Abstract On January 1, 1996, the Texas Concealed Handgun Law went into effect. This law states that the Texas Department of Public Safety (TXDPS) "shall issue" a concealed handgun license (CHL) to any Texas resident who meets the application requirements for character (background check) and training. This is an analysis of arrest data for Texas concealed handgun licensees that was performed on data from the subsequent years of 1996 - 1999. A comparison was made with the arrest data for the entire Texas population for the same time period, showing that, on average: male Texans who are over 21 years old and are not CHL holders are 7.9 times more likely to be arrested for commission of a violent crime than male Texans with a CHL; and female Texans who are over 21 years old and are not CHL holders are 7.5 times more likely to be arrested for commission of a violent crime than female Texans with a CHL. Of the violent crime cases that have been adjudicated, approximately 22% of CHL holders who were arrested were convicted of the crime for which they were arrested; 32% are convicted of a lesser crime; and 46% are cleared of the violent crimes for which they were arrested. Download the complete study, Sturdevant.pdf. This download requires Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free.

William E. Sturdevant, PE Email him at mideng@txcyber.com. Copyright © 2000, William E. Sturdevant, PE. Posted with permission.