Free Republic

Another multiple victim public shooting, yet another attack that occurred where guns are banned. Tuesday’s tragic attack at a FedEx facility in Cobb County, Georgia, left six people injured, with one still in critical condition. The media quickly rushed in with stories about an “assault rifle” being used in the attack. This claim was made everywhere, in stories including the New York Times, USA Today, CBS News and the BBC. But it wasn’t an “assault” weapon. The attack occurred with a shotgun. During the first two days of news coverage, there was a virtual complete media blackout on one of...

Economist and political commentator John Lott has once again been crunching numbers and in an article published this week for the National Review takes a look at how the Violence Policy Center “cooks the books” in an effort to prove the dangerousness of concealed carry permit holders.(see article for video and chart) However, the report fails to indicate how many of those killed resulted from an act of self-defense. And even self-defense killings are more often than not classified as homicides, simply meaning that the life of one person was taken by another person. And although sometimes these shootings are...

Gun control advocates have recently put hundreds of millions of dollars toward "public health" studies, with predetermined outcomes. These studies are beginning to find their way to the main stream media. Soon there will be an avalanche of studies, and their advice puts lives at risk. John Lott is the founder of this organization and is seeking to counter the bogus studies by providing rapid response to the new studies as well as conducting high-quality peer-reviewed academic studies. Lott, the author of More Guns, Less Crime and The Bias Against Guns, has conducted decades of research showing that armed citizens...

Gun control has largely been a top down effort. Michael Bloomberg’s latest announcement that he will spend another $50 million to push gun control – 2.5 times the amount spent by the NRA annually on political activities – is all too typical. Last year, gun control groups, largely due to Bloomberg’s money, outspent gun rights groups by about 7.4 to 1 on TV advertising. With a net worth of $31.2 billion, Bloomberg can afford round-the-clock armed bodyguards, but he doesn’t recognize the need for others to have armed protection. Despite his money, mayors belonging to Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns...

~~Come on in and shoot the breeze~~ Gun Talk Radio 4/13/14~~07:00 CST Listen to the podcast Here Or the KIDO 580 stream HereOr the KPRC feed Here

It is quite flattering that Media Matters and TPM spent so much real estate going after me. Media Matters’ post was at the top of their front page from late morning on Friday until at least midnight (my last check). [UPDATE: As of 2:15 PM on Saturday, their article has been at the very top of their front page for over an entire day.] John Lott’s debate on MSNBC is available here (April 4, 2014 from 10:05 to 10:14 AM (this version has almost the entire exchange, though it doesn’t include Chris Jansing’s introduction and first question)). Unfortunately, Media Matters,...

The Obama administration hasn’t learned anything from the massacres at Fort Hood in 2009 or the Washington Navy Yard last year. For all my research on how to stop or prevent mass public shootings and all the victims at these attacks that I have talked to over the years, the attack this week at Fort Hood was different. My son Ryan, who is stationed at Fort Hood and recently back from a tour in Afghanistan, was just two blocks from the attack and could hear the shots. However, as was true in the 2009 attack at Fort Hood by Major...

President Obama has pushed hard for gun control this year and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent millions of dollars on ads, but the administration's promise to coordinate "a November lobbying effort and plan events to commemorate the first anniversary of the Newtown, Connecticut" has gotten little traction. Last year the Newtown shooting, with it horrific slaughter, lead to an immediate national movement for gun control. But that was short-lived, and opposition to gun control is currently very strong. Indeed, it appears to be the strongest in decades.

California may soon join 42 other states in letting people carry concealed handguns once they meet certain objective criteria. Thursday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the state couldn’t ban both concealed and open carry guns. The court also struck down the so-called “good cause” requirement for getting a permit, saying that concern for one’s personal safety should be sufficient justification. The Constitution guarantees Americans the right to “keep and bear arms.” To “bear” means to carry. Ironically, California may have opened the door to make it much easier for people to get concealed handgun permits by recently...

If we are to believe the mainstream media, the powerful NRA has used its political muscle to keep people ignorant of how guns impact our safety. They are supposedly to blame for the elimination of firearms research. This is all a result of a 1996 amendment to the federal budget stating “None of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be used to advocate or promote gun control.” Thus last month, ABC News reported: “In 1996 the NRA successfully lobbied Congress to pull millions of dollars out of government-funded...

When will some Democrats who describe themselves as “pro-gun” realize that they aren't fooling anyone? Here's their latest deception. President Obama’s nomination of Dr. Vivek Murthy to be surgeon general is in trouble, because the National Rifle Association decided that it was going to “score” the vote – that is, let its members know which senators voted for someone they believe is a threat to people being able to own guns for self-defense.

Piers Morgan He was vilified for his abhorrence of the second amendment.  His ratings sank lower and lower until he was shown the door.   He had a petition signed by over 100,000 people asking for his deportation from the United States. Frontpagemag.com reports that he abused his staff (quoting from the New York Daily News).  Yet, in spite of these achievements, or perhaps, because of them, a commenter at frontpagemag.com says that Piers Morgan brought positive change to a number of people in his life.  Olorin writes: I think he was terribly useful and served an outstanding niche: I...

Are schools and colleges dangerous places, with lots of gun violence? Some groups paint a picture of these places being particularly unsafe. Supposedly both murders and firearm suicides are very common at educational institutions. Last Wednesday, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s two groups, Moms Demand Gun Sense in America and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, jointly released a report that received massive uncritical news coverage. They claimed that 44 shootings occurred in schools and colleges nationwide since the Newtown, Conn. massacre on Dec. 14, 2012 and Feb. 10 of this year. Out of the 44 shootings, a total of 28...

even during the temporary and partial government shutdown, we are spending more than when President Obama took office. . . . .

Gun control advocates not only push new fees and taxes on guns to reduce ownership, but they also employ another tactic: scaring people into not owning guns. Last week, on January 31, ABC News saturated its news programs with the alleged danger of gun ownership. It started early in the day with a segment on “Good Morning America,” then came a report on the evening news, and finally an entire hour devoted to the subject on "20/20." The reports all focused on the dangers guns pose for children. Although a producer for ABC News spent hours asking me questions about...

NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE www.nationalreview.com January 31, 2014 12:00 PM The Cruelty of Gun-Free Zones Law enforcement recognizes that gun-free zones leave shooting victims defenseless. By John R. Lott Jr. Tuesday night, President Obama vowed to “help stop more tragedies from visiting innocent Americans in our movie theaters and our shopping malls, or schools like Sandy Hook.” But before he continues pushing his typical gun-control agenda, he should consider what law enforcement in Europe and the United States advise. It might surprise him. In November, Interpol’s secretary general, Ron Noble, noted there are two ways to protect people from such mass...

John R. Lott Jr. is president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and the author of "More Guns, Less Crime" The new year has brought yet more gun-control regulations. President Obama announced new executive orders on background checks. Connecticut citizens stood in long lines to register their guns, and, next door in New York City, registration lists are used to confiscate them. While the research by criminologists and economists keeps showing that gun control doesn't work, technological advances and practical problems mean the laws are increasingly likely only to disarm the law-abiding. In the era of 3D printing, you won't...

President Obama has pushed hard for gun control this year and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent millions of dollars on ads, but the administration’s promise to coordinate “a November lobbying effort and plan events to commemorate the first anniversary of the Newtown, Connecticut” has gotten little traction. Last year the Newtown shooting, with it horrific slaughter, lead to an immediate national movement for gun control. But that was short-lived, and opposition to gun control is currently very strong. Indeed, it appears to be the strongest in decades. A recent CNN poll finds the highest level of opposition to...

If you believe a new study, whites who own guns do so because they harbor racist feelings towards blacks. Indeed, in the study, four Australian and British psychologists also claim that racism is associated with opposition to gun control. The lead paragraph on this study in Friday's New York Daily News summed up the claim this way: "Racism and guns go together." So how is racism measured? Well, you are apparently “racist” if you don't agree that the legacy of slavery still has a great impact on how blacks are faring today. After all, slavery was abolished 158 years ago....

As Sen. Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) Judiciary subcommittee hears testimony on “stand your ground” laws Tuesday, charges of racial discrimination will be the central focus. Two black women, one of them Trayvon Martin’s mom, are expected to testify about losing their sons to gunshots by white or Hispanic men. It’s anticipated that a Harvard law professor will also emphasize race. This racial angle is nothing new. President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder have already weighed in, linking race and these laws. Nevertheless, Trayvon Martin’s tragic death, which motivated this debate, had nothing to do with stand your ground laws....