POLICE FATALITIES FOR ’08 PROVE CCW LAWS NO THREAT TO COPS, SAYS CCRKBA

BELLEVUE, WA – Another bogus argument of gun control extremists – that sensible concealed carry laws create an increased threat to police officers – has been refuted by statistics from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and published by USA Today.

The number of officer fatalities due to gunfire is the lowest in 50 years, noted Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. A report out Monday said that this year, 41 officers have died from gunshot wounds, down 40 percent from the 68 who died by gunfire in 2007. Yet the number of concealed carry permits issued by the states has risen, dramatically in some areas, in the past 12 months.

“Better training and equipment have contributed to this decline,” Gottlieb stated, “but it must be noted for the record that growing numbers of legally-armed citizens have not resulted in more police slayings. That has been one of the many lame arguments offered by gun control fanatics over the past few years when they fought against expanded concealed carry rights.

“The death of one police officer is a tragedy,” he continued, “but common sense right-to-carry statutes have no relation to the criminal slayings of police officers, and anti-gun rights extremists know it.”

The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund reports that more officers have died in traffic-related incidents than in shootings, same as last year, Gottlieb noted.

“There are, today, more legally-armed citizens than ever before,” he commented, “and more privately-owned firearms than ten or even five years ago. More Americans own semiautomatic sport-utility rifles, growing numbers of women own guns for personal protection and more citizens are involved in shooting sports.

“None of these law-abiding citizens pose any threat to public safety, and especially to the safety of our local police,” Gottlieb concluded. “We expect the new Congress, and state legislatures around the country, to keep this in perspective as the gun ban lobby mounts new attacks on firearm civil rights in 2009.”