Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Gun-Free or Helpless Victim Zones?


Gun Free Zones Don't Work


What do Columbine, Newtown, Aurora Cinemark, Virginia Tech, Oikos University, Northern Illinois University, Fort Hood, and the Washington Navy Yard all have in common?  Aside from all being the sites of mass shootings, they are all gun-free zones.

A University of Chicago Law School study of multiple-victim public shootings from 1977-1999 determined each incident occurred in a "gun-free" zone.  University of Chicago, William Landes & John Lotte, 2000

The latest version of the study illustrates that with the exception of the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, all took place in "gun-free" zones.

Aurora Colorado Cinemark

The Aurora shooting is an interesting case study on "gun-free" zones.  Of the seven theaters within 20 minutes of the perpetrator's apartment, he chose not the larges, nor the closest, but the only one that restricted concealed carry on premises.

No Demonstrated Causal Relationship

While there is no demonstrable evidence that shooters specifically choose "gun-free" zones, the facts do bear one thing out... "gun-free" zones do nothing to mitigate multiple-victim public shootings.

Bloomberg 

Nashua Telegraph
 

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