Gun-free zones fail; concealed carry laws work?

Question

Gun-free zones fail; concealed carry laws work
F. PAUL VALONE
If your state lawmakers killed legislation to protect students from slaughter, would you celebrate by saying, "I'm sure the university community is appreciative of the General Assembly's actions because this will help parents, students, faculty and visitors feel safe on our campus"?

This 2006 hubris was courtesy of Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker. The legislation killed was House Bill 1572, which could have enabled concealed handgun permit-holders to protect themselves on college campuses; and harsh reality trumped Hincker's "feeling" of safety when Cho Seung-Hui murdered 32 at Virginia Tech.

When gun control advocates peddle their oft-failed schemes as solutions, they avoid mentioning details of three other school shootings where armed intervention saved lives:

• In Pearl, Miss., assistant principal Joel Myrick stopped triple murderer Luke Woodham using a handgun from his car.

• In Edinboro, Pa., the 14-year-old who killed a teacher at an off-campus dance was captured by shotgun-wielding James Strand.

• At Virginia's Appalachian School of Law, student Tracy Bridges used his pistol to detain murderer Peter Odighizuwa.

Beyond anecdotes, researchers John Lott and William Landes, then at Yale and the University of Chicago, respectively, studied multiple victim public shootings. Data from 1976 to 1995 showed the number of shootings in states with concealed handgun laws declined by 84 percent, deaths plummeted by 90 percent and injuries by 82.5 percent.

The two called their findings "dramatic," concluding: "[T]he only policy factor to have a consistently significant influence on multiple victim public shootings is the passage of concealed handgun laws."

Criminals don't obey laws

Like North Carolina, Virginia prohibits guns on campuses. But policies purporting to create "gun-free" zones actually increase victimization, found the researchers: "States with the fewest gun free zones have the greatest reductions [in] killings, injuries, and attacks."Indeed, of eight major school rampages tracked by The New York Times, six occurred after enactment of the federal "Gun Free School Zones Act" in 1996.

Said Lott, "Gun prohibitionists concede that banning guns around schools has not quite worked as intended -- but their response has been to call for more regulation of guns. Yet what might appear to be the most obvious policy may actually cost lives. When gun-control laws are passed, it is law-abiding citizens, not would-be criminals, who adhere to them."

Concealed carry in schools, while novel, is not untested: Utah has permitted it since 1995. If you Google "Utah school shootings," you will find exactly none. Last week, the Tennessee state house voted to join them.

Lest you picture drunken freshman shooting into the air at football games, understand that FBI background checks ensure permit-holders are age 21 and free of felonies, violent misdemeanors and demonstrated substance abuse. After 12 years under North Carolina's concealed handgun law, permit-holders have proven themselves sane, sober and law-abiding. Revocations run less than one tenth of one percent, most for reasons unrelated to guns.

Protect yourself

Moreover, the concept has support among academics: After the recent murders, Virginia Tech graduate research assistant Brad Wiles quoted his unsuccessful appeal to the school's president last August: "The policy that forbids students who are legally licensed to carry in Virginia needs to be changed. I am qualified and capable of carrying a concealed handgun and urge you to work with me to allow my most basic right of self-defense, and eliminate entrusting my safety and the safety of my classmates to the government."

Policy-makers will debate Virginia Tech's delayed emergency response and its failure to address Cho's clearly disturbed behavior; they will debate campus security. But if 32 murders say anything, it's that police have neither the ability nor -- as the Supreme Court has twice ruled -- the responsibility to protect you.

Seventy-six-year-old Professor Liviu Librescu, a Holocaust survivor, used his body to shield escaping Virginia students. Doubtless, the politicians who killed HB 1572 console themselves that their malfeasance didn't quite cause his murder.

But maybe N.C. lawmakers will display uncharacteristic courage by passing legislation allowing concealed handgun permit-holders to deter or stop campus rampages. Heroes such as Liviu Librescu deserve something better than their bodies to stop bullets.

F. Paul

Valone

Answer 1

everyone that can pass the background checks should be able to carry concealed or not.and then things like the latest school shootings would not happen on the same scale ever again.

Answer 2

I agree that the politicians and fear-mongering mendacious media have turned them into targets. For a very modest amount of money though, more then half the schools in the U.S could be made safe. Often with just simple modification of what already exists. But the political/media aim is to gut the Constitution and make the people defenseless. All that needs doing is strong fences with sallyports for entry and exit, and large emergency gates remotely controlled with maunal override in case power is out for internal emergencies such as fire. Most modern schools already have a fence which could be upgraded. Anti-firearms legislation passed by idiots in an emotional stampede caused by the media will work about as well as anti-drug laws do.

Answer 3

This is one of those situations like a bad intersection. It takes like 10 fatalities at an intersection before they will take down the stop sign and put up a light.

Concealed handgun permits on campus will only be permitted when we (god forbid) get a dozen more Columbines and Cho's.

I would love to give Utah a pat on the back for allowing guns on campus, but the real reason there are no shootings on campus there is because everyone there is related! (lol jk)

Answer 4

Be very careful with this. YA is going to suspend your account when they read this.

Fantastic Question.

1st of all- "No". Gun free zones do nothing to deter or lower crime. They do increase crime dramatically.

2nd- "Yes". Concealed carry laws do work every time they have been tried.

There is not one state that has enacted concealed carry legislation that has not had crime rates(not just gun related) go down. DRAMATICALLY!

However I think i disagree with the premise that Crime goes down with the enactment of Concealed carry laws.
In my opinion, if you look at it historically, crime rates go up with the enactment of anti-gun legislation. Passing the concealed carry laws brings crime back down.
(This, however, is only semantics i guess.)

Maybe liberals could save us all by making it illegal to commit a crime. If all criminals would fallow this law then we'd be safe.

Answer 5

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You're absolutely incorrect. New York City, for example, with some of the most stringent gun control laws is by far one of the safest large American urban areas in the country.
""

new york has a 23% higher violent crime rate than the national average.... 'you' are wrong.

Answer 6

Sounds like a great plan

Answer 7

You're absolutely incorrect. New York City, for example, with some of the most stringent gun control laws is by far one of the safest large American urban areas in the country. The citizens of New York who are gunned down are usually done so with guns that are purchased in states that lacks good "gun laws". Our citizens die by all too easy access to a weapon by people who lack the judgment to channel their emotions/desires.