A brand new Fox News article has in depth quotes from Dr. John Lott and likewise CPRC Academic Advisory Board member Joyce Lee Malcolm. Here are the elements of the very lengthy piece that present Lott’s response to the brand new gun management proposals.
Calls for gun management have echoed throughout the nation following a collection of devastating mass shootings. Some consultants, nevertheless, say there’s little to no proof displaying that tightening legal guidelines on weapons will prevent violent crimes and similar shootings.
“Not actually,” Crime Prevention Research Center President John Lott informed Fox News Digital when requested if there may be empirical proof displaying gun management measures can forestall violent crimes. “There’s been a number of research achieved on issues like assault weapons bans, background checks … Even for the assault weapons ban, even the Clinton administration – which signed it into legislation – paid for analysis on it. And even their research couldn’t discover any advantages by way of decreasing a sort of violent crime or by way of stopping issues like mass public shootings.” . . .
Fox News Digital requested Lott what variable is contributing to the rise in mass shootings, noting that gun legal guidelines have grow to be extra restrictive in current many years whereas mass shootings have elevated. Lott mentioned the rise in such high-profile shootings seemingly comes all the way down to criminals wanting media consideration and killers maybe desirous to outdo one another with surprising assaults.
“People have at all times dedicated suicide. But someplace alongside the road, individuals who needed to commit suicide really feel that they weren’t appreciated by society, notice that they might get a number of consideration by going and killing giant numbers of individuals in public,” he mentioned. “You learn the diaries, you learn the manifestos, you learn the opposite issues from these killers, and so they crave media consideration.”
Lott mentioned perpetrators who wish to commit violent and surprising crimes will set their sights on “smooth targets” comparable to faculties and grocery shops as a result of they’re much less prone to face an armed particular person who may thwart the assault.
“To me, it’s apparent. Look on the market and also you see about 96% of the mass public shootings happen in locations the place weapons are banned. These folks wish to kill as many individuals as doable. And they know in the event that they go to a spot the place victims aren’t capable of go and defend themselves, they’re going to be extra profitable,” he mentioned.
He singled out the Buffalo grocery retailer shooter’s manifesto, which “talks explicitly about what his ideally suited goal is. And he says he desires to keep away from locations the place he is aware of folks have hid handguns.”
Lott mentioned putting off “gun-free zones” could be “the one factor that might work” on curbing such violent crimes.
“These gun-free zones really function magnets for these killers to assault. Because they know they’re going to be extra profitable by way of killing,” he mentioned. . . . .
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