Concealed Pistol License

(MLive file photo)

Detroit Police Chief James Craig, Jan. 24, 2014

DETROIT, MI -- The Detroit Police Department has taken action in recent years through gun-buyback events to remove guns, legal or not, from the streets of Detroit.

But first-year Police Chief James Craig takes a slightly different approach. He says in the hands of legal, law-abiding citizens, firearms "could be a deterrence to violent crime."

That stance was challenged by Detroit resident Sandra Hines at the Detroit Police Commission meeting Thursday.

"It could lead to vigilantism," said Hines, a member of the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality. "

I just think that we already have the open-gun-carry law here and we have the stand-your-ground law, we don't need to have ... anybody encouraging citizens, and then, what is the definition of a law-abiding citizen, what does a law-abiding citizen look like ..."

Craig in previous interviews said he changed his mind on gun laws -- from a more conservative stance -- after he became the chief in Portland, Me., a place he called "one of the safest places in America," and one with a high number of concealed weapon permits.

"I say that because of my experience now in my fourth city, seeing good Americans, good Detroiters that have CCWs and what effect that has had on deterring violent crime," Craig said Thursday responding to Hines. "G

iven what I saw coming into the door her in Detroit, the fact that the city has been (touted) as one of the most violent cities in America... we still have incident after incident where individuals like elderly people get dragged out of their cars at gunpoint."

Craig referenced a study comparing home invasions in Great Britain to the U.S.

In the U.S., criminals "

tend to wait until the home is vacant," he said. "In England, the percentages are much higher, 50 percent of home invasions are committed while people are at home."

Based on 2012 Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics, 80 in 1000 Detroit residents, 56,000, become victims of violent or property crime each year. Detroit police logged nearly 5,000 forced robberies in 2012.

Craig said criminals in Detroit sometimes wear body armor "because they're fearful that the good citizens may respond with a firearm." There have also been cases in which robbers demanded their victims disrobe.

This "is because they are trying to make a determination whether or not the other person is armed," he said.

The chief made it clear that he advocates legal, responsible gun ownership for protection only, not vigilantism.

There were 80,000 valid concealed pistol license permits in Wayne County as of Jan. 7, according to state police data, slightly less per capita than in Oakland County, which has about 57,000 issued concealed pistol permits and 1.2 million people.

"Most people are conscious about being good citizens in Detroit, contrary to popular belief," Detroit Police Commission Willie Bell said. "Most people don't want guns in their home because they're afraid of the consequences in terms of their children and people breaking in."

Bell agrees with the chief's take on responsible gun ownership, and "it's their right," he said.