Press Releases

For Release: Thursday, May 3, 2012 Fourth Edition of Violence Policy Center Study “American Roulette” Estimates 12 Murder-Suicides Occur Each Week in U.S., Vast Majority With Guns WASHINGTON, DC–At least 691 Americans died in 313 murder-suicides during the first six months of 2011 with the vast majority (89.5 percent) involving a firearm, according to the fourth edition of the Violence Policy Center’s (VPC) study “American Roulette: Murder-Suicide in the United States” (vpc.org/studies/amroul2012.pdf). Using these figures, the…

For Release: Tuesday, May 1, 2012 Washington, DC–From July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, 38 lives were ended by Michigan concealed handgun permit holders in non-self defense deaths according to the April update of the Violence Policy Center’s (VPC) Concealed Carry Killers on-line resource (http://concealedcarrykillers.org). The Michigan concealed handgun permit deaths are comprised of: five pending criminal homicides (including the murder of a law enforcement officer); four criminal homicide convictions; and 29 suicides. With these latest additions,…

For Release: Thursday, April 26, 2012 Washington, D.C.–The vast majority of the firearms seized in Mexico between 2007 and 2011 and traced by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) came from the United States according to new ATF trace data released today. According ATF, “Trace information shows that between calendar years 2007 and 2011 the Government of Mexico recovered and submitted more than 99,000 firearms to ATF for tracing. Of those firearms…

For Release: Monday, April 23, 2012 States with Strong Gun Laws and Low Rates of Gun Ownership Have Lowest Firearm Death Rates Washington, DC—States with low gun ownership rates and strong gun laws have the lowest rates of gun death according to a new analysis by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) of 2009 national data (the most recent available) from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The…

For Release: Wednesday, April 11, 2012 Vast Majority of Missouri Black Homicide Victims Killed with Guns, State’s Black Homicide Victimization Rate of 34.72 Per 100,000 is Seven Times National Overall Homicide Rate of 4.76 per 100,000 Washington, DC–Missouri suffers the worst black homicide victimization rate in the nation, yet this weekend in St. Louis the National Rifle Association (NRA) will hold its annual celebration of guns at its annual meeting and firearms industry gun exposition. According…

For Release: Monday, April 2, 2012 Study Contains Gun Industry, NRA Quotes; Examples of Gun Industry Ads Including Kel-Tec Pistol Used In Trayvon Martin Shooting Washington, DC–The lethal shooting of unarmed, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by concealed handgun permit holder George Zimmerman is the predictable result of an aggressive decades-long campaign by the National Rifle Association (NRA) to promote lax concealed carry laws and attendant “Shoot First” laws that boost gun industry sales according to a new…

For Release: Thursday, March 22, 2012 U.S. Senate May Soon Consider Legislation to Allow Trayvon Martin’s Killer and Other Concealed Carry Permit Holders to Carry Their Guns Nationwide Washington, DC–The deadly shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman is unfortunately only one example of at least 402 victims killed in 32 states since May 2007 in incidents involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns according to the March update of the Violence Policy Center’s…

For Release: Thursday, February 16, 2012 Washington, DC–At least 391 people, including 11 law enforcement officers, have been killed in incidents not ruled self-defense involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns according to the February update of the Violence Policy Center’s (VPC) Concealed Carry Killers on-line resource (http://concealedcarrykillers.org). VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “Like clockwork, each month the number of innocent victims killed by concealed handgun permit holders continues to mount. Concealed carry…

For Release: Wednesday, January 25, 2012 State’s Black Homicide Victimization Rate of 34.72 Per 100,000 is Seven Times National Overall Homicide Rate of 4.76 per 100,000 Washington, DC–Missouri leads the nation in the rate of black homicide victimization for the second year in a row according to a new analysis of unpublished Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The annual study, “Black Homicide Victimization…

For Release: Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Annual Study Compares Rates of Homicide Victimization for Californians Ages 10 to 24 by County, Race, Ethnicity, Weapon Used, Circumstance, and Location  WASHINGTON, DC–Monterey County’s young people suffer a murder rate that leads all California counties and is nearly three times the overall state rate for the same age range, according to “Lost Youth: A County-by-County Analysis of 2010 California Homicide Victims Ages 10 to 24,” a study analyzing unpublished…

For Release: Friday, January 6, 2012 Washington, DC–As gun violence prevention supporters begin holding vigils across America marking the January 8th one-year anniversary of the mass shooting in Tucson, Arizona, that claimed six lives and wounded 13 others, including U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), the Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released More Guns, More Shootings, (vpc.org/studies/moreguns.pdf) a new analysis of fatal and non-fatal gunshot injuries showing that the total number of people shot in the United States…

For Release: Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Permit Holders Continue to Kill Innocent Victims, Including 11 Law Enforcement Officers  Non-Self Defense Deaths Involving Private Citizens Legally Allowed to Carry Concealed Handguns Hit 385 According to VPC’s Concealed Carry Killers Project  Washington, DC–Today the U.S. House of Representatives approved a bill (H.R. 822) to nationalize the carrying of concealed handguns. The vote comes only three days after an emotionally disturbed man with a concealed handgun permit shot at two California…

For Release: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Non-Self Defense Deaths Involving Private Citizens Legally Allowed to Carry Concealed Handguns Hit 385–VPC Concealed Carry Killers October Update Washington, DC–As the House Judiciary Committee today voted to approve a bill (H.R. 822) to nationalize the carrying of concealed handguns, Violence Policy Center (VPC) research shows that since May 2007 at least 385 people–including 11 law enforcement officers–have been killed in incidents not ruled self-defense involving private citizens legally allowed…

For Release: Monday, October 24, 2011 Alaska, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Wyoming Have Highest Gun Death Rates  Washington, DC–States with higher gun ownership rates and weak gun laws have the highest rates of gun death according to a new analysis by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) of just-released 2008 national data (the most recent available) from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. The analysis reveals that the…

For Release: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 State Has Held Top Spot for Four of the Last Five Years WASHINGTON, DC–Nevada, with a rate of 2.70 per 100,000, ranked first in the nation in the rate of women killed by men for the second year in a row according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) report “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data” (https://vpc.org/studies/wmmw2011.pdf). The state has held the top position for four…

For Release: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 WASHINGTON, DC–Black females murdered by men are most often killed with a gun, almost always by someone they know, according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) report “When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2009 Homicide Data” (https://vpc.org/studies/wmmw2011.pdf). The annual VPC report details national and state-by-state information on female homicides involving one female murder victim and one male offender. The study uses the most recent data available from the…

For Release: Friday, September 9, 2011 Non-Self Defense Deaths Involving Private Citizens Legally Allowed to Carry Concealed Handguns Hit 381–VPC Concealed Carry Killers September Update  Washington, DC–As a U.S. House subcommittee prepares to hold a scheduled hearing this coming Tuesday on a bill (H.R. 822) to nationalize the carrying of concealed handguns, Violence Policy Center (VPC) research shows that since May 2007 at least 381 people–including 11 law enforcement officers–have been killed in incidents not ruled…

For Release: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 Washington, DC–At least 370 people, including 11 law enforcement officers, have been killed in incidents not ruled self-defense involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns according to the July/August update of the Violence Policy Center’s (VPC) Concealed Carry Killers on-line resource (http://concealedcarrykillers.org). VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “The known death toll from lax concealed carry laws continues to mount. The real death count is undoubtedly far higher…

For Release: Friday, July 15, 2011 Bill is Critical to Efforts to Prevent the Trafficking of Military-Style Firearms to Drug Organizations in Mexico Washington, D.C.–Today at a Capitol Hill press conference, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) strongly endorsed legislation introduced by Representatives Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Elijah Cummings (D-MD) to help stem the flood of military-style firearms from the United States to Mexico and other countries in the Western Hemisphere. The bill would create a federal…

For Release:  Tuesday, July 5, 2011 Washington, DC–At least 319 people, including 11 law enforcement officers, have been killed in incidents not ruled self-defense involving private citizens legally allowed to carry concealed handguns according to the June update of the Violence Policy Center’s (VPC) Concealed Carry Killers on-line resource (http://concealedcarrykillers.org). New cases include: a mass shooter in Arizona who killed five during an hours-long shooting spree before taking his own life; a Tennessee concealed handgun…