My Bad....

In one of my posts, I identified Mr. Doug Pennington with the Violence Policy Center. This was reported to me by an ANONYMOUS post claiming to be from VPC. Mr. Pennington is the spokesperson for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. I ADMIT I made the mistake and have corrected the error. (On a side note, it is nice to see people actually reading this blog).

The anonymous post also stated that the Pa health club shooter was a CCW permittee. As I have stated, if it does turn out to be true (and I am unable to find any reference other than the above mentioned groups as a source), and it may, demonizing an entire group of Concealed Carry Permitees as a threat to society because of the actions of one or a few is downright absurd, even if they commit a non-firearm crime!

I will also point out that a VPC reference to a CCW permittee that STRANGLED his wife is included in a list of people is equally absurd since a firearm was not used in the crime. (ref: http://www.vpc.org/studies/ccw2009.pdf page 13).

I would also read the same document on page 31, concerning Texas CCW holders who have committed crimes. They list over 5,000 arrests of CCW permittees for various crimes. What they DO NOT say is if a firearm was involved or not. No reference in that passage. Further reading states that the same group of people were responsible for weapons related offenses at a higher rate but fail to mention what kind of weapon except to say a deadly weapon. Anything that can cause bodily harm is a deadly weapon, not just a firearm.

Ok, how about listing the NON-CCW permittees that do the same crime? I will admit that some background checks will not catch everything, but catching most is better than catching none, and people who commit the same crimes that do not have permits do not get background checks. Let's list that too and make it a little more balanced. And, how many of those people did or did not commit crimes BEFORE their background checks. At some point, people who decide to commit a crime have to start somewhere, regardless of whether they have a permit or not.

Hey, I've got another idea. List all the CCW holders who DO NOT COMMIT A CRIME!!

How about listing the names of people who use a CCW permitted firearm to SAVE a life. Better yet, save MORE THAN ONE LIFE! I'll bet those are much, much bigger lists.


All I am saying is that not everyone is an angel, permit or no permit. But demonize the person and the act, not that fact they have a permit and committed a crime. If you do, in the same breath, demonize those who commit crimes and DO NOT have a permit