Gun Guys

(We are pleased to post the following press release from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence).

For Immediate Release

Contact: Thom Mannard (312) 341-0939, cell (847) 997-3020, tmannard@ichv.org

ISRA Uses Lobby Day to Press For Dangerous Carrying Concealed Weapons Law That Threatens Public Safety

(March 10, 2010, Chicago) – The Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence (ICHV) said that the Illinois Gun Owner’s Lobby Day (IGOLD) held in Springfield today should answer for the fact that concealed handgun permit holders have committed scores of homicides, including shooting law enforcement officers, rampage shootings and murder-suicides.

Despite the rhetoric and spin from the ISRA and the gun lobby that CCW handgun permit holders are “law abiding,” mounting evidence and scores of violent incidents show that concealed handgun permit holders are a risk to public safety.

For example, on January 19, 2010 in Virginia, Christopher Speight, a CCW permit holder, shot and killed eight people including his sister and her husband, their 15-year-old daughter and four-year-old son, as well as two teenagers aged 15 and 16. Speight was described by co-workers as a handyman, construction worker, and security guard who had a longtime fascination with guns and a fear of government conspiracies. Speight enjoyed target shooting at a range on his property.

According to neighbors, prior to the shooting Speight began shooting daily on his range, including high-powered rifles. Speight, troubled about a perceived family dispute over a house and land, owned as many as 40 guns and was said to be very skilled with weapons. The gun lobby likes to dismiss cases such as Speight’s for fear that such violent shootings undermine the gun lobby’s radical agenda.

Speight’s mass killing was one of many fatal shootings cataloged in an on-line resource, “CCW Killers,” from the Violence Policy Center that monitors homicides committed by concealed handgun permit holders since May 2007. The appalling numbers speak for themselves: 139 people have been killed, 9 of which were law enforcement officers. In addition, the VCP found 13 mass shootings committed by CCW handgun permit holders and 14 murder-suicides.

See the VPC study here: http://www.vpc.org/ccwkillers.htm

“I think the ISRA should explain to the public why carrying hidden and loaded handguns in public is a good idea when we have a mountain of evidence that too many CCW permit holders in other states are unstable and violent, resulting in an appalling number of homicides,” said Thom Mannard, Executive Director of the ICHV. “This evidence points to one conclusion, that a concealed weapons law is dangerous and a major threat for Illinois residents.”

Violence Policy Center Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “When the National Rifle Association launched its state-by-state campaign for lax concealed handgun laws, it made this promise: ‘People who get permits in states which have fair right-to-carry laws are law-abiding, upstanding community leaders who merely seek to exercise their right to self-defense.’ To the contrary, concealed handgun permit holders are killing people over parking spaces, football games, and family arguments.”

Because most state systems that allow the carrying of concealed handguns in public by private citizens release little data about crimes committed by permit holders, the VPC reviews and tallies concealed handgun permit holder killings primarily as reported by news outlets. It is likely that the actual number of fatal incidents involving concealed handgun permit holders is far higher.

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