Dr. John Lott has a piece at National Review that responds to some of the “Fact Checkers” who went after President Trump’s talk at the NRA Annual meeting. The piece starts this way:
“We believe in allowing highly trained teachers to carry concealed weapons.”
The Huffington Post cites a 2005 National Research Council report that came to no conclusion on the effectiveness of concealed handguns. But the report didn’t reach a conclusion on any of the more than 100 different types of gun-control policies that it studied! It only called for the government to give them more research funding.
Only on the subject of concealed carry was there an extremely rare dissent. Preeminent criminologist James Q. Wilson objected, pointing out that the council’s own estimates show that allowing concealed carry reduces murder rates. Of course, the Huffington Post doesn’t mention any of this.
The Huffington Post also claimed that “many” teachers were “worried [that armed teachers] would do more harm than good and lead to a lot of students being injured by accident at school.” These feelings are understandable, but fortunately we also have facts to go on. In 19 states, at least some schools have armed teachers and staff. States have had these school carry rules in place for as long as 21 years, and not one school where teachers are armed has seen a mass public shooting. Not a single student has been harmed.
“Your Second Amendment rights are under siege.” . . . .
The rest of the piece is available here.
The War On Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies
More Guns, Less Crime (University of Chicago Press, 3rd ed, 2010)
Straight Shooting: Firearms, Economics and Public Policy
Freedomnomics, see Chapter 4 for a general overview of the economics of crime
Dumbing Down the Courts: How Politics Keeps the Smartest Judges Off the Bench
