Gun Control: Carrying A Concealed Weapon Won’t Protect You From Idiots
Emma Gilhooly studies the USA Dollar bill covered AK47 machine gun by Bran Symondson, at the AKA Peace one day show in which artists adapt the favourite weapon of terrorists into works of art, at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London.
Picture date: Wednesday September 26, 2012.
GUN crime USA. Is carrying a gun a good thing?
Take the story of the two teenagers who entered the Suburban Armory gun shop, Delaware, wearing “Muslim-type clothing” and pulled a gun on the clerk.
The 15 and 17 have been arrested and charged with robbery, possessing an instrument of crime, reckless endangerment and possession of a controlled substance. But before that the store worker shot them.
James Craig is Detroit’s new chief of police. The city’s murder rate is down 13% in 2013 from its two-decade high in 2012. And Craig knows why. Says he:
If more citizens were armed, criminals would think twice about attacking them, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Thursday…
“When we look at the good community members who have concealed weapons permits, the likelihood they’ll shoot is based on a lack of confidence in this Police Department,” Craig said at a press conference at police headquarters, adding that he thinks more Detroit citizens feel safer, thanks in part to a 7 percent drop in violent crime in 2013…
Craig said he started believing that legal gun owners can deter crime when he became police chief in Portland, Maine, in 2009.
“Coming from California (Craig was on the Los Angeles police force for 28 years), where it takes an act of Congress to get a concealed weapon permit, I got to Maine, where they give out lots of CCWs (carrying concealed weapon permits), and I had a stack of CCW permits I was denying; that was my orientation.
“I changed my orientation real quick. Maine is one of the safest places in America. Clearly, suspects knew that good Americans were armed.”
Any facts we can use to support the idea that carrying guns equates to safer streets?
Quinnipiac University economist Mark Gius’ study “An examination of the effects of concealed weapons laws and assault weapons bans on state-level murder rates” in the journal Applied Economics Letters tells us:
The purpose of the present study is to determine the effects of state-level assault weapons bans and concealed weapons laws on state-level murder rates. Using data for the period 1980 to 2009 and controlling for state and year fixed effects, the results of the present study suggest that states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murder rates than other states. It was also found that assault weapons bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level. These results suggest that restrictive concealed weapons laws may cause an increase in gun-related murders at the state level. The results of this study are consistent with some prior research in this area, most notably Lott and Mustard (1997).
Is it perception?
When it comes to keeping guns out of the hands of criminals, 63 percent of Americans remain unconvinced that tighter restrictions on buying and owning guns will be effective, according to the latest Reason-Rupe poll. About a third (32 percent), said stricter regulations would be effective in preventing criminals from obtaining guns.
So. Carrying a concealed weapon affects murder rates. You’re less likely to be a victim if you’re carrying a gun…
Posted: 5th, January 2014 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
