# Did a concealed weapon law stop "freeway robberiers"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 13, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463 "2011-01-13T16:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/1 "2011-01-13T16:13:16Z")
On the Today show today, Tom Delay made the following statement about gun regulation. > [@](#): > > Guns and people that carry guns are a deterrent. Happened right here in texas. We had a situation where people would bump into women in expensive cars and rob them right on the freeway. The day that a concealed carry went into law in the state of Texas, that all stopped because the robbers didn’t know if that women they were bumping into had a gun or not. He has evidently made this claim previously (I found a reference to an NRA meeting in 2005). I was…surprised…by this. Are there any actual statistics that show a precipitous drop in these type of robberies concurrent with a concealed weapon law? If so, any evidence that suggests causation? ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/2 "2011-01-13T16:22:57Z")
I doubt Tom Delay ascertained the reason for a drop in crime, if there was one, by reading the the minds of all the would-be criminals as he seems to be claiming. Well, maybe Tom understands the criminal mind better than the rest of us but still, the leap to cause and effect is a long one in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Rumor\_Watkins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@Rumor\_Watkins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rumor_Watkins)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/3 "2011-01-13T16:26:54Z")
frankly the set up is preposterous anyways… getting straight jacked on an interstate? it’s probably happened like once ever. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/4 "2011-01-13T16:30:16Z")
But, but … isn’t anyone thinking about the Texas women in expensive cars? ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/5 "2011-01-13T17:41:30Z")
Used to happen near the big airports in Miami … They targeted rental cars = out of town folks… No clue about nowdays… ---
**Author:** ![Dave\_Hartwick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@Dave\_Hartwick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dave_Hartwick)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/6 "2011-01-13T17:43:59Z")
Arizona introduced a conceal carry law and that fixed things right up. ---
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/7 "2011-01-13T17:52:26Z")
I personally don’t know of evidence that concealed weapons laws reduce crime, but on the other hand, during the CHL debate in Texas, it was predicted by opponents that it was going to _cause_ crime, as in every fender-bender would turn into a shootout (and the TV stations would run clips for Wild West movies whenever they did a story on it). That prediction hasn’t borne out. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/8 "2011-01-13T18:43:21Z")
I can’t find any cites, but to me sounds like either an out and out urban myth or it’s a correlation-vs-causation thing. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/9 "2011-01-13T18:50:10Z")
So with CCW, muggers don’t know if there’s a gun in the car, so they stopped carjacking? Does open carry in Texas require carrying the gun _outside of the vehicle_ where a mugger can see it? Or maybe there’s some kind of signage involved, alerting the muggers to which cars had openly carried guns. Also, I assume that when the average rich woman in Texas is faced with a mugger pointing a gun at her, she can open her purse, pull out a gun, aim, pull the trigger, and disable the mugger before the mugger can squeeze the trigger 1/2" or so and shoot her. Because otherwise the woman carrying concealed will probably just lead to one more gun in the hands of the crooks. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/10 "2011-01-13T18:50:34Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > frankly the set up is preposterous anyways… getting straight jacked on an interstate? it’s probably happened like once ever. I could see it possibly happening on the exit ramps or frontage roads, but yeah, short of forcing a car off the road I have a hard time imagining how a criminal could pull this off on an interstate, especially in Texas where people drive \*fast. \* ---
**Author:** ![Todderbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@Todderbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Todderbob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/11 "2011-01-13T18:50:56Z")
The overwhelming majority of evidence indicates that gun ownership, and concealed carry, don’t directlybeffect crime rates. You know what does? Poverty, education, social safety nets, family structure, etc. ETA: (that means more guns doesn’t equal more crime. And less guns doesn’t equal less crime.) ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/12 "2011-01-13T21:04:49Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > But, but … isn’t anyone thinking about the Texas women in expensive cars? Makes me think of ZZ Top videos. ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/13 "2011-01-13T22:48:33Z")
Here in San Diego, we have a number of Indian casinos, almost all of which are located in somewhat remote areas of the county. I have heard numerous times that thieves hang out, wait for a big winner, and then follow them so they can create a fake car accident, at which point they would rob them. I have always suspected this to be an urban legend, much like the aforementioned ‘rich Texas women’. I can think of so many ways this can go wrong for the robber, even in the best of circumstances. What do you do if the winner is in a large group, or took one of the many free shuttle buses to get to the casino? Likewise, what if the ‘rick Texas woman’ doesn’t have a lot of cash on her at the moment you chose to rob her, just because she has a nice car? There is this thing called a debit and credit card you know… With either example, what do you do if the woman/big winner chooses to pull over in a well lit area with lots of people around? Pulling over on the side of the freeway seems like a bad idea in general given the speed of the traffic around you and doubly so at night. And all this assumes the thief can make the accident look realistic. If I’m going with the flow of traffic and a car suspiciously speeds up behind me to bump me, you can be sure I would be extra careful where I pulled over in general, because I would be more worried they were drunk/on drugs, looking to beat the shit out of me because of road rage, etc. If it was stop and go traffic, I wouldn’t be as concerned, but if a thief robs me in those circumstances, he’s likely to be stuck in the same traffic jam trying to get away, and will have lots of witnesses who will have seen he robbed me. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/14 "2011-01-13T23:08:41Z")
So I actually did find a [reference](http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/carbump.asp) to a “crime spree” in Houston where three teenagers robbed several people over a few hours in 2004. I think **Rumor\_Watkins** probably had it right - it was a one time occurence, and therefore a tad difficult to attribute a 100% drop in its incidence to a gun law. Maybe someone found a [special rock](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdBn5G7Y2RA) that keeps carjackers away… ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/15 "2011-01-13T23:23:05Z")
Well, apparently the bump-and-carjack technique isn’t dead. Three seconds of googling came across this story: [Link.](http://thepolicenews.net/%28S%28z52ib155ekxdkj45wzpmoy45%29%29/default.aspx?act=newsletter.aspx&category=News+1-2&search=&Startrow=1&MenuGroup=Home&NewsletterID=14387&&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1) An off-duty police officer was rear ended, and the criminals made away with his car, his satellite radio, and his personal weapon. ETA: I guess it doesn’t fit Mr. DeLay’s story exactly because the victim was male. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2011, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/16 "2011-01-13T23:31:48Z")
Yeah, given that happened in 2009. the story doesn’t exactly fit with his statement, “thats all stopped.” ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/17 "2011-01-14T00:07:20Z")
> [@Rumor\_Watkins](#): > > frankly the set up is preposterous anyways… getting straight jacked on an interstate? it’s probably happened like once ever. Perhaps not in modern times. Highway robbers have been a problem thoroughout most of history. In fact, Jesus’s Parable of the Good Samaritan involes a victim of a highway robbery. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-a-concealed-weapon-law-stop-freeway-robberiers/567463/18 "2011-01-14T00:16:05Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > ETA: I guess it doesn’t fit Mr. DeLay’s story exactly because the victim was male. Not to mention, armed…