Some gun rights advocates cite research by economist John Lott, who leads the Crime Prevention Research Center, suggesting that about 82% of mass shootings occurred in gun-free zones between 1998 and 2025.
“All you do by creating a gun-free zone is creating a magnet — just read the diaries and manifestos. All you do is create a magnet for those who want to go and kill people,” Lott, who also served as a senior adviser for research and statistics at the U.S. Department of Justice during the first Trump administration, told Stateline. . . .
According to Prof. John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center, 32 states allow teachers to voluntarily carry legally as long as they’re trained and possess a carry license. To date, no mass shootings have occurred in a school where teachers are allowed to carry. New York is not one of those states. . . .
Writing for The Federalist, John Lott Jr., who runs the Crime Prevention Research Center, said the weapons used by alleged assailant Cole Allen were purchased in California – a state gun-control advocates often cite as having the “best,” or most restrictive, gun laws.
“The attacker had a 12-gauge Mossberg Maverick 88 pump-action shotgun and an Armscor Precision .38 semi-automatic pistol. The guns were obtained from two different gun stores in California,” wrote Lott, who also authored a report referenced in a Lion article on transgender violence.
That did not stop Democrat politicians and members of the media from calling for additional restrictions. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, called for “universal, violent criminal background check[s],” despite California already enforcing such measures. While it makes a strong talking point, Lott’s research “shows that not a single mass public shooting this century would have been prevented by universal background checks, even if they had been perfectly enforced nationwide.”
Another Democrat official called for closing “lethal loopholes” on “military grade weapons,” despite no such weapons being used in the attack and California already maintaining similar bans.
Members of The View pressed Trump and the White House to embrace gun control following the attack, but Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche urged lawmakers to stand firm, arguing in favor of the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
Lott cited additional examples of gun-control groups advocating policies already in place in California, where the firearms were purchased. Even with the restrictions, the state’s “per capita rate of mass public shootings has consistently exceeded that of the rest of the country,” even by as much as 100%.
Gun-control advocates frequently criticize Texas, a pro-gun state, but Texas has a much lower mass shooting rate, Lott reported.
He also pointed to assassination trends across the Americas, noting most occur in Central and South America, where gun laws are stricter, not in North America.
All of this points to the need to advocate for policies that would actually reduce the threat of violence. . . . [Much more available here]
The Crime Prevention Research Center documents that concealed carry permit holders commit firearms violations at roughly one-seventh the rate of police officers. . . .
Jay Rogers, “You Are on Your Own in America’s Progressive Cities,” Townhall, May 2, 2026.
“In 2024 transgender individuals committed active shooting attacks at least 12 times their share of the population and possibly more than 16 times their share,” the Crime Prevention Research Center concluded.
“Researchers measure attacks in different ways (for example, distinguishing between active shooting attacks and mass public shootings), but regardless of how one breaks down the data, transgender individuals commit these attacks at disproportionately high rates.” . . .
In 2025, the number of officers feloniously killed fell to its lowest level since 2020. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center’s review of FBI LEOKA data, 53 officers were feloniously killed in 2025, down 17.2% from 2024. Early 2026 data also point lower, with 10 officers feloniously killed in the first three months of the year, compared with 15 in the same period of 2025 and 14 in the same period of 2024. The FBI’s LEOKA system relies on voluntary reporting from participating law enforcement agencies.
The Officers Down Memorial Page (ODMP) appears to have more complete data than the FBI Law Enforcement Officers Killed and Assaulted (LEOKA) data. The LEOKA data depends on voluntary reporting from law enforcement agencies.
The ODMP evaluates officer deaths that are submitted to it. The largest discrepancy noticed was in 2013, where ODMP listed 37 officers feloniously killed in that year, and LEOKA lists 27. In 2025, the two numbers are the same.
The Crime Prevention Research Center has compared the first three months of 2026 with the first three months of 2024 and 2025, using the LEOKA data. You can see that 2026 is lower than the previous years for the first quarter.
The number of officers feloniously killed has been dropping since the 1970s. There are reasons for this drop. It has not been smooth. The numbers are relatively small, so there are significant changes from year to year. The chart below shows the number of officers killed feloniously with firearms from 1961 to 2013, using LEOKA data. . . .
Dean Weingarten, “Police Murders Fell in 2025, Down Again in Early 2026,” Ammoland, April 20, 2026.
As Dr. John Lott covered in his seminal work, “More Guns, Less Crime,” the fundamental premise of the gun control movement is a lie. Crime trends in the United States rise and fall over time, while the number of guns in circulation has climbed steadily over the decades. Since 2020, for instance, we’ve witnessed a huge surge in both gun sales and violent crime, but over the past couple of years crime has plunged across the country, while there are still more than 1-million firearms being sold each and every month.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta touted the state’s crime figures this week, boasting that last year the Golden State had the fewest number of homicides, suicides, and “firearm deaths” since 1968. What Bonta didn’t highlight during his press conference, however, was that California has far more firearms than it did just a few years ago. . . .
Are transgender killers rare? Media in both Canada and the US are quick to claim that transgender killers are rare. But are they? Recent mass murders by trans shooters make such claims a hard sell.
Recent attacks by trans teens
The shooter in Tumbler Ridge was trans. The RCMP identified Jesse Van Rootselaar as the shooter who killed eight people in February this year — including his mother and half-brother — before turning a gun on himself. The 18-year-old male began transitioning to female about six years earlier. The teenager had been the subject of police calls related to mental health and weapons in the past two years.
More recently a 15-year-old girl who goes by “he/him” pronouns has been arrested in Nova Scotia after being caught planning a massacre at her school. The 15-year-old is accused of conspiring with a 14-year-old Manitoba boy to launch simultaneous attacks on their respective high schools in Bridgewater, N.S., and Rivers, Man. Police in Bridgewater arrested the 15-year-old last week and searched a home where they said they uncovered handwritten plans and imitation weapons, including an imitation pipe bomb.
Transgender killers are over-represented
To find out just how rare trans shooters are, John Lott at Crime Prevention Research Center looked at the data. To see the full analysis, read the original. It’s way better than this summary. According to FBI statistics, 2.5% of active shooting attacks were by transgender individuals between 2018 and 2024, Lott found.
Raw frequencies don’t tell the whole story. Estimates vary, but between 0.76% and 1.1% of the American population can be considered transgender. Both Gallup and the Williams Institute at UCLA independently estimated that, between 2021-2023, about 1% of the US population identify as transgender. Because trans shooters tend to be younger than the adult population, even as young as 12, adjusting for age, the true percentage may be 0.76%.
Trans individuals are over-represented in mass shootings
Trans individuals are over-represented in mass shootings to their share of the population since so few people identify as transgender. If trans shooters make up 2.5% of the active shooting attacks but only constitute 1% [or less] of the population, they are over-represented. Transgender individuals commit active shooting attacks between 2.5 and 3.4 times their share of the population in the United States. Encouraging youth to believe they can abandon their biological sex and become transgender is a dangerous deception. Not only for the deluded individual youth, but for society. . . . . [and much more]
Gary Mauser, “Are transgender killers rare?” Justice for Gun Owners, April 7, 2026.
O primeiro grande estudo a expor a lógica falha por trás das leis de controle de armas surgiu em 1997. Conduzido por John Lott e David Mustard, o estudo acabou se tornando o best-seller “ Mais Armas, Menos Crimes” . Usando dados de todos os condados dos EUA ao longo de 15 anos, Lott argumentou que os estados com licenças de porte oculto de “emissão obrigatória” (fáceis de obter) apresentaram reduções significativas em crimes violentos como homicídio, estupro e agressão qualificada. . . .
Adam Garrie, “Liberdade de saúde: a prova irrefutável,” BROWNSTONE INSTITUTE, April 18, 2026.
For years, concealed carry permit numbers were the clearest, most reliable indicator of how many Americans were taking responsibility for their own safety. But that landscape has changed — dramatically.
A brand-new analysis from the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) shows that concealed carry permit holders have declined for the third year in a row. And for anyone who doesn’t understand the broader trend, that headline might look like fewer people are choosing to carry firearms.But that assumption couldn’t be more wrong.
Across the United States, more people are carrying than ever… they’re just no longer required to ask the government for permission first.
According to the CPRC report, the number of concealed carry permit holders dropped from 21.47 million in 2024 to 20.88 million in 2025 — a 2.7% decline. That might sound concerning until you realize why it’s happening:
Mitch Goerdt, “How Constitutional Carry Is Reshaping America: What the Data Really Shows About Concealed Carry Permit Holders,” ConcealedCarry.com, December 10, 2025.
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