Free Republic

Crime Prevention Research Center's John Lott talking about gun-free zones on Wyoming Capitol Outlook, Wyoming Public Television

People walking the streets with guns pose a danger to others, right? With 12 million Americans across all 50 states now having concealed handgun permits, one would think that this question would have been settled one way or another. In fact, contrary to the rhetoric by gun-control organizations, permit holders almost never use their guns to commit violent crimes. Last Wednesday, The New York Times claimed “there should be no disputing” a new report, which claims there were 722 gun deaths nationwide from May 2007 to February 2015 that were not self-defense. The Times asserts: “The full death toll attributable...

Which is more likely to kill you: a car or a gun? Various publications, from The Economist to Forbes, and many others have been reporting that gun deaths are set to overtake road deaths before the year is up. But not only isn’t that going to happen. Car deaths have indeed fallen more than gun deaths, but that’s not because of comparatively stringent safety regulations. Gun control advocates brag that they have “a statistic that really resonates with people.” The latest data we have are from 2013. In that year, 35,598 people died from motor vehicle deaths. 32,888 died from...

With well over 700,000 concealed handgun permit holders in Texas, there is a good chance that someone next you in a grocery store or restaurant is carrying a concealed handgun. But some are only satisfied if others actually know that they are carrying. They think that by openly carrying guns they can make others comfortable with guns. They want to make a statement. Texas lawmakers are now wrestling with the questions of campus carry and open carry. They couldn’t face a clearer choice between enhancing safety or making political statements. Open carry advocates carry rifles because they can’t legally openly...

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/prime-time/867432237001/machete-vs-firearm/3998897878001

Just two days before New Year’s, a 2-year-old accidentally shot and killed his mother at a Wal-Mart in rural Idaho. The victim was Veronica Rutledge, a 29-year-old concealed handgun permit holder. The child had reached into his mother’s purse. Massive news coverage ensued. Tragedies like these make headlines. That’s understandable. But where was the news media on the previous day, when concealed handgun permit holders likely saved multiple lives? — In Fargo, N.D., four people robbed a 36-year-old man and beat him unconscious. Fortunately, a permit holder stopped the attack. “The passer-by, who has a license to carry a concealed...

With just one telephone call this year, Erik Wemple of the Washington Post was able to convince Media Matters to let me respond to their attacks on me in the comments section of their website — after they ignored my emails, telephone calls, numerous tweets and posts for seven years. Media Matters purports to correct misinformation that the “conservative” media puts out, but, ironically, they have systematically hidden comments critical of their work from their readers. They have a blog where it appears that conservatives and others can respond, but they don’t tell their readers that they have regularly removed...

Media Matters has long advertised to the public a commitment to fighting misinformation on the internet, but lately the group seems to be creating misinformation of its own. The nonprofit generally targets Republicans and is regularly cited by pundits and news outlets. More recently, the group engaged in what could best be called a smear campaign against John Lott, an economist, firearms researcher, and Founder of the Crime Prevention Research Center. For more than a decade, Lott has developed a unique public profile as an expert on guns and society, who combines advocacy with substantial data and academic rigor. Media...

As a response to the police shooting of Michael Brown, President Obama proposes $263 million for police training and body cameras. But more police training wouldn’t have prevented the Brown shooting and the president’s proposal plays into the hands of those who blame the police. President Obama has continually undermined police departments around the country, and his demand for more training fits that pattern. With Wilson facing civil suits and Attorney General Eric Holder’s federal investigation still ongoing, the pressures on Officer Wilson are not likely to fade away anytime soon. It’s safe to say that other police officers will...

Exaggerations have poisoned discussions about relations between blacks and the police. “Black men between the ages of 15 and 19 are 21 times as likely as whites to be killed by a police officer,” said Chuck Todd on Sunday’s “Meet the Press.” Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree echoed Todd. “The data is clear, that black boys are being killed by white police officers around the country.” The claim was repeated frequently on other shows. But those numbers aren’t entirely accurate, and they are far from the whole truth. . . . Todd and Ogletree relied on an analysis of FBI...

Academics often believe they are the smartest people around, and they like to tell others how best to live their lives. Add the government’s power to control people’s lives and you have a dangerous combination. Americans got a taste of this elitism when MIT’s Jonathan Gruber mocked "the stupidity of the American voter." But American voters aren’t the only ones who make mistakes. Time after time, the “architect" of ObamaCare underestimated costs and overestimated how many people would be covered. Like so many Ivory Tower academics, Gruber doesn’t understand how the real world operates. Could it be that those “stupid”...

Let’s say a stalker is threatening a female friend of yours. She asks you if she can borrow your handgun. She is trained and has no criminal record. Should you loan her your gun? If you live in Washington State, loaning her your gun may soon make you a criminal and will likely land you in prison. Suppose you are a Boy Scout leader. Once a year, the scouts take a trip to a local farm where the boys earn their firearm merit badges. If you continue to stick with this annual ritual you may soon find yourself in prison....

The recent spate of “lone wolf” terrorist attacks both here and in Canada seem to have come out of nowhere. And it’s clear that they have left Americans and Canadians as sitting ducks. Simply by using the Internet, ISIS has encouraged “lone wolf” individuals. These “wolves” have initiated attacks on their own with no planning or coordination with others and without leaving a trail of clues about their intentions. Law enforcement authorities and our government are not well suited to defend against such individual terror strikes. As Israel has learned about such attacks, there are just too many targets to...

. . . About a week ago journalists at ProPublica and Slate further fueled the anger many blacks felt about the shooting. Slate’s headline read: “Black Teens Vastly More Likely to Be Killed by Police Than Whites Even After Adjusting for Crime Rates.” The incendiary finding got massive uncritical news coverage including the New York Times, NPR, major newspapers around the country such as the Atlanta Journal Constitution and the Dallas Morning News, and the major networks. If their claim is right, and blacks are unjustly facing “vastly” higher rates of being shot by police, it is a serious indictment...

It’s disheartening to see the FBI used to promote a political agenda, but that’s what we got with the bureau’s release last month of a study claim to show a sharp rise in mass shootings, a la Newtown, Conn. The FBI counted 160 “mass” or “active” shootings in public places from 2000 to 2013. Worse, it said these attacks rose from just one in 2000 to 17 in 2013. Media outlets worldwide gave the “news” extensive coverage. Too bad the study is remarkably shoddy — slicing the evidence to distort the results. In fact, mass public shootings have only risen...

California has long allowed police who believe that someone represents a danger to themselves or others to take the person in for a psychiatric evaluation with a police psychiatrist. With that evaluation, a person could be held for 72-hours. After the Elliot Rodger’s killings earlier this year, California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed into law on Tuesday, September 30th that makes significant changes. The irony is that deputy sheriff officers had gone to Rodger’s home but did not believe that Rodger posed a danger to himself or others. The law that was thus motivated by Rodger’s case would not have prevented...

When former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s gun control groups release a report, they consistently garner massive, uncritical news coverage. Alas. With the huge number of factual mistakes in these reports, you would think that reporters would have grown wary of pushing their propaganda. For example, Bloomberg’s Everytown, Mothers Demand Action, and Mayors Against Illegal guns have been caught padding the number of school shootings. While Everytown claimed 74 school shootings occurred between the Newtown, Connecticut shooting in December 2012 and June 2014, Politifact, which rated Everytown’s claim as “mostly false,” put the number of “incidents such as Sandy...

With the midterms just over a month away New York City’s former mayor Michael Bloomberg is spending at least $50 million to make his gun-control agenda part of this election. His gun-control group Everytown for Gun Safety has endorsed more than 100 federal and state candidates. They are also running television commercials, holding events and pushing their studies into the newsrooms of a mostly favorable press.

John Stossel’s show invited Bloomberg’s various gun control organizations to send a representative to debate on guns, but, as they have done so many times in the past, Shannon Watts and the rest of Bloomberg’s staff declined to participate. The show discussed Bloomberg’s claims regarding the risks of guns in the home as well as domestic violence. Bloomberg’s PR people did send some statements to be read on the show and they were discussed. This show aired on Fox News on Saturday at 5 PM EDT and will re-air at 10 PM EDT on Sunday, and 1 AM EDT on...

Yesterday’s “Nationwide Day of Rage for Ferguson,” demonstrations that were planned to protest police violence against blacks for the 51 cities across the U.S., was a bust. Is it possible that most blacks believe that violent crime, not the threat of police, is the real danger that threatens black Americans, particularly young black males? The high point of protests was a mere 40 people showing up outside the White House. Some 20 to 30 people showed up in cities such as Boston, Denver, and Des Moines. In places such as St. Louis and Oakland, virtually no one seemed to turn...