subscribe rkba-alert Your 
Full Name as the body of a message to rkba-alert-request@NRA.org

Information can also be obtained by connecting to the NRA-ILA GUN-TALK 
BBS at (703) 934-2121.



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