Texans with gun permits are less likely to commit murder...than Canadians.

When someone says “Texas,” what do you think of? Oil? BBQ sauce? How about guns? Almost a million Texans are licensed to carry one. Wanna know how many were convicted of murder last year?

Three.

The Texas Department of Public Safety publishes an annual report detailing crimes committed by license holders. In 2015, only three were convicted of murder. None were convicted of manslaughter. If they formed their own state, its per capita homicide rate would be 0.32 per 100, 000 residents. To put that in perspective, Canada’s rate was 1.63.  

Similarly, if the UK were populated by nothing but legally armed Texans, the country’s homicide rate would be two thirds lower than it currently is. And it’s not just murder: those with carry permits commit few crimes of any sort. They do stop them, though.

In January of this year, Texas permit holder Scott Perkins rescued police officer Dylan Morris when a suspect overpowered him. Morris told reporters he was “alive today” thanks to Perkins’ actions. You can find similar stories across the country.

In Colorado, a gun owner pulled his weapon when he saw a woman get stabbed. A Minnesota woman used her gun to chase off the men who were beating her husband. A knife wielding attacker in Maine fled after a woman pointed a pistol at him. And in Michigan, a 91 year-old man shot an armed robber outside of a drug store.          

Cases like these demonstrate how concealed handguns are especially helpful to women and the elderly. Unlike most weapons, the efficacy of a firearm is determined its user’s skill, not her size and strength.

Further, guns create a deterrent. In a survey funded by the Justice Department, eighty one percent of convicts agreed with the statement, “A smart criminal always tries to find out if his potential victim is armed.” Seventy four percent concurred that, “One reason burglars avoid houses when people are home is they fear being shot.”

As many in the media like to point out, America suffers from a high rate of violent crime. What they don’t mention? People who carry guns legally aren’t part of that problem.

They’re part of the solution.