By John R Lott
Colorado –-(Ammoland.com)- Comments from John R Lott; “My testimony before the Nevada Assembly last week on gun-free zones was also very well received and had a powerful impact on the entire hearing (see video below).”
“I went first in testifying on the bill and when the opponents came afterwards, the committee chair and others would say that they had just heard that the hypothetical concerns they were raising hadn’t occurred in the other states.”
“The opponents were then forced to admit that they didn’t have any examples to contradict that.”
The video of the first panel testifying on the bill to reduce the number of gun-free zones in Nevada is available below (Lott’s testimony starts at 5:54 into the video below). Since the first panel went through a lot of the facts regarding guns and schools as well as mass public shootings, the opponents of the bill were put in a difficult position. Proponent after proponent would bring up hypothetical examples of what might go wrong and the Chairman Ira Hansen would say: “As we have heard during the first panel, that type of concern hasn’t occurred. Do you have any evidence that the type of concern that you are raising has actually occurred?” And the answer was consistently “no.”
For those interested in watching the entire testimony from Thursday see here (see the video starting at 36:20).
The CPRC report on the revocation rate data for college age permit holders is available here. Data on the revocation rates for Nevada permit holders as a whole for 2014 is available here.
Here is news coverage from the Las Vegas Review Journal:
. . . Proponents of the bill included John Lott, an academic and president of an organization called the Crime Prevention Research Center, who offered statistics to debunk some of the arguments against the bill.
Lott said his review shows no evidence in the states where campus carry is allowed that a permit holder has ever committed a crime on a campus. There were three accidents which resulted in no harm, he said. There are no cases of a permit holder shooting an innocent bystander and there are no cases of responding law enforcement shooting a permit holder by mistake, he said.
Lott said his review of mass shooting incidents shows that perpetrators intentionally seek out gun-free areas to commit their crimes.
The group Media Matters calls Lott a “discredited gun researcher” who makes false claims about gun violence. Lott’s group is associated with NRA member Ted Nugent. Media Matters says it is dedicated to correcting “conservative misinformation” in the U.S. media.
But Lott defended his research, and said Media Matters for several years would not let him correct the errors in the many attacks on him in the comment section on their site.
“They won’t even let their readers know there is a response,” he said.
Lott said his organization also has a prestigious academic advisory board.
The published research runs about 70 percent finding a benefit from campus carry laws for reduced crime to 30 percent showing no effect, he said.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures in information dated from February 2015, 23 states let universities make the call on carrying concealed weapons, 20 ban weapons and seven, including Utah, Colorado and Idaho, allow firearms to be carried with some limitations. . . .
From the Las Vegas Sun:
. . . The testimony was emotionally charged on both sides and involved victims of violent crimes who were divided on the effect of guns at schools, places that have been home to some of the nation’s most horrific mass shootings in recent years.
Fiore brought in John Lott, a nationally known gun-law expert and author of the book “More Guns, Less Crime.”
Democratic lawmakers peppered him with questions about the potential of a campus carry permit holder shooting an innocent bystander.
Lott said he’s found no examples of such instances in his research across the country. He said permit holders are more lawful citizens than police officers and non-permit holders.
“The question is not how young people behave,” he said. “The question is about how permit holders behave.” . . .
From KSNV Channel 3 News (NBC) in Las Vegas:
. . . At Thursday’s hearing, Assemblyman James Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, asked if bringing guns on campuses already awash in alcohol and drugs would prove a dangerous mix.
“Young permit holders, college age permit holders are at least as safe or safer than the rest of the permit holders, and permit holders as a whole are extremely law abiding,” said John Lott, author of the book “More Guns, Less Crime,” and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center. . . .
After his testimony Lott was asked to go down to the Nevada Assembly floor where he was introduced to all the representatives.
About Crime Prevention Research Center
The Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC) is a research and education organization dedicated to conducting academic quality research on the relationship between laws regulating the ownership or use of guns, crime, and public safety; educating the public on the results of such research; and supporting other organizations, projects, and initiatives that are organized and operated for similar purposes. Visit: www.crimepreventionresearchcenter.org
If campuses are “awash” in booze and drugs (the former illegal for many students to indulge in, the latter illegal for virtually all to indulge in), how can campuses be kept “gun free” when they can’t keep drugs and booze out?
Perhaps if Assy. Ohrenschall’s concern was directed at reducing the impact of booze and drugs on student lives, they would comport themselves more responsibly, obviating the need for others to defend themselves from abusive, criminal behavior.