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License to Kill III

The Texas Concealed Handgun Law's Legacy of Crime and Violence

Introduction

In 1995 the Texas legislature passed a "shall-issue" concealed weapons law—creating a non-discretionary system under which state authorities must provide a concealed handgun license to any applicant who meets specific, objective criteria. Licenses issued under the new law became effective in January 1996.

To receive the standard four-year license, applicants must submit an application—with fingerprints, photograph, proof of age and residency, and $140 fee—to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS). An additional fee is required for the mandatory 10 hours of firearms proficiency training. The DPS then has 60 days in which to conduct a background check on the applicant. At the end of the 60 days the agency must either grant or deny the license. The law stipulates, however, that the DPS may suspend the 60-day "mandatory issuance" period for up to 180 days if more background investigation is warranted.

Unlike "shall-issue" laws passed by other states, the Texas law is unique in that it requires law enforcement agencies to report incidents involving license holders to the Department of Public Safety. Under the law, such reports are required to be made only where a violation regarding illegal carrying or discharge of a firearm has occurred and only when the license holder has been arrested. In practice, a majority of arrests appear to be reported by law enforcement agencies to the licensing authority. Discerning the details of such incidents, however, is extremely difficult because of broad confidentiality provisions contained in the law.1 Yet research conducted by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) reveals that many Texas license holders have been arrested for a wide range of crimes.

According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS),2 Texas concealed handgun license holders3 were arrested for a total of 3,370 crimes from January 1, 1996 to April 30, 2000. Crimes for which license holders were arrested include: murder/attempted murder, kidnapping, rape/sexual assault, assault, weapon-related offenses, drug-related offenses, burglary, and theft. Texas DPS identified an additional 568 non-arrest incidents involving concealed handgun license holders including: delinquent child support, protective orders, non-payment of taxes, medical/mental diagnoses, and suicide.

In January 1998 the Violence Policy Center (VPC) released License to Kill: Arrests Involving Texas Concealed Handgun License Holders. That study analyzed the DPS' concealed handgun license holder arrest data between January 1, 1996 and October 9, 1997 and found that concealed handgun license holders had been arrested for 946 crimes subsequent to licensure. In March 1999, a follow-up study, License to Kill, and Kidnap, and Rape, and Drive Drunk... analyzed arrest data between January 1, 1996 and December 31, 1998 and found that concealed handgun license holders had been arrested for more than 1,000 new crimes. Since the VPC's 1999 study, Texas concealed handgun license holders have been arrested for nearly 1,300 additional crimes. This study is an update of the March 1999 report.

Supporters of "shall-issue" concealed carry laws maintain that only "law-abiding citizens" apply for and receive concealed handgun licenses. At an April 18, 1996 press conference in Dallas, then-National Rifle Association (NRA) head lobbyist Tanya Metaksa asserted, "As we get more information about right-to-carry, our point is made again and again....People who get permits in states which have fair right-to-carry laws are law-abiding, upstanding community leaders who merely seek to exercise their right to self-defense." The NRA has made recent statements in the press that its agenda for next Congress will include a national concealed-weapons law similar to the one in Texas.

This study4 details 3,370 arrests of these "law-abiding" concealed handgun license holders subsequent to licensure, as reported to the Texas DPS. Incidents involving concealed handgun license holders include: 23 charges of murder or attempted murder, 11 alleged kidnapping/false imprisonment incidents, 60 arrests for rape/sexual assault, 183 cases of alleged assault/aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, 752 individuals charged with driving while intoxicated, 41 arrests for indecency with children, 227 alleged drug-related incidents, 100 individuals charged with sexual misconduct, 34 allegations of trespassing/criminal trespassing, eight arrests for arson, and five incidents of suicide or attempted suicide.

VPC analysis of the DPS information reveals that—

  • Texas concealed handgun license holders have been arrested for more than two crimes a day since the law went into effect.

  • Texas concealed handgun license holders have been arrested for nearly two serious violent crimes per month since the law went into effect including: murder/attempted murder, manslaughter/negligent homicide, kidnapping,5 rape, and sexual assault.

  • Texas concealed handgun license holders have been arrested for more than two crimes against children per month since the law went into effect including: sexual assault/aggravated sexual assault on a child, injury to a child, indecency with a child, abandon/endanger a child, solicitation of a minor, and possession or promotion of child pornography.

  • Texas concealed handgun license holders have been arrested for more than three drunk driving offenses per week since the law went into effect.

  • Family violence was identified in one in 20 incidents involving concealed handgun license holders.

  • Texas concealed handgun license holders have been arrested for nearly two weapon-related offenses per day since the law went into effect.

  • From 1996 to 1999, Texas concealed handgun license holders were arrested for weapon-related offenses at a rate 66 percent higher than that of the general population of Texas, aged 21 and older.7


This report consists of four sections—

1) The Texas law's broad confidentiality provision severely limits the department's ability to disclose virtually any information about concealed handgun license holders to the public. The law stipulates that the department may only identify whether an individual currently possesses a license. No information is provided about prior criminal histories, reasons for denial, suspension, or revocation—including crimes committed after licensure. The department does provide a list of arrest incidents involving license holders, but the only identifiers provided by the department are each licensee's date of birth, sex, race, zip code of residence, incident date, arrest text description, and whether the incident involved family violence. The department may not disclose the name of the arrested licensee. Occasionally, news articles covering high-profile incidents will note whether the suspect has a concealed handgun license, but otherwise the public is not alerted to alleged crimes involving license holders. The law's confidentiality provision—which in effect makes concealed handgun license holders a protected, privileged class—makes it extremely difficult to identify flaws in the law and the threat posed by license holders.

2) The Department of Public Safety (DPS) is responsible for administering and reviewing concealed handgun license applications, providing statistical data on concealed handgun license holders, and directing the application and training process for the certified handgun instructors.

3) As of May 2, 2000, there were 211,769 individuals with active concealed handgun licenses—1.6 percent of the state's 1999 adult population aged 21 and older (13,360,321 according to the U.S. Census Bureau in 1999, the most recent year available).

4) In June 2000, the Violence Policy Center (VPC) acquired a list of arrest incidents involving Texas concealed handgun license holders from the DPS. These records list incidents from January 1, 1996 to April 30, 2000.

5) Includes two arrests for false imprisonment and one arrest for unlawful restraint.

6) There were 547 incidents involving concealed handgun license holders in which DPS could not identify whether or not family violence occurred.

7) From 1996 to 1999, according to the DPS's Crime Records/Crime Information Bureau/UCR, 32,304 persons aged 21 and older were arrested for weapon-related offenses (illegal carrying, possession, etc.) in Texas. According to the U.S. Census, in 1999 there were an estimated 13,360,321 adults aged 21 and older in Texas. The weapon-related arrest rate among all Texans aged 21 and older from 1996 to 1999 was 241.8 per 100,000. Arrest records from the DPS list 852 weapon-related arrests among concealed handgun license holders from 1996 to 1999. The weapon-related arrest rate among Texas concealed handgun license holders from 1996 to 1999 was 402.3 per 100,000.

Go to Section One: Arrests of Concealed Handgun License Holders in Texas, January 1, 1996 to April 30, 2000

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The Violence Policy Center is a national non-profit educational organization 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.






All contents © 2000 Violence Policy Center