Orlando Mitchell obtained a concealed pistol license out of fear, he said, and to avoid being a victim of gun violence.

It was fear that led the 23-year-old to pull the trigger of his gun and kill a patron during an April 2014 confrontation at a Kalamazoo nightclub where he worked as a barback, he said. Despite his argument of self defense, Mitchell was convicted of second-degree murder.

His arrest is part of a growing statistic in Michigan.

As CPL holders in Michigan have increased to a record number, arrests for violent crimes committed by those gun owners has gone up.

From 2004 to 2014, the number of CPLs in Michigan increased from 110,777 to 440,006, a 297 percent increase.

During that same time period, violent crime charges -- which include murder, rape, robbery and assault crimes -- against CPL holders annually increased from 34 to 232, a 582 percent jump, according to Michigan State Police statistics.

As of this month, Michigan boasts a record high 516,612 CPL holders, that's 12 times more than a decade ago.

The increase in CPL holders -- and the crimes some of them commit -- comes at a time when there is less scrutiny on obtaining those permits.

In December, the state eliminated county gun boards, the groups originally tasked with approving CPL permits. Meanwhile, four Republican lawmakers introduced legislation in early February that would eliminate altogether the need for a permit for concealed weapons holders.

Ladd Everitt, spokesman for the Washington, D.C.-based Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, said the rising number of arrests is not surprising, saying those with undiagnosed mental illness, or criminal disposition, could get a license because current checks are not good enough.

"All in all, people with some type of criminal history are going to get permits," he said. "It doesn't mean they're all going to be violent.

"But the problem is they're not stopping the violent ones. They're not going the extra mile to ensure the guy they're putting on the street with a gun has good morals and character."

Pray nothing bad happens

Second Amendment supporters say government should butt out of gun permitting.

"The Second Amendment is not about guaranteeing perfection, it's about guaranteeing your right to fight back," said Steve Dulan, a member of the board of directors of the Michigan Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners. "The reason we have a right to self-defense is because we have people who do the wrong thing."

The problem, said Michigan Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence Director Linda Brundage, is that law-abiding citizens don't always follow the law, and more people carrying concealed pistols could mean more vigilante justice.

"And if you don't have a gun, you're probably not going to kill someone," she said.

From Mitchell's perspective, he protected himself on the night of April 17, 2014.

The Kalamazoo resident was working as a barback at the Wayside West sports bar near Western Michigan University when he was confronted by a belligerent and intoxicated customer, Damian Tejada.

During the trial, Orlando Mitchell's attorney, Susan Eifler showed a security video from Wayside West sports bar from the night of the shooting. The video shows the confrontation between Tejada and Mitchell at the bar, and the reaction of staff and patrons during the shooting. Eifler has argued in court and in pretrial motions that her client acted in self-defense the night of the shooting after Tejada struck Mitchell in the head with a beer mug. Mitchell was working as a bar-back at the Y Bar inside Wayside West on April 17.

Tejada's threats led Mitchell to retrieve his .45-caliber handgun from his car.

Before returning to the bar, Mitchell got on one knee and said a prayer "that nothing bad happens."

But when he returned, the situation escalated as Tejada struck Mitchell in the head with a beer glass.

Mitchell pulled his gun and fired.

"I vowed I would never be in a position where I would have to allow someone to just take my life," Mitchell said in an interview from the St. Louis Correctional Facility in central Michigan, where he is serving an 18- to 45-year prison sentence.

"If I didn't have a gun, I don't know what I'd do."

Witnesses later described how Tejada ran from Mitchell and begged for his life before Mitchell stood over him and emptied his gun.

"As soon as he struck me, all my past feelings and emotions were bottled up inside, and I became feared and protected myself," Mitchell said.

Sitting wearing a state-issued blue prison jumpsuit, he said he doesn't regret what he did.

"I had (the gun) because I had been through lot of situations where I could have been an innocent bystander," he said. "I vowed to protect myself."

"That's all that mattered at the time."

A total of 398 CPL holders were charged in 2003-04 for all crimes, including less serious offenses. That number rose by more than 11 times to 4,421 charges in 2013-14.

Not all of those arrests led to convictions or involved the use of a gun in the alleged crime.

For statistics from 2003-04, 131 of the arrests led to convictions or the party admitted responsibility; 159 were pending; 62 were dismissed; and six were found not guilty. Forty-eight involved the use of a gun.

In 2013-14 arrests, 2,067 CPL holders were found guilty; 1,124 cases were pending; 1,201 cases were dismissed and 29 holder were found not guilty. There were 367 instances where a gun was used in the crime.

"The assumption is they're angels, when there's nothing in the law that requires them to be," Everitt said. "If we want them to be angels, let's get the screening in place to ensure they are angels."

Some of the uptick in crimes may be due to an increase in reporting, following a 2011 MLive investigation that showed mandatory records were incomplete because some counties failed to send them to the MSP. Others say the increase just comes with having a higher number of CPL holders in total.

An employee handles Concealed Pistol License applications on Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the Genesee County Clerk's Office. The office processed 636 CPL applications in December 2015, Clerk John Gleason said.

Dulan said the number of arrests of CPL holders is not concerning because they account for a small percentage of overall arrests.

"I'm very proud of these numbers," he said.

An adjunct professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing and an attorney involved in high-profile gun cases, Dulan called CPL holders the "most law-abiding part of the citizenship."

He notes a portion of people arrested with CPLs are released or cleared later, and said, "There's a real problem with street cops who do not know the law and arrest people for the wrong reasons."

'Anger and defense'

Having a gun can give someone a false sense of security, Brundage said, and having one within reach is a factor that can lead to serious injury or death.

"Is your TV, your computer, your car worth more than a human life?" she said.

Road rage incidents highlight that issue.

Two calls -- one from each vehicle involved in a Macomb County "road rage" incident -- rang into Macomb County 911 at about 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 13, 2015.

A man reported he briefly got out of his work truck when a shot rang out and a bullet went through his passenger door, shattering the window and becoming lodged in his truck's arm rest.

"I went to throw my Slurpee at her you know what I mean, because I couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth, and that's when she shot me," he said on a 911 recording released by the sheriff's office and obtained by MLive.

The bullet missed him.

India Marchea McDougal, the woman in the Lexus, told a second 911 operator her version, saying the man's truck swerved and was going to hit her vehicle before both vehicles stopped at the light. In her 911 call, she says the man comes up to her car with something and throws it in her eyes.

"I'm a licensed CPL holder, so I shot at him because I didn't know what the hell he was doing," she said.

India Marchea McDougal

Police arrested McDougal and she was charged with assault with intent to murder and other offenses. The other driver was charged with misdemeanors. McDougal's case remains pending in court.

"Every now and then you're going to have someone not acting within the law," said Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham.

Wickersham said he hasn't noticed the uptick locally in arrests of CPL holders and doesn't see it as a problem.

"The majority are responsible and know the law, know when to use it, when to pull it out and when not to pull it out," he said.

Legal issues

Rick Ector, a CPL and firearms instructor and founder of Legally Armed in Detroit, gives advice to his students about how to stay on the right side of the law by inviting criminal defense attorneys to tell students what the laws are.

Rick Ector, firearms instructor and founder of Legally Armed in Detroit.

Michigan requires CPL applicants to be free of felony convictions or pending felony charges in Michigan or elsewhere.

Applicants cannot have any charges of 68 misdemeanors in Michigan or elsewhere, and must wait three to eight years after a misdemeanor conviction before their application will be approved, depending on the crime, according to the state police.

Applicants won't get a license if they've been dishonorably discharged from the U.S. armed forces or if they have a diagnosed mental illness, among other reasons, according to the MSP's list of requirements.

Besides the screening, applicants also have to complete a pistol safety training course.

Ector said the small number of incidents involving CPL holders "not acting the right way" is not a reason to increase regulations.

"People still have power of free will," he said. "There's no way to make any process foolproof."

CPL holders caught abusing their privilege face consequences, starting with immediate suspension of their license, officials said.

Dulan said he would be in favor of "screening for people who will do the right thing," but current background checks and mental health checks can't do that.

"The bottom line is violent criminals are going to use guns to commit crimes, they don't care what the rules are," he said. "The reason I carry my gun, I hope I never use it, is because there's a significant portion of the population who doesn't care what law you write."

Orlando Mitchell said the shooting that landed him in prison happened quickly.

He was dizzy and fell to the ground after Tejada struck him with a beer bottle, he said. His vision "went white." He wiped blood from his eyes.

"I looked up, and he was my target. He was my vision," Mitchell said.

He pulled the pistol from his front pocket and shot once.

Mitchell fired again, multiple times. He shot Tejada in the back as he turned and ran.

"I didn't see anybody else but him," he said. "I felt so much anger and defense."

He remembers wanting to stop Tejada before he hurt someone else or grabbed a gun.

"My main focus was to stop this guy," Mitchell said.

After the shooting, Mitchell remembers thinking everyone was safe.

Seconds later, screams filled the club, and he thought, "it seems like everything's not okay."

Brad Devereaux is a reporter for MLive.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.