Real data refuting anti-gunners appearing in major newspapers
February 15, 2008

by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor

In the Feb. 1 issue of Gun Week we featured a story by Dave Workman that reported on Michigan data for the past six years showing that since the state enacted a shall issue concealed pistol licensing (CPL) law crime has gone down and there have been fewer gun deaths. Most of this data was first reported by The Detroit Free Press, one of many newspapers in the Wolverine State that had heavily reported anti-gunner claims that enactment of the CPL law would increase both crime and gun-related deaths. If memory serves me right, The Free Press and many of its colleagues took editorial positions against passage of the shall issue law, predicting “blood-in-the-streets” and “Wild West shoot-outs.”

As Workman reported in the last issue, The Free Press data confirm that with more than 155,000 Michiganders now licensed to carry concealed, the state’s crime rate is down, its gun crime rate is down, its suicide rate is down and its fatal gun accident rate is down.

The Michigan data parallels the findings of John Lott in his seminal county-by-county nationwide research published in More Guns=Less Crime. The Free Press report also quoted several police officials who had previously opposed the law now admitting that they were wrong.

What’s particularly worth noting is that the general media have not been as aggressive in reporting defensive uses of firearms as they have been with gun-related slayings. But now, they seem to be focusing not only on data supporting defensive uses of firearms, but are reporting that ‘Castle Doctrine’ laws also work. Such evidence has appeared recently in Texas and Tennessee.

In its Jan. 20, 2008 issue, The Dallas Morning News reported some recent cases from the Dallas area and around the country. Earlier, on Jan. 9, The Memphis Commercial Appeal has reported on an increased number of justifiable homicides in that area during 2007.

Memphis Report
The Commercial Appeal led by reporting that the number of justifiable homicides nearly tripled from 2006 to 2007 in Memphis. And after saying, “No one is sure why, but one man has a theory” it quoted Tom Givens, owner and instructor at the firearms training school RangeMaster.

“The thugs have started running into people who can protect themselves,” said Givens in the third line of the story.

Then Chris Conley, author of The Commercial Appeal story which was also syndicated nationwide by Scripps-Howard, balanced it somewhat by reporting that police detectives and prosecutors don’t think it’s that simple.

“It’s hard to put your finger on it,” said police Lt. Joseph Scott. “There are more handgun carry permits, there is more education, but you can’t say that’s the reason.”

However, Conley next noted:

“More people are getting carry permits, and more people know their rights. As many as 35,000 people in Shelby County (which includes Memphis) have carry permits, which means they have had some training on the laws governing self-defense.

The education, Givens says, is “trickling down” to friends and family members.

Of the 164 homicides in 2007, 32 were ruled justified as legal acts of self-defense. The 2006 number was 11, The Commercial Appeal reported.

Consequently, criminal homicides are down. There were 131 in 2007, compared to 150 in 2006.

The spike in justifiable homicides in Memphis may just be an aberration, experts say.

There were somewhat fewer gang killings in 2007, which are less likely to be viewed as justified. There were fewer beating deaths, which, again, are rarely justifiable.

There were somewhat more deadly shootings by law enforcement officers in 2007, four by Memphis police, including one by an officer assigned to a federal fugitive task force; one by a Shelby County sheriff’s deputy; and one by a University of Tennessee officer. All were found to be what internal affairs investigators term “good shoots.”

The law hasn’t changed in any real way, despite a flurry of headline-grabbing bills introduced by legislators last year.

Tennessee law gives residents the right to defend themselves if they have a reasonable and imminent fear of harm from a carjacker, rapist, burglar or other violent assailant. They can also employ deadly force to protect another.

And while a diminishing number of states require residents to avoid a confrontation before using deadly force, Tennessee does not have such a “retreat law.”

When someone claims self-defense, it is the burden of the prosecutors to refute that claim.

Dallas Report
The Dallas Morning News story began with the statement “Lethal force against intruders was widely used in America long before the rise of castle laws, and police today report cases across the country whether or not such laws are in place.”

But the newspaper went directly into revisiting several recent cases of justifiable self-defense shootings, six from Dallas proper, another from elsewhere in Texas and selected four more from reports all around the country.

One of the Dallas cases cited involved a businessman who shot and killed two suspected burglars in separate incidents over a three-week period when they attempted to break into his West Dallas business.

James Walton, owner of Able Walton Machine & Welding, was alerted to an intruder Oct. 14 when his motion-sensor alarm sounded. Walton, 70, who lives at his business, went downstairs with his shotgun and fired at a man who had broken in. The intruder, Jimmy Gannon of nearby Ferris, was taken to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where he died of his wounds.

On Sept. 22, Walton shot and killed a man he saw climbing through a pried-open window at his business. The intruder was later identified as Raul Laureles.

In both cases, a Dallas County grand jury declined to indict Mr. Walton.

One of the ironic other cases cited came from Houston, where state Rep. Borris Miles—who had voted against Texas’ castle law—shot and wounded a man he said was trying to steal copper from his new home in July. Miles was upstairs in the home, then still under construction, when he heard noise downstairs. He found two men cutting pipes. When he yelled, one threw a pocketknife, and Miles, who has a concealed-handgun permit, shot the man in the leg. He was not charged in the case.

Defense against Animals
Gender and age also play an important role in determining whether a newspaper reports on the defensive use of firearms. For example, in early January, The Rapid City Journal reported how 80-year-old Martha Smith shot a mountain lion in the yard of her Fairburn, SD, ranch late one afternoon.

According to The Journal, when Smith looked outside her window in the fading light and saw her Border collie facing off with a snarling mountain lion, she acted.

Smith grabbed her .22-caliber rifle, walked outside and fired a shot at the lion. She missed, since she hadn’t fired the rifle much in years.

Smith went back inside and called 911, but the dispatcher had trouble finding someone from Game, Fish & Parks (GF&P) to come out right away and take care of the lion.

So Smith grabbed the .22 again and went back outside where Bo was keeping the lion at bay. She walked to within about 20 or 25 feet of the lion and fired. She hit him with that shot. The lion jumped up, ran a short distance and dropped to the ground.

I added the last story to remind readers that personal defense encounters often involve dangerous animals and not just aggressive criminals. And thus ends the lesson for all who will learn. It’s nice to know that at least some newspapers are now treating gun issue stories with greater objectivity.
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