A concealed carry permit holder murdered my cousin. The perp will be in prison for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, most people that keep track of these statistics are interested in blaming inanimate objects. I don’t blame the firearm. I do blame the person. I’m grateful that justice was served. I suspect that people who carry concealed firearms do not commit many crimes, but wouldn’t it be great to have the relevant statistics?
It brings up a more general point: What harms are experienced by civilians who carry concealed firearms?
I talk about his issue in my book. Once a person is arrested, it becomes challenging to summarize national or even statewide statistics on what happened after that. Usually, a person needs to research them by hand. Here would be some situations I would be interested in gathering statistics (for Arizona):
- People who commit crimes with a legally carried firearm:
** People who are arrested for carrying a firearm in a place where it is not allowed.
** People who are arrested for carrying a firearm under the influence.
** People who are arrested for a negligent discharge or other negligent activity with a firearm.
** People who claim self-defense with a firearm but then are charged with an aggravated assault (or worse).
** People who commit crimes with firearms, such as aggravated assault or murder (e.g., the guy who killed my cousin). - People who claim self-defense with a firearm are legally successful in defending themselves from any challenges.
Just because someone is arrested or later charged doesn’t mean you go to trial. The charges could be dropped, a plea deal could be reached, or the case could go to trial. If at trial, they could be acquitted or convicted. If convicted, there could be many punishments depending on the charges. A felony, misdemeanor, probation, community service, and so forth could all be handed down separately or in some combination. The convicted could lose their right to vote, own firearms, and may not be done with their criminal justice status until many years later. All of these endings are important.
It is also essential to understand if the person was carrying illegally (e.g., had a criminal record), was engaged in criminal activity during the incident, or anything that would indicate something unusual was occurring. Furthermore, the circumstances are important to document if a person claimed self-defense and was legally successful, especially if the firearm was discharged.
The million-dollar question is: How do you gather this data?
The only way I can think to do this data gathering is via a survey like the National Crime Victimization Survey. The difference would be only criminal defense attorneys in the state would be questioned. The survey would have to have privacy protections, and the questions would have to be based on the criminal laws in the state. However, I think it is our best bet to understand some of the harms of carrying a concealed firearm, and would hopefully shed more light on defensive gun uses where a civilian discharged the firearm.