A new Working Paper by K. Alexander Adams entitled A State-by-State Analysis of Concealed Carry Permit Revocations is available. Alexander is a Firearms Research Center Fellow. The paper’s abstract reads:
A large number of dueling articles have been published claiming concealed carry weapons (CCW) laws increase, decrease, or have no effect on crime rates. Rather than adding to this dueling literature, this paper aims to test the underlying theories behind the results of past studies. Among the articles which purport that increased weapon carrying increases crime, varying hypothesis have been generated explaining the results. The simplest theory is that permit holders themselves commit violence after permit issuance. Other theories include hampered police effectiveness or increased rates of firearm theft, especially from vehicles. This paper tests the first thesis—that permit holders themselves may commit crime. By surveying the rates of CCW permit revocations, this study concludes permit holders are, on average, extremely law abiding. Support for the theory that permit holders themselves could be responsible for any crime increase after the adoption of “shall-issue” concealed carry laws is found wanting.