From the National Center for Policy Analysis
www.ncpa.org
This will put the cat among the pidgeons, as my Scots friends say. ~Bob
PUT GUNS ON CAMPUS
Mass public shootings are a horrific feature of modern life. Many of the bloodiest examples of this scourge have occurred on college campuses. Professors are particularly sensitive to this danger, say Theodore Day, a professor of finance, and Stan Liebowitz, the Ashbel Smith Professor of Economics, both at the University of Texas at Dallas, and Craig Pirrong, a professor of finance at the University of Houston. All support a bill currently pending in the Texas Legislature that would permit the concealed carrying of firearms on college and university campuses in the state by holders of concealed-handgun permits.
According to the professors, any public policy involving matters of life and death should be decided only after weighing carefully the competing risks. For example, examining the relevant facts and data indicates that permitting Texas permit holders to carry weapons on college campuses would improve safety because:
The best available empirical evidence shows that concealed-carry laws reduce the incidence of mass public shootings.
Mass public shootings occur almost exclusively in places -- like universities -- where concealed carry is proscribed.
There are numerous examples of firearms owners acting to disarm would-be mass murderers, thereby saving lives.
Concealed-handgun-permit holders are overwhelmingly law-abiding individuals.
If gun bans truly reduced the risk of mass public shootings, then gun-free zones would be refuges from such havoc. Sadly, the exact opposite is true. All multiple-victim public shootings in the United States with more than three fatalities have occurred where concealed handguns are prohibited. Moreover, the worst primary and secondary school shootings have occurred in Europe, despite its draconian gun laws, say the professors.
Source: Theodore Day, Stan Liebowitz and Craig Pirrong, "Put guns on campus," Dallas Morning News, April 23, 2009
For text:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-liebowitz_23edi.State.Edition1.205ac09.html
For more on Crime:
http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_Category=14
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When it comes to guns, factual arguments will never outweigh (false) emotional arguments in too many areas of society. Sadly, probably a majority of people have been convinced that more guns mean more crime, and they do not bother to read the studies that say the opposite.
ReplyDeleteAs a college student currently I can't tell you how much safer I would feel with laws like this. After several of the shootings in colleges around our country I wondered to myself could this happen at my school. Currently our school has a ban on concealed weapons on campus. However in several of my classes I have a buddy who is going to school part time while his real job is as a detective. He almost always wears his service weapon to class and it makes me feel just a little bit safer. If some but decides to start shooting up the place at least this individual will be able to respond quickly to the threat. The idea that guns somehow are evil and them just merely being around will cause harm is bogus. Its like me thinking that ooohhh people are killed by cars. Maybe we should make our cars and neighborhoods car free zones so those evil nasty cars don't kill anyone. This is flawed thinking but is used by those who seek to outlaw firearms.
ReplyDeleteWhat I like about this blog is how only approved messages are allowed. It's very comforting. It reminds me of when I was in China. They have a similar system.
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