CPRC participates in CNN discussion on Detroit Police Chief’s statement that letting more people carry concealed handguns will deter more crime

CPRC’s John Lott was on Erin Burnett’s CNN show on Friday night. The video of the show is available in two parts (here and here). CNN gave this description of the show:

A surprising statement on gun violence from the police chief of one of America’s most violent cities.

Detroit’s top cop James Craig says he thinks more people need guns to keep safe.

“There’s a number of [concealed pistol license, or CPL] holders running around the city of Detroit. I think it’s acting as a deterrent. Good Americans with CPLs translates into crime reduction, too,” Craig said on WJR Radio’s “The Paul W. Smith Show.”

So would Detroit and other violence-plagued cities really benefit from more guns?

OutFront: Mike Brooks is an HLN Law Enforcement Analyst and John Lott is the Author of “More Guns, Less Crime.”

CPRC was also on two national radio shows to discuss this issue on Friday: the Lars Larson Show from 6:25 to 6:30 PM (audio here) and the Jason Lewis Radio Show from 8:05 to 9:00 PM.

UPDATE: CNN did a follow up interview with Police Chief Craig on Monday:

“There’s a violent culture,” Craig added. “The criminal predators here are very violent. So, good Americans who are responsible who conceal weapons can make a difference. There are studies out there that show that.” . . .

“We’re not talking about vigilantes,” Craig said. “We are talking about good Americans who are trained. Good Americans that need personal protection. I don’t care what city you talk about in America. We cannot be everywhere.”

An article in the Detroit News by George Hunter gives a much more complete story of what Police Chief James Craig said. Some points in the piece deserve comments:

1) Craig’s views on concealed handguns are not that unusual among police chiefs and sheriffs.

Rick Ector of the Firearm Academy of Detroit, which teaches gun safety classes, said Craig’s comments are unusual for a police official.

“It’s a huge, radical departure for the police chief to say good people should have access to firearms,” said Ector.

From a piece John Lott wrote in the Wall Street Journal in 2012:

In 2010 [the National Association of Chiefs of Police] found that 95% believed “any law-abiding citizen [should] be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self-defense.” Seventy-seven percent believed that concealed-handgun permits issued in one state should be honored by other states “in the way that drivers’ licenses are recognized through the country”—and that making citizens’ permits portable would “facilitate the violent crime-fighting potential of the professional law enforcement community.”

Nor is the comment that unusual for rank and file officers. Policeone, by far the largest association of police in the US with over 400,000 members, had a survey that came out last year that looked at this point. Q19: 91.3% of those surveyed “support the concealed carry of firearms by civilians who have not been convicted of a felony and/or not been deemed psychologically/medically incapable” “without question and without further restrictions.”

2) Robyn Thomas, director of the the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence in San Francisco, claimed: “There’s no research that shows guns make anyone safer.” John Lott debated Ms. Thomas just this past fall at UC Berkeley and she was aware of the research on concealed handgun laws and other gun laws prior to our debate and she was surely even more aware of them after the debate. Indeed, just another study was published in the last week.