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excerpt from:
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2000/0007/24/000724gun.html
Monday, July 24, 2000
The Courier-Journal Home Page
Concealed-gun law hasn't triggered violence
Crime rate among licensed carriers has been very low
By ANDREW WOLFSON
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Despite the fears of opponents, who branded it the "gunslinger
bill," the law enacted in 1996 allowing Kentuckians to carry
concealed handguns hasn't triggered wholesale violence or
shootouts in the streets.
Figures the state police are required to collect annually under the
the statute show that permit holders are less likely to be
charged with violent crimes than the population at large.
Only five murder charges were placed against permit holders
from 1997 through 1999, or fewer than two per year. Similarly
small numbers of forcible rape and assault charges were filed
against them. The figures don't specify the weapons used in the
crimes. The murder charges, for example, conceivably could be
for deaths by stabbing.
"None of our concerns have been borne out," said Hazard police
Chief Rod Maggard, president of the Kentucky Chiefs of Police
Association, which opposed the concealed-carry bill for fear it
would invite citizens to take the law into their own hands.
The law's author, Rep. Robert Damron, D-Nicholsville, said its
stringent criminal-background checks and relatively expensive fees
for licensing and training have combined to make permit holders "a
very law-abiding group."
Opponents concede that their gravest concerns haven't materialized,
but they still oppose the law on philosophical grounds because they
say it breeds mistrust and undermines a sense of community. "It
feeds an attitude that guns are a way to solve our problems," said Nancy Jo Kemper, who heads the Kentucky
Council of Churches.
SINCE THE LAW went into effect in November 1996, 59,941 people have obtained permits, including 4,009 who
have let them expire. As of July 14, 55,932 permits were in force.
Supporters and opponents of the law point to anecdotal evidence that they say bolsters their positions.
Detractors, including Jefferson County police Chief William Carcara, who contend that concealed carry poses too
great a risk of accidental shootings, cite the June 30 incident at Tinseltown theaters in eastern Jefferson County in
which a .22-caliber derringer discharged after falling from the pocket of a moviegoer who had a permit to carry it. The
bullet struck the gun's owner, William Newland, 34, in the leg, then hit Juanita Sparks, 60, in the hip.
"I wish they'd pass a law that nobody could carry concealed weapons except for police officers," said Sparks, who
was treated overnight in a hospital for her wound and was still limping several weeks later.
cont'd
Rep. Bob Heleringer, R-Louisville, who was an outspoken opponent of the concealed-carry legislation, said:
"Bob Damron gives me a daily update on the lack of blood running in the streets. But if concealed carry is so great,
why does almost every building and store in the state have a sign on it saying no concealed weapons allowed? If it's
so great, how come nobody wants it?"
http://www.courier-journal.com/localnews/2000/0007/24/000724gun.html
Monday, July 24, 2000
The Courier-Journal Home Page
Concealed-gun law hasn't triggered violence
Crime rate among licensed carriers has been very low
By ANDREW WOLFSON
The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
Despite the fears of opponents, who branded it the "gunslinger
bill," the law enacted in 1996 allowing Kentuckians to carry
concealed handguns hasn't triggered wholesale violence or
shootouts in the streets.
Figures the state police are required to collect annually under the
the statute show that permit holders are less likely to be
charged with violent crimes than the population at large.
Only five murder charges were placed against permit holders
from 1997 through 1999, or fewer than two per year. Similarly
small numbers of forcible rape and assault charges were filed
against them. The figures don't specify the weapons used in the
crimes. The murder charges, for example, conceivably could be
for deaths by stabbing.
"None of our concerns have been borne out," said Hazard police
Chief Rod Maggard, president of the Kentucky Chiefs of Police
Association, which opposed the concealed-carry bill for fear it
would invite citizens to take the law into their own hands.
The law's author, Rep. Robert Damron, D-Nicholsville, said its
stringent criminal-background checks and relatively expensive fees
for licensing and training have combined to make permit holders "a
very law-abiding group."
Opponents concede that their gravest concerns haven't materialized,
but they still oppose the law on philosophical grounds because they
say it breeds mistrust and undermines a sense of community. "It
feeds an attitude that guns are a way to solve our problems," said Nancy Jo Kemper, who heads the Kentucky
Council of Churches.
SINCE THE LAW went into effect in November 1996, 59,941 people have obtained permits, including 4,009 who
have let them expire. As of July 14, 55,932 permits were in force.
Supporters and opponents of the law point to anecdotal evidence that they say bolsters their positions.
Detractors, including Jefferson County police Chief William Carcara, who contend that concealed carry poses too
great a risk of accidental shootings, cite the June 30 incident at Tinseltown theaters in eastern Jefferson County in
which a .22-caliber derringer discharged after falling from the pocket of a moviegoer who had a permit to carry it. The
bullet struck the gun's owner, William Newland, 34, in the leg, then hit Juanita Sparks, 60, in the hip.
"I wish they'd pass a law that nobody could carry concealed weapons except for police officers," said Sparks, who
was treated overnight in a hospital for her wound and was still limping several weeks later.
cont'd
Rep. Bob Heleringer, R-Louisville, who was an outspoken opponent of the concealed-carry legislation, said:
"Bob Damron gives me a daily update on the lack of blood running in the streets. But if concealed carry is so great,
why does almost every building and store in the state have a sign on it saying no concealed weapons allowed? If it's
so great, how come nobody wants it?"