Removing AR Schools from Prohibited Carry Areas
I recently submitted the following point paper to the Mayor of Cabot. I believe in light of the recent massacre at VaTech, this is the most responsible method of insuring this level of carnage touches our children.
What say you?
This position is based on three key elements
- There is empirical evidence this policy works
- This policy is currently in effect in the US, Israel, and Thailand
- Concealed carry holders are the best prevention policy
There is empirical evidence this policy works. The most comprehensive research to date on the relationship between concealed carry laws and mass public shootings was published in 2003 by an economics professor at Yale University, John R. Lott, in his book titled, “The Bias Against Guns”.
John Lott is a renowned economist from Yale University whose study is the most comprehensive and methodologically sound analysis ever conducted on the relationship between firearms and crime. The study was conducted over a period of 18 years and incorporated over 3,000 counties nationwide. Over a dozen peer statisticians have replicated the results of his research, and his conclusions have withstood even the most rigid scrutiny. His research was first presented in the Journal of Legal Studied and a forum at the CATO Institute. Summaries of his most compelling conclusions are:
- CCW permit holders are virtually never involved in the commission of any crime, much less murder
- Since 1997, 30% of all school shootings have been stopped by a citizen using a firearm. Only 1% of the news stories that cover these school shootings mention this…this is very dangerous for public policy measures that rely on real and accurate data to determine deterrence actions.
- States without CCW laws account for 90% of the incidents, deaths, and injuries from public mass shootings
- States enacting CCW laws have seen an average reduction of 78% in deaths and injuries from mass shootings.
- States with less restrictive CCW laws have seen the greatest reduction in attacks, deaths, and injuries from mass shootings. AR is unfortunately one of the top 7 most restrictive. The lifting of prohibited areas such as schools and churches would have the most significant further reducing effects, seeing as these are the most common places targeted by mass killers.
- Limiting the places where permit holders are allowed to carry increases the overall number of attacks, deaths, and injuries in those prohibited areas
- The only firearm law that reduces public mass shootings is the enactment of CCW laws.
- Laws that limit the purchase of firearms (one-a-month, waiting periods, certain gun prohibited purchases) in fact, increase the overall number of public mass shootings
This policy is currently in effect in the US, Israel, and Thailand. In the mid-1970’s, Israel was plagued by attacks on it’s schools by suicidal terrorists. After a particularly horrendous attack in May of 1974 left 25 children dead and another 66 injured, the nation decided to meet this head on. They began a nationwide concealed carry program to allow teachers and parents, who had a clean track record, to carry concealed weapons in the schools. After a number a thwarted attacks by armed teachers and civilians at schools and public areas, the number of attacks in this manner immediately ceased. Today, we do not read of these types of attacks, but instead, the suicide bombings that have become all too familiar. This policy was an overwhelming success.
In 2004, on the heals of a number of attacks at schools by Islamic terrorists, a number of Thai provinces took the same action as Israel in the 1970’s and began to arm teachers and administrators with concealed firearms. We do not read about attacks in these Thai provinces today.
This policy has also been instituted in many schools and universities in America as well. The most notable are Utah, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. These states not only allow concealed carry on the grounds and buildings of school campus, but the attorney general in Utah actually came out publicly to support the policy and encourage teachers and administrators to become licensed. Utah attorney general, Mark Shurtleff responded to critics in a public statement: “I’m not saying we ought to arm the entire student body, but there is plenty of evidence to suggest that more guns equals less crime”, and that “This would send a message to every maniac out there that they can’t come in our schools and wreak havoc without the fear of anyone shooting back at them”. There have not been any mass shootings at Utah schools. There was an attempt at a suburban mall in February, but an off-duty police officer (who defaults to the same status as a civilian concealed carrier when in plain clothes) stopped him before he could wreak the unfettered carnage that VA Tech experienced.
Pennsylvania also allows concealed carry holders to carry on school campus. A recent mass shooting at the Nickel Mines Amish School, however seems to test this theory. But further research shows that the shooter, Charles Roberts, was well aware of the pacifist religious beliefs of the Amish community and targeted their school intentionally because of this. He did not target a county public school where there very well could have been a number of teachers carrying concealed...Pennsylvania has some of the highest concealed carry rates in the country.
Concealed carry holders are the best prevention policy. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, who conducted a study of Texas concealed carry revocation rates in the year 2000, Texas concealed carry holders proved to be 5.7 times less likely to commit a violent crime, and 14 times less likely to commit a non-violent offense.
I recently received from State Police Headquarters the yearly number of revocations of all Arkansas licensees since our law was put into affect 12 years ago (146 total). For all offenses that would lead to a revocation, Arkansas concealed carry holders were shown to be almost 300% more law-abiding than Texan concealed carry holders, so imagine how much less likely our licensees are to commit violent or non-violent crimes… this is truly a tribute to the men and women in Arkansas who carry concealed.
As for violent crime in Arkansas; in 2004 there were 5 violent offenses out of 51,000 total licensees, in 2005 there were 3 offenses out of 54,000, and in 2006 there was 1 violent crime out of 57,000 total licensees.
To put this into perspective, the US Department of Justice estimated the violent crime rate in 2005, at a 40-year all time low… 21 violent crimes per 1,000 citizens. If you extrapolate the violent crime data of Arkansas concealed carry holders above, this gives a rate of .1 in 2004, .06 in 2005, and .02 in 2006…or 1000 times less the violent crime rate of the average American citizen. I presented this data to the House Judiciary Committee in February of this year.
Arkansas concealed carry holders are some of the most law abiding individuals in the country…much more so than the average citizen or police officer…and are the default best solution to preventing the atrocities that have affected so many of our children.
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