10 Years and no blood in the street
Concealed handguns haven’t been as bad — or as good — as forecast
[snip]
Legislators and former Gov. Mike Foster OK’d the law amidst predictions that more than 40,000 gun groupies would line up for permits in the first year alone — instantaneously transforming the state into the wild, wild West.
Reality has proven far less dramatic.
Louisiana State Police have doled out just 19,920 permits over the years, and refused to grant another 504 to those who applied for one but did not pass legal muster.
Annual reports of the concealed-handgun unit detail five shooting incidents involving permit holders — including one in 2003 on the Baton Rouge City Public Dock. In two cases, someone was injured; none was fatal.
“It’s worked exactly like I thought would,” Foster said. “Law-abiding citizens have gotten permits so they can protect themselves, and we’ve really had no problems with it.”
May 3rd, 2005 at 10:37 am
There’s also no way to measure how many crimes were prevented just by a permit holder brandishing the weapon.