There's only one problem - the VPC's figures are intentionally false. I have previously documented VPC's intentional deception and this latest report is more of the same. The Crime Prevention Research Center has also exposed their lies.
Here are the facts about those 722 incidents:
1) 38% of these incidents were SUICIDES, not shootings of another person. Most took place at home. It should be obvious that a carry permit, or for that matter even a gun, is not required to kill yourself. VPC wants you to think that these deaths are cases where CCW permit holder has shot someone else - something that is clearly deceptive.
Incidentally, the suicide rate among permit holders is less than half that of the general public!
2) Over 10% of the shootings took place in locations where a permit was not required or where carrying was illegal even with a permit - THUS THEY ARE COMPLETELY UNRELATED TO THE ISSUE OF PERMITS.
3) The VPC frequently counts both pending charges and convictions IN THE SAME CASE thus doubling the count!
4) VPC's figures actually include people not killed with handguns, including five people killed in auto accidents!
5) The 722 incidents include cases of lawful self defense, cases where charges have not yet been resolved and cases in which the shooter did not have a carry permit.
THE BOTTOM LINE: THE VPC HAS INTENTIONALLY INFLATED IT'S FIGURES BY AT LEAST 100%.
THE REAL FACTS ABOUT CCW PERMIT HOLDERS
The Crime Prevention Research Center has produced a report using official reports from state governments. Florida and Texas have extensive experience with CCW permits. Two paragraphs from the report are quite relevant:
"During almost three decades, from October 1, 1987 to May 31, 2014, Florida issued permits to almost 2.66 million people. These permits have been revoked for firearms-related violations at an annual rate of only 0.0003 percent. For all revocations, the annual rate in Florida is 0.012 percent."
"The numbers are similarly low in Texas. In 2012 (the latest year that crime data are available), there were 584,850 active license holders. Out of these, 120 were convicted of either a misdemeanor or a felony, a rate of 0.021 percent. Only a few of these crimes involved a gun."
So in Florida - with 25+ years of experience - the chances that a CCW permit holder will have their permit revoked for a firearms related offense (the vast majority of which are not homicides) is 1 in 30,000. The revocation rate for all reasons was a bit more than 1 in 500.
Even more significantly, these revocations take place when the permit holder is CHARGED NOT CONVICTED! The conviction rate of CCW permit holders is about 5%. Yep, 95% of cases brought against permit holders do not result in convictions. In these cases, the former permit holder is again eligible to get a permit. IN OTHER WORDS, THE PERMANENT REVOCATION RATE FOR ALL REASONS IS 1 IN 9500!
Again, using publicly available figures from Florida, the Crime Prevention Research Center has established that CCW PERMIT HOLDERS ARE LESS LIKELY TO COMMIT CRIMES THAN POLICE OFFICERS! (Also see this page.) Let that sink in - the people the VPC is trying to disarm are actually safer to arm than cops. Of course, these same people want to disarm cops too......
Not surprisingly, the report ignores the increasing evidence that firearms are frequently used to save lives in self defense. Nearly 1,500 of examples from the last two years can be found here.
When the VPC and the New York Times have to distort and lie to make CCW permit holders look bad - when the facts prove exactly the opposite, something is very, very wrong.
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