The number of killings by concealed handgun permit holders since since May 2007 has hit 139, according to the February update to the Violence Policy Center's Concealed Carry Killers web site. Included in the killings are nine dead law enforcement officers, 13 mass shootings, and 11 murder-suicides.
Because the gun lobby has made it virtually impossible to discover the details of crimes committed by specific license holders, the VPC is forced to rely primarily on news reports. So the actual numbers of homicides committed by concealed handgun permit holders is most likely far higher. And, of course, no matter how high the number or how grotesque the acts of violence committed by permit holders, 'ambassadors' from the concealed carry movement always have a ready rationale to excuse virtually any act of violence.
According to an ad for the United States Concealed Carry Association that appeared on the back cover of the National Rifle Association's America's 1st Freedom magazine--
Carrying A Concealed Weapon Is the 2nd Amendment IN ACTION . Saying you support the 2nd Amendment and actually supporting the 2nd Amendment are Not the same thing. Anyone can donate money to an association to do the talking for them. It takes a very patriotic citizen though to not only do the talking for themselves, but do what really matters... and that's take action. Concealed weapon carriers know that the best way to support the 2nd Amendment is to never leave their gun at home.
Except, of course, when that "very patriotic citizen" and CCW instructor uses a gun to murder another "very patriotic citizen" -- his wife and fellow CCW instructor -- in cold blood and then opens fire on police, as detailed in this new Texas homicide contained in the February Concealed Carry Killers update.
On May 13, 2009, concealed handgun permit holder Ronnie Cook exchanged gunfire with police in an hours-long standoff during which Cook wore a bulletproof vest. The standoff began after Cook phoned a woman and told her that he had killed his wife. The woman then called police. When officers eventually entered Cook's home, they found his wife Darlene dead in the bathroom with a single gunshot wound to the head. Police also found at least five guns and significant amounts of ammunition. According to the assistant district attorney for Anderson County, authorities believed Cook shot his wife as she sat on the toilet. He called the shooting a "cold-blooded and calculated murder." In January 2010, Cook pleaded guilty to one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder against the responding officers. Cook had been a police officer in the 1970s and was an instructor for Cook's Concealed Carry as was his deceased wife. The Cooks had taught concealed handgun permit classes on their property using a mobile home converted into an indoor firing range.
Cook was still listed on the Texas Concealed Handgun Association's directory of instructors after he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Did any of the Cooks' students have second thoughts after reading of the murder of Cook's wife, his shootout with police, and his eventual conviction? Probably not. It is, after all, "The 2nd Amendment In Action." And who would dare argue with that?