Concealed Carry Holder, 69, Defends Himself Against 3 Alleged Robbers in Chicago, Shoots One

An instructor shows a holster at a gun concealed carry permit class put on by "USA Firearms Training" in Provo, Utah. on Dec. 19, 2015. George Frey/Getty Images

A 69-year-old concealed carry permit holder was able to defend himself from three alleged armed robbers in Chicago, officials said. One of the robbers was shot by the victim.

Police in Chicago said that three suspects approached the victim on Tuesday and told him to hand over his belongings. The man then pulled out his gun, which he has a permit to carry in a concealed manner, and fired a shot at one of the suspects.

All three of the suspects, including the one who was shot in the knee, fled the scene in a Ford Fusion before crashing the car and fleeing on foot, officials said. They were later taken into police custody, officials told the Chicago Tribune.

The Chicago Police Department did not provide any more details on the suspects, their ages, or other information.

According to a report from the conservative Heritage Foundation, citing data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Almost all national studies of defensive gun uses have found that firearms are used in self-defense between 500,000 and 3 million times every year in the United States.”

“Additionally, an independent analysis of the CDC’s own internal data on defensive gun uses indicates that firearms are used defensively about 1 million times a year, dwarfing the number of deaths and injuries attributable to their criminal use,” it found.

President Joe Biden has said he is planning on making an effort to introduce more gun control measures.

In a statement last month, Biden said, “I am calling on Congress to enact commonsense gun law reforms, including requiring background checks on all gun sales, banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers who knowingly put weapons of war on our streets.”

Some gun rights organizations have said that Biden’s proposals would turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals.

The U.S. Concealed Carry Organization, in a letter obtained by the Washington Examiner, noted that up to 105 million Americans who own firearms would be targeted.

“While we can agree that there are several ‘common sense’ and long overdue changes needed to our nation’s gun laws, we firmly believe that the path forward should be focused on supporting and protecting responsible, law-abiding Americans—not criminalizing and punishing them,” the letter said.

Separately, sales of guns and ammunition have skyrocketed in recent months. FBI data showed that about 4.14 million background checks were carried out by the agency in January 2020—or about a 60 percent increase compared to January 2019. It’s also a nearly 10 percent surge month-over-month.