farronwolf

Since I didn't have anything else to do, or actually didn't want to do some stupid Census reports for the Department of Commerce on some of my clients this morning, I started to look up some of the figures on Texas Concealed Handgun Licensees and Crime ect.

These figures are based on a population of roughly 23.5 million people in the state, and I am going on the assumption that the convictions are of Texans, I am sure some aren't.

From 2002 to 2006 the number of convictions in the state and number of CHL holders convicted were as follows:

Convictions ------- CHL Convictions --------- CHL Holders
55,904 -------------------74------------------- 224,172
59,770 -------------------71--------------------239,863
63,715 -------------------99--------------------239,940
60,873 ------------------153--------------------248,874
61,539 ------------------140--------------------258,162

% of Pop--------------------- % of CHL holders
.00238---------------------------.000330
.00254---------------------------.000296
.00271---------------------------.000413
.00259---------------------------.000615
.00262---------------------------.000542

By my figures, the CHL holders are 4 to 9 times less likely to be convicted of a major crime in Texas, but it appears as more people get their CHL's the numbers are gettting closer.

With the vast increase this past year of the number of people applying for their CHL's, refer to threads about wait times in Texas, I am curious to see over the next few years how these figures will play out. I hope that the % of CHL holders convicted of major crimes doesn't continue to increase. I guess we shouldn't be surprised since you have to have a clean record to get your CHL in the first place but it is nice to see that after recieving the permit folks still keep their noses clean for the most part.

How does Texas rate in this area compared to the other states?

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HotGuns

Same here. Last time I saw stats on it, CHL holders were had the lowest incident rate of ANY group that was published.

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AR. CHL Instr.

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enigmaone

Just because we decide to carry, IMHO it doesn't make us any better then
anyone else. Perhaps as is obvious we are Armed, concealed, .But not neccesarily a better citizen,. One Opionion.

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ryanjensen

Perhaps it's because we are better citizens first that we go through the process of fingerprinting, background checks, etc. to receive a permit to carry concealed.

We know we can pass the checks (at least I hope we know) because of being a standup citizen our entire lives, and I would think receiving a CCW license wouldn't change that.

I doubt many career criminals even attempt to apply for a CCW license, to say nothing of actually having one.

Rick N

Too bad that so many states treat CCW holders and applicants like criminals, requiring the submission of multiple sets of fingerprints, etc with an application.

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Thanis

CCW / CCL should be your more law abiding citizens by definition.

There is a weakness to the math a little. The average person with a CCW / CCL is issued a back ground and the net should catch most who are criminals (thus not issued a permit).


Some good people carry (for various reasons) without a permit (even if the law requires).

So an important question, of people who carry (both legal and illegal) are they more often involved in crimes.

This would still be skewed because a good guy might carry because he knows his occupation dictates the need to carry.

I have talked to a few CCW holders who are a little on the questionable side.

I have noticed they are better people once they get the CCW because they do not want to loose the CCW, don't want to let down the CCW community, and take greater effort not to be one of the BG.

However, to answer the OP, CCW / CCL should be your more law abiding citizens by definition.

Janq

Farron,

Below are two items I'd posted in the past that are relevant to your OP:

* Does CCW have an effect on violent crime?
* Does CCW have an effect on violent crime?

- Janq

__________________
"Killers who are not deterred by laws against murder are not going to be deterred by laws against guns. " - Robert A. Levy
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HotGuns

Its a fact that most citizens are law abiding. The only problem is, they dont belong to a specific group, because they represent every faction of society.

Would you argee that permit holders are shown to be the most law abiding of any "classifiable" group?

That would be a more accurate statement I think.

__________________
AR. CHL Instr.

To achieve world government, it is necessary to remove from the minds of men, their individualism, loyalty to family traditions, national patriotism, and religious dogmas.'
Dr. G. Brock Chisolm

jonesy_26

Statistically speaking, as the population of CHL holders increases, the number of convictions for that population will go up. Nothing anyone can do about that.

What will affect how that number looks is the number of convictions for the general population. If the overall convictions go down as CHL's increase, the numbers will look worse for us.

What's interesting is that someone needs to define the correllation between increased CHL's and lower crime rates. If CHLs keep going up and crime keeps going down (assuming it would = less convictions for overall public), the gap would narrow and it would appear that folks with CHL's are no better criminally than the rest of the population. Anti-gunners would then say we are just as risky as joe shmoe and could make a case to get rid of concealed carry.

If the link can be made that we actually have an impact on crime, it would be the only defense to say we are making a difference in society. I've seen the case argued that we do, but nothing that is a definative slam dunk (rare in the numbers game, I know).

jfl

An armed society is a polite society...

Also, most criminals are not first time offenders; that rules them out for CCW.

Would be criminals (or those who didn't get caught) will not like the idea of filling the form and getting fingerprinted.

Same thing for drug addicts.

Actually, maybe it boils down to responsibility.
To have a legally acquired gun, to decide to train and pass the test shows a responsible person.
Responsible people are probably less prone to commit crimes.

I would be curious to see, in these statistics, what kind of crime the CCW crowd committed .
I would bet it's more love triangles, road rage, bad self-defense reaction (shooting when not necessary), etc.

But maybe, for once, I am too optimistic about human nature

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jfl (NRA Life - GOA - IDPA - GSSF - ex-IHMSA)