Study: Concealed Carry Doesn’t Cause Increase in Crime

by
posted on December 24, 2018
cacea.jpg

Is there a relationship between concealed-carry laws and violent crime rates? Researchers from the Mayo Clinic and Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine say, “No.” Their study will appear in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons later this year.

Dr. Mark Hamill, lead author of the study, presented the findings in October at Clinical Congress 2018. “We found no relationship between the type of concealed-carry process or the general permissiveness of the process and increased rates of homicide or other violent crime,” he concluded.

The researchers looked at state crime rates in comparison to the firearm laws in each—whether it was a no-carry state, may-issue state, shall-issue state or had unrestricted carry—and determined there was no significant link between the two. “Every state and the District of Columbia now has some legislation in place to allow for some form of civilian concealed carry,” noted Hamill. “Changes to concealed-carry legislation likely won’t reduce firearm violence.”

A second, separate study looked at firearms in relation to mass shootings and characteristics of communities where they occur. Conducted by researchers from Bowling Green University and the University of Toledo, they analyzed mass shootings that involved four or more people and occurred between 2005 and 2018. Using social determinants of health as criteria, “We definitely found some of the factors surprising,” declared Dr. Stephen Markowiak, lead author of the study.

The results might have raised eyebrows among the researchers, but there is nothing surprising to gun owners about Markowiak’s conclusion: “The states that were more urban, and anecdotally more liberal, had both stronger gun laws, but also more instances of mass shooting events.”

These studies seem to confirm what gun-rights proponents have long argued: More guns, less crime; more gun laws, more crime.

Latest

Toy Cap Gun
Toy Cap Gun

Now They Want to Use Toy Gun Control as an Excuse for Actual Gun Bans?

Some gun-control “experts” really want to ban young adults from lawfully possessing firearms by citing old state laws that include regulations on toy guns.

This Olympian Has Something Important to Say

Vincent Hancock has a lot to say, but most people just want to know how he accomplished all he has.

From the Editor | The Bullseye

We all need range time, but this day at the range brought more than expected.

Standing Guard | The NRA Comeback

The backbone of the NRA is its millions of members.

What Will 2025 Bring?

The future should hold more victories than defeats throughout the courts.

President’s Column | Sneaky Ways Cities Are Trying To Stop Constitutional Carry

Constitutional carry has taken the country by storm in recent years.



Get the best of America's 1st Freedom delivered to your inbox.