Detroit Police Chief James Craig believes responsible gun owners save lives, and the city’s relatively high rate of gun permits likely serves as a deterrent for terrorists.
“A lot of Detroiters have CPLs (concealed pistol licenses), and the same rules apply to terrorists as they do to some gun-toting thug,” Craig told The Detroit News. “If you’re a terrorist, or a carjacker, you want unarmed citizens.”
Craig’s comments come after the FBI and Department of Homeland Security last week issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies nationwide warning of possible terrorist attacks similar to those carried out in Paris Nov. 13 that killed 130 people.
Craig and other criminal justice experts believe terrorists would be reluctant to target Detroit because many of its citizens are willing and able to defend themselves and their neighbors with deadly force, if necessary.
“We don’t have laboratories where we can test these theories, but there is something to the argument that terrorists want a high body count – and if they can only shoot a few people before they are taken out themselves, it wouldn’t have the kind of impact they want,” Oakland University criminal justice professor Daniel Kennedy told the news site.
“An armed citizen won’t give them a high body count. Look at the theater in Paris,” he said, referring to the ability of four terrorists to kill 89 unarmed people. “If some of those people had been armed, it would’ve been a much different story.”
CBS Detroit highlighted a rash of incidents involving local citizens defending themselves and others with firearms. In one instance, a 63-year-old customer at Citizens Bank in Warren put an end to a robbery when he shot the robber three times on his way out of the bank.
The alleged robber collapsed at the scene from non-life threatening injuries and was hauled off by police. Authorities determined the customer – who had a valid concealed weapons permit – was “within his rights” to gun down the alleged thief, according to CBS Detroit.
The news site also highlighted numerous incidents of Detroit homeowners with concealed weapons who were more than willing to defend their homes and families from intruders.
State Police statistics cited by The Detroit News show the city issued 1,169 handgun permits last year, and more than 8,000 guns are registered with the police department in total. Overall, more than 30,000 Detroit residents are legally armed.
“There were 6,974 concealed-pistol licenses issued to residents in 2013, more than double those in 2009, and 7,584 issued in 2012, the state police” told the news site.
Detroit Police Chief Craig isn’t, however, the first law enforcement official to point out the benefits of an armed citizenry. Washington, D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier last week discussed the issue on “60 Minutes,” where she urged citizens to “take the gunman out” if faced with a threat like the Paris terrorist attacks.
“If you’re in a position to try and take the gunman down, to take the gunman out, it’s the best option for saving lives before police can get there,” she told host Anderson Cooper, according to The Detroit News.
“And that’s, you know, that’s kind of counter intuitive to what cops always tell people, right? We always tell people, ‘Don’t … take action. Call 911. Don’t intervene in the robbery.’ We’ve never told people, ‘Take action,’” Lanier said. “This is a different scenario.”
Former New York City police officer and terrorism expert Bo Dietl essentially told The Detroit News the same thing, and added he believes the world would be a safer place if all residents who are able to carried a handgun.
“On my hip I’ve got a 9 mm Glock, so I’m prepared if something happens,” he said. “If everyone was prepared to get involved, maybe we’d have fewer casualties. Even domestic terrorists hit places where they don’t think they’ll get much resistance, like movie theaters.
“I think the answer is, whoever is able to carry a gun legally, it would help.”
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