Pittsburgh Fitness Center Attack Only Most Recent Mass Shooting Committed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holder

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 Violence Policy Center (VPC) research. According to the Allegheny County Police as reported by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Sodini had a permit to carry weapons.

These six mass shootings by known concealed handgun permit holders have claimed 26 innocent lives. An additional 16 people were injured. In three of the incidents, including the most recent Pittsburgh shooting, the shooter took his own life. One of the incidents--which also occurred in Pittsburgh--claimed the lives of three law enforcement officers.

“Concealed handgun permits were promoted by the gun lobby as a mechanism to arm ‘law abiding’ citizens who, in theory, would prevent mass shootings. Instead, the hard facts demonstrate that concealed handgun permit holders don’t prevent mass shootings, they perpetrate them,” said Kristen Rand, legislative director of the Violence Policy Center and author of a July 2009 VPC study documenting killings by concealed handgun permit holders, Law Enforcement and Private Citizens Killed by Concealed Handgun Permit Holders: An Analysis of News Reports, May 2007 to April 2009, http://www.vpc.org/studies/ccw2009.pdf, as well as a recent update to the study, http://www.vpc.org/studies/ccw2009update.pdf.

The Pittsburgh mass shooting comes on the heels of the U.S. Senate’s rejection on July 22nd of a gun lobby amendment to create a nationalized concealed handgun permit system. The amendment, sponsored by Senator John Thune (R-SD), would have forced states that issue concealed handgun permits to recognize permits issued by any other state. In this case, it would have allowed Sodini to carry his concealed handgun, and commit his mass murder, in any of the other 47 states that issue concealed carry permits--without any regard for the much tougher standards for permit issuance that many states, such as New York and California, have in place.

“This has reached the level of madness,” adds Rand, “states run bureaucracies to give out permits to people who commit mass shootings--how is that rational, much less good public policy? This Pittsburgh incident alone should supply the impetus for states to repeal these dangerous laws.”

The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational foundation that conducts research on violence in America and works to develop violence-reduction policies and proposals. The Center examines the role of firearms in America, conducts research on firearms violence, and explores new ways to decrease firearm-related death and injury.