The Discredited Nonsense That Gave America The ‘More Guns, Less Crime’ Myth
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Indeed, research by Yale law professor Ian Ayres and Stanford law professor John Donahue corroborates this insight that the “more guns, less crime” hypothesis only stands up if you apply it to a limited time frame. Lott and Mustard’s original study only examined data from 1977 through 1992. Ayres and Donahue examined data from the late 1990s, after the wave of crack-related violence began to ebb, and found that crime dropped dramatically in urban areas without permissive carry laws. They conclude that “no longer can any plausible case be made on statistical grounds that shall-issue laws are likely to reduce crime for all or even most states” — and, indeed, their research suggests that permissive carry laws may increase crime rates.
So What Does The Data Really Show?
Even if Lott’s research is difficult to trust, the real answer to the question “do more guns lead to more crime” is surprisingly hard to determine. This is due, in no small part, to the fact that federal law imposes strict limits on federally-funded research into the causes of gun violence.
The data that does exist, however, suggests that Lott isn’t simply wrong, but that the opposite of his conclusions are actually true. Although the 2004 National Research Council report found that there is insufficient evidence to determine the impact of carry laws on crime, a subsequent study by Stanford researchers determined that “right-to-carry gun laws are linked to an increase in violent crime.” This study indicates that right-to-carry laws increase the rate of aggravated assault by 8 percent. Though it also suggests that such laws “are associated with an increase in rape and robbery,” this evidence for this claim is less strong.
Similarly, a 2013 report by the Center for American Progress found a strong correlation between lax gun laws and more gun violence. According to that report, “the 10 states with the weakest gun laws collectively have a level of gun violence that is more than twice as high — 104 percent higher — than the 10 states with the strongest gun laws.”
More guns, in other words, lead to more crime.
Way more, plus links:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/06/13/3787491/discredited-nonsense-gave-america-guns-less-crime-myth/
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