Gun Safety: Violent Crime Drops as More Americans Pack Heat

RealClearInvestigations ^ | 4 Jun, 2026 | John R. Lott Jr.

[MtnClimber]

Alessandra Coote was walking on a trail with her 2-year-old daughter and dog two-and-a-half years ago when a man began yelling at her and threatened to kill her dog. When the petite single mom made it back to her Utah home, she decided she needed a firearm for protection.

A few months later, while living in what she described as a “shady part of town,” a homeless man threatened her. After that encounter, she began regularly carrying a firearm under Utah’s Constitutional Carry law.

Coote, who just graduated this spring from the University of Utah, says carrying the gun has given her the confidence to feel safe in public. “It’s been life-changing,” she told RealClearInvestigations. Although she has never had to draw or fire the weapon, she has faced a threatening individual when she was armed, but stopped the attack by merely letting the man know she was carrying.

Alessandra Coote says carrying the gun has given her the confidence to feel safe in public. RCI

Coote is part of a growing trend of strapped Americans. A new survey of 1,000 general election voters conducted last month by McLaughlin & Associates found that almost 30% of respondents said they carry a firearm. More specifically, the survey found that 13.2% respondents said they carry a firearm all or most of the time, while an additional 16.6% said they carry one sometimes or rarely. These results show a 5.5% increase in the number of respondents who said they carry firearms since a similar poll was conducted in December 2024.

Both polls were commissioned by the group I lead, the Crime Prevention Research Center, and have a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percent.

Since 2021, 13 states, covering 34% of the U.S. population, have adopted constitutional carry laws.

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TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: banglist; cprc; crime; johnlott; lott

[Rockingham]

My now 94 year old mother has always had the same casual attitude toward her personal security. Fortunately, she no longer drives and now lives in a nice, secure retirement retirement facility in an upscale part of town. When my mother wants to go somewhere, one of us four kids drive her and, in effect, assure her safety and comfort.

[Terry L Smith]

Following all my old acq I’m aiintences in OSI, big Hawaiian shirt, tan pants, some shoes, and just the snibbie of the day, in a Mika hand made pocket holster, royal blue and white, and a speed strip. No air weights for this kid.