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Texans Protect Texans
William Zimmerman
610 Ellen Ct.
Temple, TX 76501
czimmer@wczimmerman.dyndns.org
October 22, 2001
The Honorable Rick Perry
Governor of Texas
1100 San Jacinto St.
Austin, TX 78701
Governor Perry:
An article in Saturday's Star-Telegram concerning concealed firearms in the
Capitol has prompted me to write this letter. I appreciate your levelheaded
response to what some are calling a "major loophole" in security,
and it is my intent to give you the information you need to allay their concerns.
I urge you, as Governor of the great State of Texas, to take the leadership
role in protecting the rights of your fellow Texans first and foremost, and
secondly, to provide the only means to ensure true security in this state.
For your reference, the article can be read here: http://web.startelegram.com/content/fortworth/2001/10/20/state/fw010401-1020-XB005-3.htm
Let me begin by stating that Texas has some of the most thorough concealed carry
permit laws in this country. While this does make it difficult to attain the
permit, it also shows the caliber of the person's character that obtains it.
That individual is screened at the local, county, state and federal levels.
If there is so much as a single disorderly conduct on their record, the permit
will be denied. This level of scrutiny is found nowhere else but in this process.
CHL (Concealed Handgun License for the remainder of this letter) holders are
more thoroughly checked than our own police-the same ones that would offer security
to the Capitol building. Now, which would you rather protecting you in the Capitol:
a handful of lightly screened police officers, or tens/hundreds of model citizens
that have been trained in the use of their handguns? Remember, the police, especially
in uniform, cannot be everywhere and generally stand out like a sore thumb.
But CHL holders are in the crowds, and can be everywhere, and will see an act
of crime and act appropriately within seconds. Those seconds, Governor Perry,
can be the difference between life and death for the criminal's intended target.
But enough of this, permit me now to list for you known facts concerning CHL
holders:
1. The crime rate involving a gun owner with a carry permit have consistently
been about 0.02% of carry permit holders since Florida's right-to-carry law
started in 1989. (Florida Department of Justice, 1998)
2. The serious crime rate in Texas fell 50% faster than the national average
after a concealed carry law was passed in 1995. (Ibid)
3. In Texas, citizens with concealed carry permits are 14 times less likely
to commit a crime. They are also five times less likely to commit a violent
crime. (Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Census Bureau, reported
in San Antonio Express-News, September, 2000)
4. People with concealed carry licenses
are:
5.7 times less likely to be arrested for violent
offenses than the general public
13.5 times less likely to be arrested for nonviolent offenses than the general
public
(William Strdevant, unpublished study reported in August 2000 edition of Americas
1st Freedom)
5. There are not enough police to
protect everyone. Currently, there are about 150,000 police officers on duty
at any one time. This is on-duty police. This includes desk clerks, command
sergeants, etc. far fewer than 150,000 cops are cruising your neighborhood.
There are approximately 271,933,702 people living in the United States. Thus
there is only one on-duty cop for every 1,813 citizens! (US Justice Department,
1998)
6. Armed citizens kill more crooks than do the police. Citizens shoot and kill
at least twice as many criminals as police do every year (1,527 to 606). (Kleck,
Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, (1991):111-116, 148.)
7. Readers of Newsweek learned that "only 2 percent of civilian shootings
involved an innocent person mistakenly identified as a criminal. The error rate
for the police, however, was 11 percent, more than five times as high."
(George F. Will, Are We a Nation of Cowards?, Newsweek (15 November 1993):93.)
Governor Perry, this is only the very tip of the iceberg when it comes to hard
evidence that CHL holders are safe and provide security to those around them.
By eliminating the Capitol as a place CHL holders may carry within, you will
be creating instead a "criminal-safe" zone. The criminals will know
that there will be little to no resistance in that location, and as such, it
will become an easy target. I again urge you to uphold your oath of office,
and contact Land Commissioner David Dewherst and relay this important information
to him. Please feel free to use this information to counter the emotional and
irrational arguments brought by some in the legislature to make the Capitol
safe for criminals. Instead, we need to look into removing the roadblocks that
prevent the citizens of this state from exercising their right to defend themselves
regardless of their location. We need to open up more locations where a CHL
holder may carry.
Thank you for your time in regarding
this important matter. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
William Zimmerman
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