Posted on 05/20/2015 8:41:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
George Zimmerman, the former neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager in Sanford, Fla., three years ago was involved in another shooting in the Sunshine State, again raises questions about concealed carry permits and the billion-dollar gun industry that advocates for legislation aimed at making it easier for Americans to carry firearms everywhere, all of the time.
Matthew Apperson of Winter Springs, Fla., who said that Zimmerman threatened him following a road rage incident last year, claimed that he was acting in self-defense when he fired a single shot through the passenger side window of the truck that Zimmerman was driving.
Last Friday, police charged Apperson with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and firing a deadly missile into an occupied vehicle, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
The dispute with Apperson follows a series of events where Zimmerman has been accused of threatening people with guns. In September 2013, just a few months after Zimmerman was acquitted of second-degree murder, his estranged wife and her father said that Zimmerman threatened them with a gun and in November 2013, Zimmerman’s then-girlfriend accused him of threatening her with a shotgun.
The Orlando Sentinel reported that Don West, Zimmerman’s lawyer, said that his client was armed and but didn’t wave the gun or shoot at anyone during the altercation with Apperson. West added that Zimmerman has a concealed weapons permit and often travels with a gun for protection.
Despite the self-defense claims propped up by the supporters of concealed carry laws, the Violence Policy Center (VPC), a nonprofit group that seeks to address gun violence as a public health crisis, concealed carry permits holders are more likely to kill themselves or others during non-self defense events.
The center tracks fatalities associated with concealed carry gun permit holders at ConcealedCarryKillers.org and found that 743 people have been killed, including 17 law enforcement officers.
“In the vast majority of the 561 incidents documented (468, or 83 percent), the concealed carry permit holder either committed suicide (222), has already been convicted (184), perpetrated a murder-suicide (46), or was killed in the incident (16),” stated a press release about the website.
More than 70 people have been killed in Florida alone by concealed carry gun permit holders.
In a press release about ConcealedCarryKillers.org, Kristen Rand, the legislative director of VPC, said that research shows that concealed carry permit holders are involved in murders or suicides far more often than they act in self-defense. Rand added: “The NRA is relentlessly lobbying state and federal lawmakers to allow more concealed handguns in public despite the clear evidence that doing so puts more people in danger.”
Still no outrage over the 30-40k who die each year in automobile tragedies?
Circulation, 3,480 copies per week.
Its pedigree is equally impressive.
There are about 12-15 million concealed carriers that have permits in the United States now.
If you add up the VPC statistics and look at actual murders vs. numbers of concealed carriers per year, concealed carriers have a murder rate far lower than the regular population, far lower than police.
The murder rate for CCW carriers is lower than that of most disarmed European Countries.
Maybe they could publish an article detailing how many are killed by perps who should have been in jail at the time.
70 over how many years?
With all the Negro uprisings this year, and with the
mohammedan cockroaches coming out of the woodwork,
these sort of stories validate my resolve concerning
my self-preservation.
Begs a couple questions:How many were killed by illegally possessed guns by thugs?
How many innocent lives were saved by the good guys vs. the bad guys>
How exactly does having a concealed carry permit make it easier to kill yourself?
This really isn't about CCW, the real goal is confiscation.
If someone at the Savopoios (sp) house in DC had a concealed gun, 4 people would be alive, and 2 girls would have their parents and brother still.
If I’m not mistaken, the New Pittsburgh Courier is a black paper.
Two of your three quotes are inaccurately attributed. Only the Jefferson one is accurate.
Doesn’t mean the sentiments aren’t true, of course.
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