Another Shooting in a Gun-free Zone: Nine Dead at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina

Jun 18, 2015 | Featured

Charleston church shooting

Nine people were killed late Wednesday at Charleston Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church.  The white killer is still at large.

Not surprising that yet another mass public shooting has taken place where guns were banned.  Yet, again, the ban only ensured that the victims were vulnerable.  Here is a synopsis of South Carolina law (UPDATED moved paragraph from the middle to here since Media Matters apparently wasn’t able to read all the material (original post available at bottom)):

Some related writings on the issue of gun-free zones.

— “Where’s the coverage of heroes who stop mass killings?

— “Chancellor Fires Blanks At Texas College Campus Carry Law

— “Take a gun to the mall

With the exception of just two cases, all the mass public shootings since at least 1950 have occurred where guns are banned.  This tragic case is no different.

The two exceptions are the International House of Pancakes restaurant in Carson City, Nevada on September 6, 2011 and the Gabrielle Giffords shooting in Tucson, Arizona on January 8, 2011.  A systematic discussion of the whether mass public shootings have occurred in gun-free zones.

UPDATE: Here is some news coverage on our finding that this was another gun-free zone.  The Christian Science Monitor and Yahoo News:

. . . “Not surprising that yet another mass public shooting has taken place where guns were banned. Yet, again, the ban only ensured that the victims were vulnerable,” wrote gun advocate John Lott, referring to the church shooting. “With the exception of just two cases, all the mass public shootings since at least 1950 have occurred where guns are banned. This tragic case is no different.”

While these pieces mention our finding, it gives a detailed discussion to Mother Jones.  Unfortunately, the Mother Jones discussion is extremely inaccurate.   A detailed discussion of how other mass public shootings have kept on occurring in gun-free zones (see here and here).  That discussion focuses on work by Bloomberg, but they both make very similar claims regarding the data.

UPDATE:  Media Matters has a post where they fail to note what I made clear in the last paragraph above.  I had also directly linked above to the S.C. Code Ann.§ 23-31-215.

UPDATE: Greta’s show on Fox News on Thursday, June 18th just reported that the killer here was planning his attack for over 6 months (see also here).  In addition, the killer’s mother had taken the gun away from him, but that he had stolen it back from her without her knowledge.

Click to enlarge screen shot below to see what the post originally looked like.

Screen Shot 2015-10-19 at Monday, October 19, 6.18 PM

johnrlott

2 Comments

  1. gunnut

    @John Lott

    Heavily armed church in New Mexico. The church is protected by an ex-police security team, and all of the students are warriors when it comes to gun safety drills and procedures. You can carry concealed as well:

    http://www.vice.com/video/americas-most-heavily-armed-church

  2. Dean Weingarten

    Another thing of note in this case is that no “assault” weapon or magazines of over 8 rounds appear to have been used.

    The media silence on these issues is deliberate.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

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  2. Obama is all about gun control again - […] will have guns. Like most mass shootings in the US, this attack took place in a gun-free zone:John LottThe…
  3. Hot Off The Ticker: The AME Church Is To Blame For The Shooting Because It’s A Gun-FreeZone | mikethegunguy - […] Lott announced the shooting on his website with a headline which read: “Another Shooting in a Gun-free Zone.”  He…
  4. Instapundit » Blog Archive » WELL, YES: John Lott: Gun-free zones an easy target for killers. The horrible tragedy last night th… - […] S.C., probably could have been avoided. Like so many other attacks, the massacre took place in a gun-free zone, a…
  5. Another Mass Shooting Blamed on Gun-Free Zones - LiberalVoiceLiberalVoice — Your source for everything about liberals and progressives! — News and tweets about everything liberals and progressives - […] announced the shooting on his website with a headline which read: “Another Shooting in a Gun-free […]
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  14. A gun-free zone is an attractive nuisance - TeeJaw Blog - […] S.C., probably could have been avoided. Like so many other attacks, the massacre took place in a gun-free zone,…
  15. South Carolina Church Massacre: Hate Crime or Terrorism? « US Opinion and Commentary - […] S.C., probably could have been avoided. Like so many other attacks, the massacre took place in a gun-free zone, a…
  16. Stop eating Nutella, Gun-free zones an easy target for killersIowaDawg Blogging Stuff | IowaDawg Blogging Stuff - […] S.C., probably could have been avoided. Like so many other attacks, the massacre took place in a gun-free zone,…
  17. Another Mass Shooting Blamed on Gun-Free Zones - Hangout Networks NewsHangout Networks News - […] announced the shooting on his website with a headline which read: “Another Shooting in a Gun-free […]
  18. Another 'Gun Free' Zone Tragedy 5 Months After The Charlie Hebdo Massacre Occurred In The 'Advanced' Country of France | liveleak fun - […] crimeresearch.org/2015/06/another-shooting-in-a-gun-free-zone-nine-dead-at-the-charl… […]
  19. In Defense of Guns in Church - Guns in the News - […] Almost every mass shooting in the United States in the last 75 years has taken place in a gun-free…
  20. Obama calls for ‘common-sense gun’ laws in face of mass shootings – Christian Science Monitor | You Buy Computers - […] where guns were banned. Yet, again, the ban only ensured that the victims were vulnerable,” wrote gun advocate John…
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