Washington Gun Law: How Gun Free Zones Actually Cost Lives

Jul 29, 2025 | Media Coverage

Here is a slightly older video on the same topic.

Updated data on this topic is available here and here. We would argue that it isn’t just that criminals ignore these gun free zone signs, but that these gun free zones actually serve as a magnet for these attacks.

Washington Gun Law President, William Kirk, takes a look at some data where the original purpose was to find one thing, but ultimately the data led us to another, unrelated conclusion, which is that Gun Free Zones, actually cost Americans their lives. They do not make them more safe, instead they endanger all of us. And while we may have thought this for a long time, today we discuss the data that actually proves this to be the case. So learn more and arm yourself with education today.

Washington Gun Law, “How Gun Free Zones Actually Cost Lives,” Washington Gun Law, September 7, 2023.

johnrlott

1 Comment

  1. Jim McNamara

    A “no guns allowed” sign or sticker is not a security plan, but rather an invitation to exploit vulnerability and solicit tragedy. A gun-free zone provides a free-rein, target-rich killing field of unarmed victims for the maniacal, opportunistic predator. The gun-free zone can best be described as a human hunting preserve that promotes rather than prevents mass shootings. Mass shootings share a common denominator. The vast majority of mass shootings have occurred in gun-free zones. According to a Crime Prevention Research Center study from the 1950’s going forward, with only two exceptions, every public mass shooting has occurred where citizens are banned from carrying guns. In the 21st century, 97.8% of mass shootings have taken place in gun-free zones. In another study from 1998 to 2023, the percentage was 94%. Coincidence this is not. Correlation is at work here. The term gun-free zone is merely a deceptive illusion of safety. The errant premise that a gun-free zone is free of guns is absurd. The gun-free zone is not a danger-free zone. The only person safe in a gun-free zone is the shooter. Confirmed by their own manifestos, incident after tragic incident, a deranged, homicidal maniac deliberately and purposefully selects a gun-free zone to make a final violent statement in order to ascend from disaffected loser to stature of worldwide notoriety before fading into obscurity as a media footnote. How many mass shootings must there be, and how much bloodshed and death must occur, before supporters of gun-free zones finally conclude that the gun-free zone is a failed experiment that must be eliminated? It is worth noting in those states where K-12 school staff are trained and allowed to carry, and where a sign is posted to indicate that staff are armed and lethal force will be used to protect students, there have been no mass school shootings.

Categories

Archives

On The Vicki McKenna Show: To Discuss the Madison Police Shooting

On The Vicki McKenna Show: To Discuss the Madison Police Shooting

Dr. John Lott talked to Vicki McKenna on her statewide radio show in Wisconsin about the Madison police shooting of Corey Ruiz after he allegedly attacked officers with a knife. They also discussed our latest research examining murder patterns, including who murders...

Major Cities Chiefs Association reports drops in all violent crime categories for the first six month of the year for 66 of the 67 agencies participated in the survey: 17.2% drop in reported homicides, a 6.2% drop in reported rapes, a 16.6% drop in reported robberies, and a 5.7% drop in reported aggravated assaults.

Major Cities Chiefs Association reports drops in all violent crime categories for the first six month of the year for 66 of the 67 agencies participated in the survey: 17.2% drop in reported homicides, a 6.2% drop in reported rapes, a 16.6% drop in reported robberies, and a 5.7% drop in reported aggravated assaults.

A new report from the Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA) finds that reported violent crime declined across every category in the United States compared with 2025. The organization highlighted the broad decline as the first across-the-board drop since 2019, before...