CPRC in the News: Washington Times, Washington Examiner, Red State (2), WSMV-TV Nashville, Bearing Arms (5)
John R. Lott Jr., who has studied mass shootings and who credits law-abiding gun owners with making a difference in numerous such situations, said legislation banning concealed-carry of firearms in certain locations such as schools and churches is an open invitation to violence.
“If you make it illegal for people to carry guns into areas, what you unintentionally do is actually create magnets for an attacker,” Mr. Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, told The Washington Times.
He said assailants long for lasting notoriety.
“While these guys may be crazy, in some sense they’re not stupid,” Mr. Lott said. “They know the more people they kill, the more media attention that they’re going to get. And they know if they go to a place where their victims aren’t able to go and defend themselves, they’re going to be more successful in killing more people.”
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According to myth-busting data from the Crime Prevention Research Center, while the national gun-control debate focuses heavily on AR-15-style rifles, handguns have been used in most mass public shootings over the past 25 years.
Moreover, according to Dr. John R. Lott Jr., the center’s founder, and author of the report, shootings primarily have taken place in what are supposed to be “gun-free zones,” according to the law enforcement officials, and none of the shootings from 1998 to 2023 would have been stopped by requiring universal background checks.
The Democrat Party was unavailable for comment.
Here’s more from Dr. Lott: . . .
the Crime Prevention Research Center, which published a report that poked a Grand Canyon-sized hole in the mass shooting narrative peddled by the anti-gunner lobby. . . .
Jeff Charles, “Anti-Gunners Don’t Care About Mass Shootings,” Red State February 5, 2024.
Since 1950, 94% of all mass shootings have occurred in places where firearms are already prohibited by law (Crime Prevention Research Center).
Michael Herman, “Correcting corrections on AR-15,” The Winchester Star, February 6, 2024.
“It isn’t too surprising that people’s interest in safeguarding that ability to protect themselves and their families increases when there is more of a threat,” Crime Prevention Research Center President John Lott told the Washington Examiner. “Giving to the NRA seems like an obvious way to help protect that ability.”
“It is well known that concealed handgun permits and gun sales increase after mass public shootings or violent crimes occur,” the author of More Guns, Less Crime pointed out.
Annually, Dr. John Lott at the Crime Research Prevention Center gives a report on updated statistics concerning so-called “mass shootings.” The data set that Lott used are statistics from 1998 to 2023. The FBI aggregates this information and annually releases it as the Uniform Crime Report. While getting to the bottom of the numbers is sometimes difficult, that’s because there are so-called “news sources” reporting on alleged mass shootings that do not fit the accepted definition by the government. On January 12, Lott released his findings. . . .
Concealed carry rates vary from state-to-state, but according to Dr. John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center, about 10 percent of U.S. adults have a carry permit, and in almost every state there are more gun owners who don’t have a carry license than those who do. . . .
Over at The Federalist, John Lott takes a look at Biden’s plan. It’s not all he does and you should go read the whole thing, but we’re going to focus on the policy proposals. . . .
Universal Background Checks
President Joe Biden is pushing a few gun-control proposals in light of the Justice Department’s new report. His first proposal is for “universal” background checks on private transfers of guns. But the Uvalde murderer didn’t obtain the gun through a private transfer, and he passed a federal background check.
There isn’t one mass shooting in this century that universal background checks would have stopped, but don’t expect Democrats’ accomplice media to challenge the Biden administration on that.
‘Red-Flag’ Laws
Biden’s second proposal is to impose “red-flag” laws that allow judges to temporarily confiscate guns from people who might endanger themselves or others. All 50 states already have civil commitment laws that allow for such confiscation. Unlike red-flag laws, however, civil commitment laws provide for evaluations by mental health experts and emergency court hearings with free legal counsel provided. Judges also have recourse to more temperate options, such as mandatory outpatient mental health care, which doesn’t infringe on people’s freedom to the degree that firearms confiscation does.
With red-flag laws, the judge sees only a written complaint before making his decision. The judge doesn’t talk to any of the parties involved.
‘Assault Weapons’ Ban
Biden’s third proposal is to ban “assault weapons,” but it’s not clear what this even means. The Associated Press Stylebook, which influences the news media, now acknowledges that “assault weapons” conveys “little meaning.” AP admits the term is “highly politicized.” The oft-maligned AR-15 is, in fact, functionally identical to small-caliber semi-automatic hunting rifles. An “assault weapons” ban will mostly target guns that are designed to merely look militaristic in their aesthetics.
Lott points out how we had an assault weapon ban for a decade and it accomplished nothing at all. It had no impact on crime whatsoever and the one study I’m aware of that tried to claim it impacted mass shootings has largely been debunked.
What’s funny to me, though, is how often these three policy points are the solution to literally every problem. This is what is routinely pushed by both Biden and other anti-gunners as the answer to everything from mass shootings to suicides. . . .
Tom Kingston, “Biden’s Latest Gun Control Plan Misses Key Points,” Bearing Arms, January 24, 2024.
When I had Nikki Goeser on Cam & Co a couple of weeks ago to talk about how people who are being stalked can protect themselves, she brought up orders of protection. While Nikki is all in favor of taking out an order of protection if necessary (in fact, she helped to spearhead Tennessee’s lifetime order of protection and was the first to be granted one a few years ago), she is also well aware of the fact that these legal documents are merely pieces of paper, not a suit of armor, if someone chooses to violate them.
That’s one reason why she also encourages victims of stalking to protect themselves with a firearm. As she recently wrote at our sister site Townhall:
For victims/survivors of violent crime out there, I highly recommend having a backup plan. I cannot stress this enough: “YOU are your own first responder.” Even the police know they cannot be anywhere and everywhere at any time. When seconds count, you may have to rely on yourself. It would help if you plan accordingly.
The criminal justice system is just a system. It is a flawed system that allows dangerous offenders back into society to re-offend. Recidivism is very real, and rehabilitation is not a given
To be clear, Lott doesn’t say most mass shooters aren’t white dudes. They are. The big shift, though, is that among public mass shooters, they’re only a slight majority.
Yes, I found that somewhat surprising.
The fact that most used handguns or that ethnicity doesn’t really seem to play as big of a role as many would like to believe isn’t.
The truth of the matter is that while you may have a shooting like Buffalo, Charleston, or Jacksonville, where the shooter was a piece of racist trash, you also have Parkland, Uvalde, Las Vegas, and so on where there’s nary a hint of racial animosity. . . .
Tom Knighton, “Study Shatters Mass Shooting Myths,” Bearing Arms, February 5, 2024.
Over at RealClearPolicy, John Lott has penned a piece that does just that. It starts with the claim that there are hundreds upon hundreds of mass shootings each year, citing examples from both President Joe Biden and CNN. . . .
Now, let’s understand that the average Bearing Arms reader already knows this. We know why GVA’s numbers are bogus. This isn’t new and if this was all Lott was arguing, I probably wouldn’t bother with writing about it because we’ve tread this ground so often, though the actual number of mass shootings isn’t something we’ve hit on much.
But Lott doesn’t stop there. . . .
Tom Knighton, “It’s Time to Correct People on Mass Shootings,” Bearing Arms, January 15, 2024.
