Print edition: 
Phil Journey, former Kansas state senator, current Sedgwick County District Court judge and full-time gun advocate, is apparently ready to declare victory in the battle over concealed carry.
Opponents of the 3-year-old law, Journey told The Eagle, "generally raised the specter of people shooting each other over car wrecks or parking spaces... and that has not come true in Kansas or any other states that passed the law" ("Concealed-carry quietly in effect," Nov. 27 Eagle).
Journey's comments echo those made in 1996 by the National Rifle Association's then-lobbying head Tanya Metaksa, who 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."
Unfortunately, the absolute promises made by Journey and Metaksa have little to do with the reality of crimes committed across the nation by concealed-handgun permit holders.
From May 2007 through October 2009 alone, concealed-handgun permit holders killed eight law enforcement officers and 77 private citizens (including 10 shooters who killed themselves after an attack) —according to Concealed Carry Killers (http://www.vpc.org/ ccwkillers.htm), a new online Violence Policy Center resource that tallies news reports of such killings. The Web site offers detailed descriptions of each incident and is updated monthly to include new fatal shootings and changes in the legal status of permit holders facing criminal charges.
Of the 46 incidents detailed on the site, 10 were murder-suicides involving firearms and eight were mass shootings (three or more victims) that claimed as many as 11 lives at a time.
And, yes, contrary to Journey's statement, there are incidents of concealed-handgun permit holders shooting and killing people over car wrecks and parking spaces. Two incidents occurred in Tennessee this past February. In one, Harry Raymond Coleman allegedly shot and killed Robert Schwerin during an argument over how close their SUVs were parked. In another, Martino Johnson allegedly shot and killed Terrelle Beasley after a car accident in Memphis and then allegedly threatened to kill an eyewitness who was trying to call 911.
Because most state concealed-carry systems release little data about crimes committed by permit holders, the Violence Policy Center is forced to review and tally killings by permit holders as reported by news outlets. As a result, the center's numbers most likely represent the floor — and not the ceiling — of actual killings committed by permit holders.
What the Web site makes clear is that contrary to the false promises of the gun lobby, the simple and deadly fact is that state concealed-handgun systems are arming cop killers, mass shooters and other murderers.
What it means for Kansas is that it's way too soon to be celebrating the "success" of its concealed-handgun law. Like any other risky proposition, past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.
