More Guns, Less Crime: Lott once again proven right!
My colleague and friend, noted economist Dr. John Lott has been telling anyone who would listen for the past decade and a half that more guns in law-abiding hands (especially when carried) result in lower crime rates. His data driven argument flies in the face of liberal claims that more guns result in more violence and crime — and when it is proof vs. liberal dogma, for the mainstream media, the dogma always wins.
This being said, it is with great joy that I get to tweak gun control advocates and anti-gun politicians noses once again with continuing proof that more guns and lower crime rates are compatible (and plausibly have a causative connection).
This week the Pew Research Center released a widely cited study demonstrating that crime involving firearms has declined by almost half over the past twenty years. If gun control advocates were correct, then the number of guns in private hands should have fallen dramatically over this time period, but in fact, just the opposite has occurred. The number of privately held guns has soared from approximately 220 million to more than 300 million over the same time period.
Indeed, in recent years under President Obama, while violent crime and murder has continued to decline, gun sales have regularly hit record year over year and month over month highs and now all states but Illinois allow the concealed carry of firearms.
John, take a bow and shout out a loud “I told you so!”
I feel like this whole debate surrounding guns will become less of an issue over time since most urbanized cities have a large network of camera that more or less can monitor our every move. For example, in a city like London is a large scale Big Brother project. With this kind of surveillance, it is going to be harder to get away with crime, so having guns shouldn’t be a big issue. It is just a another means for responsible citizens to protect themselves from sketchy people.
If I lived in a run-down neighborhood, I would make sure to have a gun to protect myself.
With 3D printers, many more people will be able to make their own guns.
Actually, some states are trying to shut that down. Surprise, surprise.
http://rt.com/usa/printed-3d-guns-ban-017/
It is the people that commit the crimes, not the guns. More guns, especially in the hands of good people, should never equal more crime. Nice work Dr. Lott!
Lol Joe.
Guns make people inexperienced with them very nervous. I’m all about gun bans, to include the President’s security detail.
See how long that lasts.
It’s almost enough to think that weapons and ammo manufacturers are behind all the scares. Can’t wait till the bubble bursts and I can go out and buy an assault rifle.
Breech loaders aren’t nearly as much fun for shooting prairie dogs and PETA nuts.
@Joe, that goes to show that people would find one way or another to get access to lethal weapons to defend themselves. So we should encourage responsible citizens to be the ones carrying firearms instead of creating a massive underground business that leads bad people to get access of guns instead. Just look at D.C. as an example.
During the 1880s in Gila County Arizona, the deadliest family feud in American history played out across the Wild West. This drove the homicide rates to the highest rate in the entire history of the American Wild West – 70 per 100,000. The next highest county was Las Animas County at 34 homicides per 100,000.
At this time, there were no gun restrictions for criminals or minors. Today, the most dangerous cities in the U.S. are New Orleans, Detroit, and St. Louis with 58, 48, and 35 homicides per 100,000. Our gun control laws are stricter than ever, and without any apparent benefit.
I want to be able to open carry, or at least conceal carry wherever I go.
Sources: http://books.google.com/books?id=B5rR5ir_LmMC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=murders+per+100+000+in+1880&source=bl&ots=p2qdHtivGB&sig=j5NUZl4eVySPBa10VGpCtQnpvpw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FiKNUZ7ULoSZrgHO_IFo&sqi=2&ved=0CD8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=murders%20per%20100%20000%20in%201880&f=false
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gila_County,_Arizona
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleasant_Valley_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_cities_by_crime_rate
Great work! I think it’s fairly obvious that its the intent on the individual, not the tool used that commit crimes.