More guns, less crime?

More Guns, Less Crime is a book by John R. Lott Jr. that says violent crime rates go down when states pass "shall issue" concealed carry laws. He presents the results of his statistical analysis of crime data for every county in the United States during 29 years from 1977 to 2005. Each edition of the book was refereed by the University of Chicago Press. As of 2019, the book is no longer published by the University of Chicago Press. The book examines city, county and state level data from the entire United States and measures the impact of 13 different types of gun control laws on crime rates. The book expands on an earlier study published in 1997 by Lott and his co-author David Mustard in The Journal of Legal Studies[1] and by Lott and his co-author John Whitley in The Journal of Law and Economics, October 2001

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DogMan · 61-69, M

Guns took more than 36,000 U.S. lives in 2015, and this and other alarming statistics have led many to ask whether our nation would be better off with firearms in fewer hands. Yet gun advocates argue exactly the opposite: that murders, crimes and mass shootings happen because there aren't enough guns in enough places. Arming more people will make our country safer and more peaceful, they say, because criminals won't cause trouble if they know they are surrounded by gun-toting good guys.

After all, since 1991 Americans have acquired 170 million new guns while murder rates have plummeted, according to the National Rifle Association of America (NRA). Donald Trump, when running for president, said of the 2015 shooting massacre in San Bernardino, Calif., that “if we had guns in California on the other side, where the bullets went in the different direction, you wouldn't have 14 or 15 people dead right now.” Mike Watkins, a cop–turned–firearm instructor at the Kennesaw range, put it this way: “If I'm a bad guy, and I know this place has guns, it's not a place I'm obviously going to want to go and do something bad.

DogMan · 61-69, M

Guns prevent an estimated 2.5 million crimes a year, or 6,849 every day. Most often, the gun is never fired, and no blood (including the criminal’s) is shed. Every year, 400,000 life-threatening violent crimes are prevented using firearms.

justanothername · 51-55, M

No matter what the situation is the NRA will ALWAYS argue in favour of guns. They will argue that guns don’t kill people only people kill people. The NRA will ALWAYS argue in favour of guns because more guns means more money for the NRA.

Any time a school shooting happens and innocent people get killed you will NEVER hear the NRA call for less guns. They will argue for MORE GUNS.

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DogMan · 61-69, M

@justanothername What do all guns have in common? They do nothing, unless a
person loads, and fires it.

justanothername · 51-55, M

@DogMan Not sure if you noticed but in the US alone people have developed a very good ability of pulling the trigger on those guns and regularly shooting other people for no good reason.

So that means GUNS KILL PEOPLE.

DogMan · 61-69, M

@justanothername But you just said "People" shoot people, people are not guns.

soar2newhighs

Many a criminal of late has found to their chagrin and untimely passing that not everyone is of the anti gun mentality; but in fact are legally (and no doubt too. illegally )carrying fire arms to protect themselves and their families.

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DogMan · 61-69, M

@badminton My dad bought me my first gun when I was 10. It was a .410 shotgun.

All my friends have accessible guns in their homes, and there were never any
accidents, or murders. This was the 60's and 70's.

We had far more access to guns back then. It seems to me that people changed.

badminton · 61-69, MVIP

@DogMan There are a lot of people who do mis-use guns, even if you and your friends did not. Also, since the 1990's military-style guns, like AR-15s, AK-47s and high-capacity 9mm handguns have become much more common.

I think it is completely sensible and needed, that we require a permit to own a handgun, with a waiting period, mandatory gun safety training class, background check, and social media use review.

DogMan · 61-69, M

@badminton The thing is, just because there are more guns, and different styles,
that shouldn't turn people into homicidal maniacs'.

How does a certain style of gun, make someone choose to be a killer?
The gun did not do that, did it?

There is another reason that these young adults become murderers, but no
one wants to talk about it. If people do not talk about the "Why" they will
never find the truth.

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