Press Releases

For Release:  Tuesday, January 12, 2010 Findings Decimate False Assertion by Bill Sponsor Steve Knight That Lax Concealed Weapons Laws Have Not Resulted In “Problems or Crimes by Permit Holders” Washington, DC–Concealed handgun permit holders have killed at least nine law enforcement officers in addition to 108 private citizens (including 13 shooters who killed themselves after an attack) since May 2007 according to the latest monthly update of Concealed Carry Killers, a Violence Policy Center…

For Release: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 Washington, DC–Concealed handgun permit holders have killed at least nine law enforcement officers and 98 private citizens (including 12 shooters who killed themselves after an attack) since May 2007 according to the latest update of Concealed Carry Killers, a Violence Policy Center (VPC) on-line resource that tallies news reports of such killings. The web site, located at http://concealedcarrykillers.org, is updated monthly to include new fatal shootings since May 2007 by concealed…

For Release: Thursday, November 19, 2009 Washington, DC–In a letter sent today to the White House, America’s six national gun violence prevention (GVP) organizations–the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Violence Policy Center, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Freedom States Alliance, Legal Community Against Violence, and States United to Prevent Gun Violence–as well as 21 state and regional GVP groups strongly urged President Barack Obama to use his executive powers to ban the import into the…

For Release: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 Washington, DC–Concealed handgun permit holders killed eight law enforcement officers and 77 private citizens (including 10 shooters who killed themselves after an attack) during the period May 2007 through October 2009 according to a new Violence Policy Center (VPC) on-line resource that tallies news reports of such killings. The web site, CCW Killers, is located at http://concealedcarrykillers.org and is updated monthly to include new fatal shootings and changes in the legal…

For Release: Friday, November 6, 2009 Washington, DC–Following yesterday’s shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, leaving 13 dead and 28 injured, two of America’s leading national gun violence prevention organizations Freedom States Alliance and the Violence Policy Center–issued the following joint statement: “Our sympathies go to all those affected by this terrible tragedy. “The handguns used in yesterday’s rampage shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, demonstrate the deadly firepower available to any American–whether that person is a…

For Release: Tuesday, September 22, 2009 WASHINGTON, DC–Louisiana, with a rate of 2.53 per 100,000, ranked first in the nation in the rate of women killed by men according to the new Violence Policy Center (VPC) report When Men Murder Women: An Analysis of 2007 Homicide Data. 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…

For Release: Thursday, August 6, 2009 At Least 26 People Have Been Killed in Recent Mass Shootings Committed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders Washington, DC–George Sodini, the man who opened fire on Tuesday at a Pittsburgh health club killing three women and wounding nine others–including the pregnant fitness instructor–before turning a gun on himself, is at least the sixth person licensed to carry a concealed handgun to commit a mass shooting since May 2007, according to…

For Release: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 Washington, DC–Following today’s Senate vote defeating the Thune Amendment, which would have created a nationalized concealed handgun permitting system, the Violence Policy Center issued the following statement by VPC Legislative Director Kristen Rand: “Today’s Senate vote is a victory for those who support a sane national gun policy. “Concealed carry permit holders have already killed police officers, murdered innocent citizens, and committed mass shootings. “The Thune Amendment would have nullified…

 For Release: Monday, July 20, 2009 31 Incidents Result in Criminal Charges or Suicide of Concealed Handgun Permit Holder Washington, DC–Concealed handgun permit holders killed at least seven police officers and 44 private citizens in 31 incidents during the period May 2007 through April 2009 according to a new study (https://vpc.org/studies/ccw2009.pdf) released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). Five of the incidents were mass shootings resulting in the deaths of 23 victims. The release of…

For Release: Monday, July 13, 2009 Washington, DC–America’s major gun violence prevention organizations–Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Freedom States Alliance, Legal Community Against Violence, States United to Prevent Gun Violence, and Violence Policy Center–today issued the following joint statement expressing their outrage that legislation could be considered this week in the U.S. Senate to dramatically weaken state regulations concerning the carrying of concealed handguns in public: “S. 845, the erroneously…

For Release: Thursday, June 18, 2009 Traced Guns Have Become “Increasingly More Powerful and Lethal in Recent Years” Washington, D.C.–More than 90 percent of the firearms seized in Mexico and traced by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) over the last three years came from the United States, according to a new report released today by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). The study also found that according to U.S. and Mexican…

For Release: Friday, May 15, 2009 Washington, D.C.–By holding its annual convention in Phoenix, Arizona this weekend, the National Rifle Association (NRA) meets in a state that ranks sixth in the nation for overall gun death and in a city where gun dealers have been cited as sources for the illegally trafficked firearms that feed gun violence on the U.S-Mexico border, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) stated today. Josh Sugarmann, VPC executive director and author of…

For Release: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Louisiana, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, and Nevada 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 2006 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: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 Nearly Two-Thirds of Guns Obtained by Traffickers in Cases Studied Were Semiautomatic Assault Weapons, Armor-Piercing Handguns, or 50 Caliber Sniper Rifles Washington, D.C.–U.S. court records from southwestern states clearly show that illegal gun traffickers involved in smuggling firearms to Mexico seek semiautomatic assault weapons, armor-piercing handguns, and 50 caliber anti-armor sniper rifles from U.S. gun shops according to a new report released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). For…

For Release: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 Study of Gun-Trafficking Problem Concludes President Obama and Attorney General Holder Could Use 1968 Law to Immediately Stop Import into U.S. of AK-47s and Other Assault Weapons Smuggled to Mexico Washington, D.C.—The Violence Policy Center (VPC) today released Iron River: Gun Violence and Illegal Firearms Trafficking on the U.S.-Mexico Border, a comprehensive study of how the U.S. civilian firearms market contributes to the ongoing drug-related violence in Mexico. The report…

For Release: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 Bush Administration Abandoned Enforcement of Existing Law that Could Help Stop the Proliferation and Smuggling of Military-Style Guns Favored by Mexican Drug Cartels Washington, D.C.—The Obama Administration could act immediately to stop the import into the U.S. of AK-47-type assault rifles that have become one of the favored weapons of Mexican drug cartels, Violence Policy Center (VPC) Legislative Director Kristen Rand told a Congressional subcommittee today. For a copy of…

For Release: Thursday, March 12, 2009 Weak Regulation, Proliferation of Military-Style Guns “Fit Like Gloves on the Bloody Hands of Drug Lords” Washington, D.C.–Weak regulation of the U.S. civilian gun market and the gun industry’s focus on increasingly lethal military-style firearms have combined to fuel the drug war in Mexico and violence in the United States, Violence Policy Center (VPC) Senior Policy Analyst Tom Diaz told a Congressional subcommittee today. For a copy of Diaz’s testimony,…

For Release: Wednesday, March 11, 2009 Washington, DC–Following yesterday’s assault weapon rampage shooting in Alabama leaving 11 dead including the shooter, America’s leading national gun violence prevention organizations–Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Freedom States Alliance, Legal Community Against Violence, States United to Prevent Gun Violence, and Violence Policy Center– issued the following joint statement: “Our sympathies go to all those affected by this terrible tragedy. “The guns used in yesterday’s…

For Release: Thursday, February 26, 2009 Includes Statewide Survey of Local Law Enforcement Agencies on Guns and Gang Violence Data Collection Washington, DC—”The issue of youth gang violence and firearms is defined far more by what is not known, than what is known,” according to a new 57-page study released today by the Violence Policy Center (VPC). The study, Youth Gang Violence and Guns: Data Collection in California, comprehensively reviews California databases containing gang and/or gun…

For Release: Monday, January 26, 2009 State’s Black Homicide Rate of 36.86 Per 100,000 is Nearly Seven Times National Overall Homicide Rate of 5.38 per 100,000 Washington, DC—Pennsylvania leads the nation in the rate of black homicide victimization 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 in the United States: An Analysis of 2006…