Howard Nemerov -- Does Right-to-Carry Support Law Enforcement?

Justifiable Homicides By Police

In 2006, about two-thirds (65.6%) of the U.S. population lived in states with shall-issue concealed carry laws, where law-abiding citizens––after required training––are issued a license to carry a concealed handgun upon request. These laws are also known as Right-to-Carry (RTC). About half (52.7%) of all justifiable homicides by police occurred in these states.

States without RTC laws contained about one-third (34.4%) of the population and about half of all police JH (47.3%). With an average of 14 police JH occurring in each non-RTC state while RTC states averaged 5, this means that law enforcement justifiable homicides occurred nearly three times more often in non-RTC states.

Of all justifiable police homicides, 70.8% of were self-defense, and an additional 4.9% were in defense of another police officer’s life. Only 48.5% of these occurred in RTC states, while 51.5% occurred in non-RTC states.[3]

FBI data shows that in 2006, the average violent crime rate for RTC states was 403.5 and their average murder rate was 4.8 (per 100,000 population). The average violent crime rate for non-RTC states was 513.5 and their average murder rate was 6.4.[4] Having about half the population of the RTC states, the non-RTC states had higher levels of violent crime and murder, and defensive justifiable homicides by police occurred more frequently.

These data support the conclusion that police departments in non-RTC states acknowledge their officers’ need to protect themselves from very violent criminals who have no compunction about attacking police or private citizens.

Justifiable Homicides By Private Citizens

About three-quarters (73.0%) of civilian justifiable homicide occurred in RTC states, while non-RTC saw about one-quarter (27.0%). Considering population distributions, these JH percentages are close to average for both state groups. However, when compared to police justifiable homicides, an interesting trend appears: In RTC states, for every 100 citizen JH there were 116 police JH, closer to a one-to-one ratio. In non-RTC states, for every 100 citizen JH there were 282 police JH, nearly a three-to-one ratio. In RTC states, civilian justifiable homicides were relatively more common when compared to the number of police justifiable homicides.

For private citizens, 40.7% of all justifiable homicide occurred in self-defense and defense of others. More than three-quarters (76.5%) of these occurred in RTC states, while less than one-quarter (23.5%) occurred in non-RTC states. Citizen self-defense comprised 31.1% of all civilian justifiable homicides in RTC states but only 9.5% in non-RTC states.

In RTC states, a firearm was used in 86.9% of all civilian JH, compared to 64.6% in non-RTC states. Private citizens in RTC states defended themselves with a firearm in over one fifth (21.2%) of the total of justifiable civilian homicides, over 5 times the 4.1% for non-RTC states.[5]

Criminals were 27.3% more “successful” in completing violent crime, and 33.3% more “successful” in completing murder attempts, in non-RTC states which highlights the effectiveness of employing a firearm as a self-defense tool (as opposed to becoming a violent crime statistic).

Conclusion

In Right-to-Carry states, private citizens can defend themselves in public. Because the ratio of justifiable homicides by police and citizens is more balanced, and because the level of police defensive justifiable homicide is lower, one can only conclude that armed citizens are quite adept at self-defense; enough to provide a quantifiable level of protection for law enforcement. In non-RTC states, the reduced self-defensive capability of the citizenry correlates with higher rates of violent crime and higher risk to police officers.

Endnotes:

1 - See Uniform Crime Reports page, Federal Bureau of Investigation.
2 - Federal Bureau of Investigation, Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook, revised 2004, page 17.
3 - Derived from Excel spreadsheet compiled from Federal Bureau of Investigation, Supplementary Homicide Report – File Listing 2006: By State Within Group (UCR44300), February 20, 2008. This data is available upon request from the FBI. Email: cjis_comm@leo.gov. Spreadsheet available upon request from author.
4 - Derived from Excel spreadsheet compiled from Federal Bureau of Investigation, Table 5 – Crime in the United States by State, 2006.
Spreadsheet available upon request from author.
5 - Derived from Excel spreadsheet compiled from Federal Bureau of Investigation, Supplementary Homicide Report – File Listing 2006: By State Within Group (UCR44300), February 20, 2008. Spreadsheet available upon request from author.

Howard Nemerov is a “recovering” gun control supporter. He began to research the issue of gun control on his own, and what he found transformed his perspective. Now he writes to help gun owners become better emissaries when talking about gun rights, and to help undecided people understand the underlying principles of the right to self-defense.

Howard is a contributor for the Texas State Rifle Association’s “TSRA Sportsman” and appears frequently on NRA News as an Analyst At Large, talking about gun control and its threat to our way of life and liberty. His new book is “Four Hundred Years of Gun Control: Why Isn’t It Working?” Where the emphasis has been on rhetoric and legislation, this book includes extensive data analysis from neutral and even pro-gun-control sources to determine if the rhetoric is true, and if the laws have worked...after Four Hundred Years.