Gun-free dining in Tennesee

[spin]

11. I see your point but ...

Several states such as Texas and Florida keep records on crime committed by those who have carry permits.

Florida has had "shall issue" concealed carry since October of 1987. In that nearly 26 year period of time it has issued 2,400,338 concealed weapons permits of which 1,052,716 are currently valid. A total of 7,436 licenses have been revoked for a variety of reasons, but only 168 have been revoked because of a crime committed after the license was issued that involved the use of a firearm.
(Ref: http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/stats/cw_monthly.pdf)

The statistics from Texas show similar results and can be viewed at: http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/rsd/chl/reports/convrates.htm

But of course the Florida statistic I used only involves the criminal misuse of a firearm by a permit holder. To my knowledge no statistics have been gathered that show how many times a person with a carry permit has shot another person in legitimate self defense. What I have read shows that occasionally a person does shoot an attacker who intends to inflict serious injury or to kill, but more frequently the attacker breaks off his attack and runs when he finds himself facing an armed honest citizen. I personally know of several instances where a co-worker of mine faced an individual armed with a knife or a tire iron and the fact that he was armed stopped an attack. Still this is only anecdotal evidence and I will admit that I was not present to witness the incident.

The national media very willing to publicize any incident in which a person with a carry permit wrongly shoots another as shown by the Zimmerman/ Martin shooting. It's rare to read of a story in which an individual with a carry permit legitimately shoots another person except in the local news. However if a person with a carry permit has an accidental discharge in public it often gains national attention. Usually they manage to shoot themselves, destroy a toilet or a ricochet injures a bystander. This is fairly rare and usually is the result of what you call a "bubba" not using a holster, not using a proper quality holster designed for the handgun or simply foolishly playing with the weapon. Well trained police officers seem to have more accidents with their firearms than do people with concealed carry licenses who have had firearms safety training. To be fair to the police, they carry their weapons on a daily basis while many people with carry permits do so infrequently. In any significantly large group of people, you will always find a few fools.

The statistics that I have found seem to show that there is very little to sweep under the rug. Overall it does appear that the overwhelming majority of those with carry permits handle their weapons in a responsible and safe manner.