Millennium Ark: Right-to-Carry 2004 map

There are 38 RTC states, an all-time high. Gov. Bob Taft signed Ohio's RTC bill into law on Jan. 8, 2004. Two days earlier, New Mexico's Supreme Court upheld that state's RTC law. New Mexico had adopted its RTC law in 2003, as did Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, where legislators overrode Gov. Bob Holden's veto of the state's RTC bill. Of the 38 RTC states, 34 have "shall issue" RTC laws, which provide for carry permits to be issued to applicants who meet uniform standards established by the state legislature. Alabama, Connecticut and (as indicated by a recent survey of issuing authorities) Iowa have fair discretionary-issue systems, and Alaska and Vermont respect the right to carry without a permit. Alaska added its no-permit-required law in 2003, but still has its shall-issue provision. 64% of Americans live in RTC states.

The following indicate permit revocation rates for states that report such data.

Background: Before 1987, there were 10 RTC states. Indiana, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota and Washington had "shall issue" laws. Alabama and Connecticut had fairly-administered discretionary-issue laws. Vermont allowed carrying without a permit. Georgia's law was varying interpreted. All other states prohibited carrying altogether or gave law enforcement officials the power to arbitrarily deny carry permits to eligible applicants.

In 1987, Florida enacted a "shall issue" law supported by the Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement, Florida Sheriffs Assn., Florida Police Chiefs Assn., and other police groups. Opponents claimed crime would increase if people carried guns. Anti-gun politicians predicted Florida would become the "GUNshine State." The news media forecast vigilante justice and "Wild West" shootouts on every corner. The predictions proved false. Through 1992, Florida's homicide rate decreased 23%, while the U.S. rate rose 9%. Thereafter, homicide decreased both nationally and in Florida. Then-Florida Licensing Division Director, John Russi, noted there had been "no record of any accidents or incidents from a lack of training" and that "Florida's concealed weapon law has been very successful. All major law enforcement groups supported the original legislation and in the eight years the program has been in place, none of these groups has requested any changes....(S)ome of the opponents of concealed weapon legislation in 1987 now admit the program has not created the problems many predicted." (Testimony before the Michigan House of Representatives Judiciary Committee, 12/5/95) In a 1995 correspondence to state officials, Dept. of Law Enforcement Commissioner James T. Moore wrote, "From a law enforcement perspective, the licensing process has not resulted in problems in the community from people arming themselves with concealed weapons. The strict provisions of 790.06, Florida Statutes, preclude the licensing of convicted felons, etc., thus allowing the permitting of law abiding citizens who do not routinely commit crimes or otherwise violate the law."

28 states have become RTC states during the last 15 years. Of these, 19 previously prohibited carrying altogether, eight (indicated*) previously had restrictively-administered discretionary-issuance systems, and Georgia's law, previously interpreted varyingly, was declared "shall issue" by a judicial ruling. 1989: Oregon, Pennsylvania (Phila. brought under RTC law in 1995), West Virginia, and Georgia; 1990: Idaho and Mississippi; 1991: Montana; 1994: Alaska, Arizona, Tennessee, and Wyoming; 1995: Arkansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Texas; Nevada*, Utah*, and Virginia*; 1996: Kentucky, Louisiana*, and South Carolina*; 2001: Michigan*; 2003: Colorado*, New Mexico, Minnesota*, and Missouri; and 2004: Ohio and Iowa*.

Citizens can defend themselves. Analyzing National Crime Victimization Survey data, criminologist Gary Kleck found, "robbery and assault victims who used a gun to resist were less likely to be attacked or to suffer an injury than those who used any other methods of self-protection or those who did not resist at all." (Targeting Guns, 1997) Kleck and Marc Gertz found that firearms are used for self-protection about 2.5 million times annually. ("Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense With a Gun," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Fall 1995.) The late Marvin E. Wolfgang, self-described as "as strong a gun-control advocate as can be found among the criminologists in this country" who would "eliminate all guns from the civilian population and maybe even from the police," said, "The methodological soundness of the current Kleck and Gertz study is clear. I cannot further debate it....I do not like their conclusions that having a gun can be useful, but I cannot fault their methodology." ("A Tribute to a View That I Have Opposed," Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Fall 1995, pp. 188-192.) A study for the Dept. of Justice found that 34% of felons had been "scared off, shot at, wounded or captured by an armed victim," and 40% of felons have not committed crimes, fearing potential victims were armed. (J. Wright and P. Rossi, Armed and Considered Dangerous: A Survey of Felons and Their Firearms, 1986.)

The right to self-defense has been recognized for centuries. Cicero argued 2,000 years ago, "If our lives are endangered by plots or violence or armed robbers or enemies, any and every method of protecting ourselves is morally right." English jurist Sir William Blackstone observed that the English Bill of Rights recognized "the right of having and using arms for self-preservation and defense" as one of the five auxiliary rights people possess "to protect and maintain inviolate the three great and primary rights," the first of which is "personal security." Sir Michael Foster, judge of the Court of King's Bench, wrote in the late 18th century, "The right of self-defense. . . is founded in the law of nature, and is not, nor can be, superseded by any law of society."

The Supreme Court, in U.S. v. Cruikshank (92 U.S. 542, 1876), recognized that the right to arms preexisted the Constitution and is thus an individual right, stating that it "is not a right granted by the Constitution. Neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence." In Beard v. U.S. (158 U.S. 550, 1895), the Court approved the common-law rule that a person "may repel force by force" in self-defense, and concluded that when attacked a person "was entitled to stand his ground and meet any attack made upon him with a deadly weapon, in such a way and with such force" as needed to prevent "great bodily injury or death." The laws of all 50 states and the constitutions of 44 states recognize the right to use armed force in self-defense. In the Gun Control Act (1968) and Firearms Owners' Protection Act (1986), Congress stated that it did not intend to "place any undue or unnecessary Federal restrictions or burdens on law-abiding citizens with respect to the acquisition, possession, or use of firearms appropriate to the purpose of . . . personal protection, or any other lawful activity . . . ."

Police not required to protect individual citizens. In Warren v. District of Columbia (444 A.2d 1, 1981), the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled, "official police personnel and the government employing them are not generally liable to victims of criminal acts for failure to provide adequate police protection ... this uniformly accepted rule rests upon the fundamental principle that a government and its agents are under no general duty to provide public services, such as police protection, to any particular citizen ... a publicly maintained police force constitutes a basic governmental service provided to benefit the community at large by promoting public peace, safety and good order." In Bowers v. DeVito (686 F. 2d 616, 1982), the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled, "(T)here is no constitutional right to be protected by the state against being murdered by criminals or madmen."

Rep. Stearns' RTC reciprocity bill. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) leads the effort to pass a federal RTC reciprocity law. His bill, H.R. 915, proposes a national carrying standard which would allow any person with a valid carrying permit or license issued by a state, to carry a firearm in any other state, as follows: In states that issue carry permits, each state's laws governing where guns may be carried would apply within its own borders. In states that do not issue carry permits, a federal standard would permit carrying in places other than police stations; courthouses; public polling places; meetings of state, county, or municipal governing bodies; schools; passenger areas of airports; and certain other locations. A person who lives in a state that does not issue permits would be allowed to carry in any state, under either the state or federal law, if he or she possesses a carry permit issued by another state.

Brady Campaign (Handgun Control, Inc.) on self-defense and RTC: Sarah Brady says, "the only reason for guns in civilian hands is for sporting purposes." (Tom Jackson, "Keeping the battle alive," Tampa Tribune, 10/21/93.) Former HCI Chair, the late Pete Shields, said, "(If attacked) put up no defense - give them what they want." (Guns Don't Die - People Do, N.Y.: Arbor House, 1981.) Brady Center's Dennis Henigan says, self-defense is "not a federally guaranteed constitutional right." (USA Today, 11/20/91.) In Jan. 1999, HCI claimed that between 1992-1997 violent crime rates declined less in RTC states than in other states. (Previously, it claimed RTC caused crime to rise.) HCI's errors: It categorized states according to whether they had RTC in 1997, though of the 31 states that had RTC in 1997, only 17 had it in 1992. Also, HCI calculated crime trends from 1992, which under-represented the impact of RTC laws on crime. By 1992, many states had RTC for many years and already experienced decreases in crime. Also, HCI misclassified Alabama and Connecticut as "restrictive" states. Both states had decreases in crime, so HCI presumably wanted them out of the RTC group. HCI also credited restrictive laws for crime decreasing in some states. But states that have restrictive carry laws have had them for many years, and crime did not begin declining in those states until the 1990s, and did so due to factors unrelated to guns.

Nonsense from the fringe. In 1995, the Violence Policy Center claimed Florida's carry law "puts guns into the hands of criminals." ("Concealed Carry: The Criminal's Companion") The claim was preposterous, since the law permits a person to carry, not acquire, a firearm. VPC claimed "criminals do apply for concealed carry licenses," without noting that such applications are rejected. Contradicting itself, VPC pointed out that criminals, after their applications were rejected, wanted the rejections reconsidered. "To set the record straight," Florida Secretary of State, Sandra B. Mortham, said, "As of November 30, 1995, the Department had denied 723 applications due to criminal history. The fact that these 723 individuals did not receive a license clearly indicates that the process is working." She added, "the majority of concealed weapon or firearm licensees are honest, law-abiding citizens exercising their right to be armed for the purpose of lawful self-defense." (St. Petersburg Times, 1/11/96.)

In 2001, VPC claimed that there are more women murdered with handguns than criminals who are killed by women in self-defense. ("A Deadly Myth: Women, Handguns, and Self-Defense") VPC erred in measuring the value handguns for self-defense in terms of the number of criminals killed, rather than in terms of the number of women who use handguns to prevent themselves from becoming crime victims. Also, VPC undercounted the number of criminals killed in self-defense by counting only those noted in police reports, which exclude homicides the courts find to be justifiable and those determined through further investigation to have not been criminal.

McDowell math: In March 1995, David McDowell claimed that gun homicide rates increased in Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa after Florida's 1987 RTC law. ("Easing Concealed Firearm Laws: Effects on Homicide in Three States.") But homicide rates fell 10%, 18% and 20%, respectively, in those metropolitan areas from 1987 until 1993, the latest available data at the time. Determined to show an increase, McDowell calculated Jacksonville and Tampa trends from the early 1970s, when rates were lower than in 1993, but calculated Miami's from 1983, since rates before 1983 were higher and their inclusion would have shown that the city's homicide rate decreased. None of McDowell's homicides was committed by a license holder, and he did not even indicate which homicides had occurred in situations where a license would be required to carry. Another McDowell gem is his claim that D.C.'s homicide rate decreased after its 1977 handgun ban. In fact, the rate tripled after the ban.

The 43:1 claim: Based upon a small study of King's County (Seattle), Wash. gun control supporters claim a gun in the home is "43 times more likely" to be used to kill a family member than a criminal. (A. L. Kellermann, "Protection or Peril?: An Analysis of Firearm-Related Deaths in the Home," New England Journal of Medicine, 1986.) To reach that ratio, however, self-defense firearms uses were grossly undercounted by counting only cases in which criminals were killed. In most protective firearms uses, criminals are scared off, captured or wounded.

Copyright 2004, National Rifle Association of America, Institute for Legislative Action. This may be reproduced. It may not be reproduced for commercial purposes.