I grant that it's a national embarrassment that in order to create a safer public square we might have to accept seeing ordinary citizens walking about with revolvers strapped to their legs like characters out of a John Wayne western, but until we get over the idea that a healthy society doesn't need fathers, until we reverse policies that tend to disintegrate families, until we return to the idea that traditional values should be instilled in our young by family, church, and school and that a debased culture does nothing to make life in America healthier or more secure, let's give thanks for the second amendment.
From Reason.com:
Quinnipiac University economist Mark Gius has published a new 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. From the abstract:Even former foes of concealed carry like Detroit's new chief of police James Craig have changed their minds. Craig is now encouraging the good people of Detroit to arm themselves against the thugs and savages who've made Detroit the murder capital of the nation.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).
Perhaps there's a study out there that correlates concealed-carry laws with an increase in violent crime. If so, I'd like to hear about it.
