Delete comment from: The War on Guns
I remain skeptical about any relationship between gun ownership and crime. One side presupposes that the guns which are owned are available for defense (not specifying Dr. Lott here), and the other side presupposes that when a new law is passed, it immediately has an effect on criminals' ownership of weapons. I think may- or shall-issue debates are meaningless--regardless of the attitude of state government toward permits, self-defense, and especially defense of property, are discouraged. The number of armed citizens are too few to make a difference, and anyway, they're not going out of their way to defend urban neighborhoods from gang fights. That's sort of significant, because any exploration of the violent crime rates shows the majority of it happens in large cities.
I have quite a number of handguns in my gun safe, but not one of them are any use to me when I go to work in a GFZ. 45superman discusses the skepticism of St. Louis police officials with regard to armed citizenry. I've looked into it before. Sorry, not enough people applied for permits to make a difference, and who knows whether or not they carry.
Sales figures indicate that the number of guns in American hands increases every year. Yet the crime rate has fluctuated according to my UCR data that goes back to 1960. It has risen sharply after "gun control" legislation passed, and it has also dropped after legislation was passed.
This does not detract in any way from my belief that individual use of weapons lowers the likelihood of becoming a victim. Those safety-minded individuals, however, tend to stay away from dangerous locations.
Jan 22, 2009, 7:54:00 PM
Posted to "Baloney and Lies"