CPRC in the News: New York Daily News, Fox News, Epoch Times, Daily Record, PJ Media, and More

Feb 23, 2026 | Featured

“You go 13 days without a homicide occurring, those homicides would have invariably been very heavily Black,” John Lott, founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “And so those lives, you have Blacks who didn’t die, who otherwise would have died.”  . . .

Elizabeth Heckman and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi, “A former BLM activist goes all in on mass incarceration,” Fox News, February 13, 2026.

Bronx: To Voicer Richard Warren: The statistics of illegal immigrants constituting 14% of incarcerated individuals in New York while making up 4% of the state’s population are from John R. Lott Jr., president of the Crime Prevention Research Center. The overwhelming number of rapes and murders are committed by people who are born here because they constitute the overwhelming number of the population. What’s relevant is a comparison of the percentage of each group’s crimes to their percentage of the population. 

Readers Sounding off, “Readers sound off on American principles,” New York Daily News, February 20, 2026.

For many, Australia conjures up images of quiet suburbs, beaches, and safety, while the U.S. is perceived as the epicentre of violence and mass shootings—but new data suggests that contrast may be misleading.

Surprising figures from researcher John Lott Jr., founder of the U.S.-based Crime Prevention Research Center, and South Australian academic Kesten Green suggests Australians are 67 percent more likely than Americans to be victims of violent crime outside of homicide.

“The thing about Australia is that people really are misinformed about many issues down here,” Lott Jr. told The Epoch Times, during a speaking tour down under following the Bondi Beach mass shooting that targeted a Jewish celebration. . . .

Jerry Zhu & Daniel Teng, “Is Australia Really Safe? Research Claims Risk of Violent Crime 67 Percent Higher Than the US,” Epoch Times, February 18, 2026.

Screenshot

Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver, admitted “half of the bills” targeted for repeal show her as a sponsor. While she didn’t support a full repeal, as proposed by the bill sponsors, Bacon conceded she might support the repeal of many. She was the only Democrat on the panel to offer such support.

Bacon makes an argument which coincides with many proponents view: “We don’t actually keep the data for what certain things didn’t happen,” she said. “Can you make arguments to say these measures do not work?”

It is the “good guy with a gun” argument made in a piece written by John Lott Jr. and printed in 2025 by The Federalist. . . .

Brian Porter, “Democrats kill rollback of Colorado gun-control measures,” Canon City Daily Record, February 20, 2026.

Notably, Rhode Island, which Democrats completely run at the state level, has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation. The Crime Prevention Research Center found that 89% of mass shootings between 1998 and 2019 occurred in gun-free zones. Unfortunately, disarming the law-abiding population sadly encourages bad actors to try to commit mass casualty crimes.

Catherine Salgado, “BREAKING: Mass Shooting at Rhode Island School Hockey Game,” PJ Media, February 16, 2026.

The research from John Lott and the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) is unequivocal: Since 1950, over 98% of U.S. mass public shootings have occurred in gun-free zones. Through 2025, the data remains steady: 97.8% of incidents took place where civilian carry is banned.

To a predatory killer, a “Gun-Free Zone” sign isn’t a deterrent; it’s an invitation. It signals a high-density area of defenseless targets. This is the Magnet Effect: the statistical reality that mass shooters bypass harder targets in favor of “soft targets” where they know the law-abiding have been forced to disarm. Criminals act rationally. They deliberately select locations where they can maximize casualties with minimal resistance, even when the planned intent of their final shot is their own suicide. They aren’t afraid of the police arriving in ten minutes; they are afraid of the defender who is already in the room. . . .

Tom Knighton, “Gun-Free Zones Are Good for One Group. It’s Not the Innocent, Though.,” Bearing Arms, February 20, 2026.

When I first sat down to write this, my intent was to present a clinical analysis of John Lott’s research and the statistical failure of the gun-free zone. But as the words hit the page, the data gave way to memories, and this piece transformed into something much more personal. It became a testament to why we founded FASTER Saves Lives(Faculty/Administrator Safety Training and Emergency Response)—a movement born out of a refusal to accept the status quo, but then thrust upon us by the horrific events of Sandy Hook. . . .

Sean Maloney, “The Deadly Fraud of Forced Helplessness: Why “Gun-Free” Zones are a Gift to Killers,” Ammoland, February 19, 2026.

The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), created by John Lott, has published research on the ratio of active shooting attacks by people who are mentally confused about their gender identity, commonly referred to as “transgender.”  In 2024, according to the CRPC research, transgender individuals were 12 times as likely to commit an active shooting attack compared to the population as a whole.

In 2024, Politifact published an article claiming that mass shootings by transgender people is a small number of all mass shootings. As the CPRC research points out, this does not tell us if people who identify as transgender are more or less likely to engage in mass murder or attempted mass murder than the population at large. As is common in discussions of violence and statistics, the way you define the variables makes all the difference in how the numbers shake out.  Considering broad definitions of “terrorism” or “gun violence” will give a significantly different result than considering more precise definitions of active shooting attacks or mass killing. Another important variable is what time frame is considered.

The variables most important to determine if transgender people are over-represented in active shooting attacks are the total number of active shooting attacks, the number committed by transgender people, and the percentage of transgender people in the population as a whole. The numbers can be refined by looking at specific population subgroups if there is sufficient data. All of these numbers can be manipulated by changes in definition. When conducting statistical research, it is extremely important to use precise definitions. . . .

Dean Weingarten, “CPRC Study Examines Transgender Representation in Active Shooting Attacks,” Ammoland, February 22, 2026.

johnrlott

0 Comments

Categories

Archives

On Guns.com: To Discuss Guns, Carry, and Court Cases

On Guns.com: To Discuss Guns, Carry, and Court Cases

https://youtu.be/M9fPk_gU_yQ Dr. John Lott talked to the Guns.com crew at SHOT Show 2026 about a wide range of gun policy issues, including gun-free zones potentially attracting attackers, lawful concealed carry reducing harm, permitting costs and delays discouraging...

Talk to an Election Integrity Event in DC

Talk to an Election Integrity Event in DC

General Michael Flynn organized a talk that I gave on voting rules in other countries and some academic research that I have done on voting. The PowerPoint below will help you follow along with the talk. A copy of the PowerPoint is available here. Vote Fraud Mail-in...