Shocking: Concealed Handgun Permit Holders Have Killed 9 Law Enforcement Officers and 108 Citizens Since May 2007

Here’s a pretty horrific set of statistics from the Violence Policy Center, an online resource that tracks news reports of incidents involving concealed carry firearms:

Concealed handgun permit holders have killed at least nine law enforcement officers in addition to 108 private citizens (including 13 shooters who killed themselves after an attack) since May 2007…

According to the site, law enforcement officers were killed in Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Private citizens were killed in 21 states across the country, including New York and California.

Obviously, this poses a big problem for concealed carry advocates, who have in the past argued that individuals who acquire permits "are law-abiding, upstanding community leaders who merely seek to exercise their right to self-defense."

The VPC’s detailed reports of incidents involving law enforcement fatalities paint a very different picture.

In one such incident, Humberto Delgado Jr. allegedly shot and killed Cpl. Mike Roberts, a Tampa police officer, after Roberts discovered Delgado was pushing a shopping cart containing a AR-15 assault rifle, a Taurus .45 pistol and a .22 revolver. According to VPC’s document, Delgado also had a Glock 17 pistol in a backpack.

On another occasion, Jason Kenneth Hamilton, a member of a group called Aryan Nation, shot and killed his wife, a Church sexton and a police officer before killing himself. He had a permit for a concealed firearm, despite a history of domestic abuse. The list goes on.

Or it would, if it were a complete list. These numbers may actually be a lowball estimate because many states that allow concealed firearms aren’t exactly forthcoming with data about incidents involving them. “It is likely that the actual number of fatal criminal incidents involving concealed handgun permit holders is far higher,” according to Mandy Wimmer at the VPC.