Dr. John Lott talked to Dan Proft and Amy Jacobson on WIND in Chicago about the cost and benefits of background checks for gun purchases.
(Tuesday, November 7, 2017, from 7:05 to 7:20 AM)
Americans are very concerned about violent crime, think that it is getting worse, don’t think deporting illegal alien criminals helps, and trust Republicans more than Democrats to reduce crime
Because Democrats are reluctant to catch and punish criminals, it is no surprise that a new Rasmussen Reports survey finds Americans trust Republicans more on crime—though the 5-percentage-point gap remains modest. Even as murder rates fell last year to historic...
The reality of a plethora of illegal guns in the hands of perpetrators is evidence that no gun control laws will eliminate these weapons, since those communities with the most stringent laws are those with the highest gun crime rates. Therefore, if we are to control the violence against citizens by those who have illegal procession of guns, there is only one answer: Increasing the # of legally issued guns to law abiding citizens. Nothing else will work as well. Drastically increasing the # of police patrolling our crime areas will dent the problem, but not significantly reduce it. Citizens with legal guns are on a shooting scene almost always before the police are able to arrive. A few minutes usually is the difference between a citizen taking out the shooter & his escape.
This country will never eliminate guns as in Japan or will guns ever be confiscated here like Australia has attempted to do in a small population of gun owners compared to the US. Even where guns are few, like the UK, machetes & trucks are murder weapons. There- fore we could outlaw every object that can kill with little impact. Only more legal guns with the non-criminal citizenry will ever be effective!