Study: College-Age Concealed Permit Holders Don’t Fit Left’s Lawless Portrayal

On April 20, Breitbart News reported that Colorado has had Campus Carry for concealed carry permit holders since 2003, and there have been no mass shootings nor crimes by permit holders.

This cuts to the heart of the left’s argument that passing Campus Carry means more guns in the hands of more allegedly irresponsible college-age people. As Everytown for Gun Safety put it, “You think your drunk, college-age daughters are bad with their phones? Imagine them with guns.”

But just as Colorado’s Campus Carry history serves as empirical evidence to the contrary, so too revocation records for college-aged concealed permit holders in a Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) study show that college-age concealed carry permit holders are often more law-abiding that permit holders in higher age brackets.

The states examined by CPRC include Florida, Michigan, Nevada, and Texas. This is timely because three of these states–Florida, Nevada, and Texas–are considering the legalization of Campus Carry now.

According to CPRC:

During almost three decades, from October 1, 1987 to May 31, 2014, Florida issued permits to almost 2.66 million people. These permits have been revoked for firearms-related violations at an annual rate of only 0.0002 percent. For all revocations, the annual rate in Florida is 0.012 percent.

The numbers are similarly low in Texas. In 2012 (the latest year that crime data are available), there were 584,850 active license holders. Out of these, 120 were convicted of either a misdemeanor or a felony, a rate of 0.021 percent.

But how about college-age concealed permit holders in specific? That would be concealed carry permit holders age 21-22, except for in Texas, where you can get a permit under special circumstances at age 18.

Here’s what CPRC found:

Michigan and Texas normally only allow people to carry permitted concealed handguns once they turn 21. However, in Texas younger people can get special approval if they are facing extenuating circumstances, such as being stalked. In any give year, there are about 90 to 185 such permits that granted to 18 to 20 year olds. None of the 18 to 20 year olds in Texas who were granted such a permit have ever had it revoked.

Read that again–“None of the 18 to 20-year-olds in Texas who were granted such a permit have ever had it revoked.”

Regarding Michigan, “college age permit holders who are 21 and 22 have a lower revocation rate than 25 to 34 year olds and a very similar rate to 35 to 44 year olds.”

Of the three states CPRC studied most thoroughly for college-aged concealed carry permit revocations–Michigan, Nevada, Texas–Nevada was higher at approximately 0.17%, which is still less than one-fifth of one percent. Michigan was approximately 0.13% and Texas approximately 0.6%.

The bottom line from the CPRC:

Much of the gun control debate [regarding Campus Carry] focuses on things that might possibly go wrong. Yes, some young people behave irresponsibly. But those who are willing to go through the permitting process are different from those who don’t. They are responsible.

Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkns. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.