Civilians are Safer than Police

I respect my friends in the gun culture, but gun-control politicians sure don’t.  Politicians put the police on a pedestal and throw civilians under the bus.  These politicians write gun laws that often exempt the police or demand that civilians match the standards set for police.  I don’t know what is so special about law enforcement officers that civilian gun owners should imitate them.  In fact, the gun grabbing politicians have it backwards.  Civilians with a concealed carry license are more responsible and law abiding than cops based on the data.  These civilians obey laws in general, and firearms laws in particular, better than the police.  Said another way, society would be safer if the police were able to match the record set by civilians with concealed carry licenses.  Police have a difficult job, but that isn’t what politicians tell us.

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Civilians, not the police, are the usual targets of crime.  Ordinary civilians are violently attacked a few million times each year.  We could save thousands of victims if we make civilians even slightly safer.  The average criminal leaves a score of victim’s before the criminal finally meets a police officer.  Stated precisely, civilians have many contacts with criminals, and therefore need to defend themselves.  Armed civilians don’t shoot criminals very often despite the vast number of contacts.  That makes sense and is an important point.  It is true that each policeman meets more criminals than the average civilian, so law enforcement officers give us a good point of reference about self-defense. 

Policemen are very glad they can protect themselves with a firearm even though, fortunately, they will probably never have to shoot someone during their entire career.  That brings two things to mind.  First, I want law enforcement officers to have all the tools they need for their own safety.  Second, I’m glad the police seldom have to use lethal force.

Civilians deserve the same range of options, particularly since they encounter criminals twenty to thirty times more often than the police.  Fortunately for the armed citizen, criminals are consistent in one regard.  Few criminals press their attack when they face an armed victim just as most criminals stop when faced by an armed police officer.  For the civilian, presenting a weapon in the face of an immediate violent threat is enough to stop most criminals.  Gun control politicians ignore that fact and tell us we would be safer if we were helpless victims.  Most Americans know better and protect themselves.

Because armed citizen’s encounter so many criminals, over two million each year, civilians shoot and kill more criminals than do the police. 

Every Day and No Days Off

This is astounding because civilians and police have very different roles and training.  The police want to apprehend a criminal while the citizen simply wants the criminal to go away.  Permit holders and police are trained differently; police are trained to control the encounter while civilians are trained to retreat from a potentially violent situation.  Even though lethal encounters are rare, civilians are forced to defend themselves with lethal force more often than police because of their very large number of criminal contacts.  From that point of view, it is the ordinary civilian who lives on the cutting edge of self-defense.

It is a strong testament to human nature and good firearms training that armed civilians do the right thing so often.   The trained law enforcement officer is over five times more likely to shoot the wrong person than a concealed permit holders, 11 percent versus 2 percent.  The reason is simple.  You know who belongs in your home and, unfortunately, the police don’t.

The gun control politician doesn’t talk about that.  They don’t mention when the police shoot an unarmed and innocent hostage.  They don’t mention when the Philadelphia police shoot seven people in a week and kill four of them.

 Some states and the District of Columbia propose that gun owners must carry firearms liability insurance.  Based on real data, the price of that insurance should be much higher for police officers than for CCW holders.  I’ll go further and argue that permit holders should be paid since they reduce the overall level of crime more effectively than police.

Yes, permit  holders are more law abiding than police.  They have a lower rate of conviction for alcohol, firearms or assault than police. 

Link to Data Source

Note in this graph civilians are more law abiding than the police for sexual assault and homicide.  The crime rate for police is very similar to the general population for other crimes.  In contrast, permit holders in North Carolina commit violent crimes with a firearm 82 percent less often than the average citizen and are convicted of a DUI 85 percent less often than the general population.  I can’t find data for every state and every crime.  But  Texas permit holders are much safer too.  The gun-control politicians don’t tell us that and implies that citizens licensed to carry are dangerous.

What the politicians say is important.  Disarmed civilians are shot in Washington, DC (video) where civilians are not allowed to carry firearms in public.  Disarmed citizens are murdered in Chicago (video).  Some are even shot in gun-free New York city.  The gun laws that gun-grabbing politicians want to spread across the US will lead to more deaths.

That is wrong.  We should save lives instead.  I have no tolerance for gun-grabbers who condemn licensed carry and so lead us to more murders.

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Rob, the life saver.

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