Texas Concealed Gun Carryers Responsible For Almost NO Crime
A concealed handgun toting Texans in a safe and law abiding Texan, 1200 WOAI news reports.
Statistics compiled by Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed reveal that Concealed Handgun License holding Texans are responsible for fewer than one quarter of one percent of the gun related crimes which have been prosecuted in Texas over the past 16 years.
The Legislature in 2005 approved the CHL program, allowing anybody who completed a DPS background check and undergoes a safety course to carry a concealed weapon in public places.
Since 1996, when the law took effect, there have been 852,271 convictions of Texans under the 125 gun related offenses prohibited under state law, everything from Class A felonies like murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated rape, to relatively minor offenses like carrying a weapon in a prohibited place.
Of those convictions, only 1,972 of them were of individuals who were licensed to carry a concealed handgun at the time of the offense, or roughly .19%.
The statistics also show that all of the arguments which were made by opponents of Concealed Carry, that 'every fender bender accident' would 'turn into Dodge City,' have also not been true, as there have been almost no reports of CHL holders pulling their guns or using their legally carried weapons to make a situation worse.
But, amazingly, this completely discredited argument was used again last year, to help defeat measures which would have allowed handguns to be carried onto college campuses. We were told, again, that it would lead to 'fraternity parties' turning into gun battles.'
Several measures to liberalize the state's concealed handgun law will be introduced in the Legislature for the coming session.
Statistics compiled by Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed reveal that Concealed Handgun License holding Texans are responsible for fewer than one quarter of one percent of the gun related crimes which have been prosecuted in Texas over the past 16 years.
The Legislature in 2005 approved the CHL program, allowing anybody who completed a DPS background check and undergoes a safety course to carry a concealed weapon in public places.
Since 1996, when the law took effect, there have been 852,271 convictions of Texans under the 125 gun related offenses prohibited under state law, everything from Class A felonies like murder, aggravated robbery and aggravated rape, to relatively minor offenses like carrying a weapon in a prohibited place.
Of those convictions, only 1,972 of them were of individuals who were licensed to carry a concealed handgun at the time of the offense, or roughly .19%.
The statistics also show that all of the arguments which were made by opponents of Concealed Carry, that 'every fender bender accident' would 'turn into Dodge City,' have also not been true, as there have been almost no reports of CHL holders pulling their guns or using their legally carried weapons to make a situation worse.
But, amazingly, this completely discredited argument was used again last year, to help defeat measures which would have allowed handguns to be carried onto college campuses. We were told, again, that it would lead to 'fraternity parties' turning into gun battles.'
Several measures to liberalize the state's concealed handgun law will be introduced in the Legislature for the coming session.
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