I think we can all agree (hopefully) on that, Zach. CCW should only be for those who are responsible and law abiding.

Now don’t get me wrong - I’m not opposed to folks owning guns; in fact I support the second amendment. However, I do believe in responsible limits on how, why, and where folks should be able to carry and use those guns.

Please look at the following document from the Texas Department of Public Safety:

http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/docs/cr1999/Crime%20in%20Texas%20CH%202.pdf

(ALL RATES ARE crimes per 100,000)
Year Murder Rape Robbery Agg. Assault Burglary
1990 14.1 51.5 260.9 435.0 1851.5
1991 15.3 53.4 286.5 484.7 1802.3
1992 12.7 53.4 252.5 487.7 1523.0
1993 11.9 55.0 224.4 470.8 1297.5
1994 11.0 49.5 204.8 441.2 1168.2
1995 9.0 45.5 179.8 429.3 1082.2
1996 7.7 43.8 171.5 421.2 1068.3
1997 6.8 41.2 157.0 397.3 1033.8
1998 6.8 40.1 145.1 372.7 986.2
1999 6.1 38.1 146.8 370.0 949.6

Now check out these dates while referring back to the above information.

Concealed Handgun Licensing (CHL) History in Texas:
1993 - Governor Ann Richards vetoed a statewide referendum on CHL, saying that “the people of Texas didn’t need to vote on something like CHL”

1995 - Then Governor George W. Bush (not my favorite guy) signed the Texas concealed carry bill. Effective January 1, 1996.

1997 - Texas revised their CHL to correct a loophole creating a conflict between concealed carry rules and alcoholic beverage license regulations

It doesn’t look like there was a sudden crime wave now does it? What about the “blood in the streets” predictions!

More Statistics:
From the Texas Department of Public Safety:
Regulatory Licensing Service - Concealed Handgun Licensing Bureau - Demographic Reports for Fiscal Year 2007 (Sept. 1, 2006 - Aug. 31, 2007)

CHL Applications Issued was 90,867 while 392 were denied.
CHL Licenses Suspended was 483 and 422 ended up revoked.

Total Convictions in Texas for the year 2006:
61,539 = Total Convictions
140 (0.2275%) = Convections of Holders of a Concealed Handgun License (CHL)
As of May 2008 there were 296,554 active CHL licenses issued.
Texas has a 2008 population of approximately 24,000,000.

That indicates that about 1.25% of the total population (including children, felons and indigent) have an active CHL while only .2275% of ALL convictions were to people who have a CHL license.

Looking closer to the crime reports for Fiscal Year 2007 (Sept. 1, 2006 - Aug. 31, 2007). From my count 43 (number not percent) convictions of persons with a CHL license involved a firearm, 33 of these appear to be related to not caring the actual license, the holder or an unlicensed gun. That leaves 10 convictions in TEXAS where a gun is in the description of the crime committed.

There are 10 – 20 more that may have had a gun involved but not stated i.e. “prohibited weapon, switchblade/knuckles” was one person, “murder” there was 1 with a CHL but no category for murder with gun or knife or poison etc. The biggest was “AGG(ravated) Assault W/Deadly Weapon” there were 9 with a CHL out of 2,701 (0.3332%) convictions in the state. This one did not break down by types of weapons (guns, knives, etc), but you can add all nine to the 10 above if you like. That leaves us with potentially 19, we can call it 25 to make some people happy. So there were 25 convictions of CHL licensees where a gun was involved, but not related to licensing, out of 61,539 total convictions or 0.04 % (0.0004) of all convictions!

ENOUGH WITH THE NUMBERS NOW LETS USE OUR BRAINS! Lets pretend you are a bad guy and you are planning to rob a convince store. Would you rather robe a convince store where one of the patrons may have a concealed weapon or one where you know that no one will? Now be honest! Or be a fool! What if it was a restaurant and you were hell-bent on simply killing people! If someone there had a gun would it make a difference? It may not change the action, but it is certainly likely to change the result. Just ask Suzanna Gratia Hupp. Here is the actual story from Killeen Texas!

On October 16, 1991, Hennard drove his 1987 Ford Ranger pickup truck through the front window of a Luby’s Cafeteria at 1705 East Central Texas Expressway in Killeen, yelled “This is what Bell County has done to me!”, then opened fire on the restaurant’s patrons and staff with a Glock 17 pistol and later a Ruger P89. About 80 people were in the restaurant at the time. He stalked, shot, and killed 23 people and wounded another 20 before committing suicide. During the shooting, he approached Suzanna Gratia Hupp and her parents. Hupp had actually brought a handgun to the Luby’s Cafeteria that day, but had left it in her vehicle due to the laws in force at the time, forbidding citizens from carrying firearms. According to her later testimony in favor of Missouri’s HB-1720 bill and in general, after she realized that her firearm was not in her purse, but “a hundred feet away in [her] car”, her father charged at Hennard in an attempt to subdue him, only to be gunned down; a short time later, her mother was also shot and killed. (Hupp later expressed regret for abiding by the law in question by leaving her firearm in her car, rather than keeping it on her person.) One patron, Tommy Vaughn, threw himself through a plate-glass window to allow others to escape. Hennard allowed a mother and her four-year-old child to leave. He reloaded several times and still had ammunition remaining when he committed suicide by shooting himself in the head after being cornered and wounded by police”

Zack, if she had been permitted and had her gun WITH HER not in the car that day, many peoples lives may have been spared including her own parents. Today with approximately 1.25% of Texas residents with active permits there is a reasonable chance that at least one person there may have had a gun and been able to stop Hennard’s exicution style slayings.

My Father was a resident of Texas durring this time and did not want to end up in the same perdiciment as Suzanna Gratia Hupp and knew that, in a similar situation, he would have to take some kind of action like her father. He got his CHL shortly after they became available.

On a side note: If you have guns yourself LOCK THEM UP! As far as I know many police departments still have FREE, yes FREE, cable locks for guns. Just go in and ask. Zack, as you know I have two young childern, we have talked about guns. If a friend shows them a gun they are to get away and tell a parent. They know that guns are not toys, but what about their friends? I have gunlocks on all guns and they are in a gun safe as well. I am a hunter, but no, I don’t have a BUNCH of guns! I bought the safe to store them away from little hands and to store valuable documents as well. Be smart and protect your children – lock up your guns.

Back to your post: I’ll get back to you later with FACTS from Michigan!