Dr. John Lott believes the single most effective tactic to reduce the number of mass shooting deaths is the elimination of gun-free zones. From pages 123 and 124 of his book, The War on Guns:
Mass killers have even explicitly talked about their desire to attack places where civilians cant defend themselves. One need only listen to the February 2016 wiretap of an ISIS supporter who was planning an attack on one of the biggest churches in Detroit. Khalil Abu-Rayyan explained his choice of target this way: A lot of people go there, Plus, people are not allowed to carry guns in church. Plus, it would make the news. Everybody wouldve heard. Fortunately, Abu-Rayyans father alerted the FBI.
The infamous 2015 Charleston, South Carolina church shooting was originally going to be a college shooting. But Dylann Roof changed plans after realizing that the College of Charleston had armed guards.
The Batman movie theater killer, James Homes, initially considered attacking an airport. In his diary, which was released in 2015, he explained his decision against targeting the airport because of substantial security. He then selected the only theater with 20 minutes of his apartment that banned permitted concealed handguns. There were six other theaters he could have gone to. The one he picked wasnt even the one with the largest auditorium or the one that was closest to his home.
Or take Elliot Rodger, who fatally shot three people in 2014 near the campus of UC Santa Barbara. Rodger ruled out various targets where he thought some with a gun would be able to stop his killing spree. Justin Bourque, who shot to death three people in Canada in 2014, even posted to Facebook a cartoon of a defenseless victim explaining to his killer that guns are prohibited.
All of this is footnoted in his book, which I'm not taking the time to reproduce here.
Mass killers have even explicitly talked about their desire to attack places where civilians cant defend themselves. One need only listen to the February 2016 wiretap of an ISIS supporter who was planning an attack on one of the biggest churches in Detroit. Khalil Abu-Rayyan explained his choice of target this way: A lot of people go there, Plus, people are not allowed to carry guns in church. Plus, it would make the news. Everybody wouldve heard. Fortunately, Abu-Rayyans father alerted the FBI.
The infamous 2015 Charleston, South Carolina church shooting was originally going to be a college shooting. But Dylann Roof changed plans after realizing that the College of Charleston had armed guards.
The Batman movie theater killer, James Homes, initially considered attacking an airport. In his diary, which was released in 2015, he explained his decision against targeting the airport because of substantial security. He then selected the only theater with 20 minutes of his apartment that banned permitted concealed handguns. There were six other theaters he could have gone to. The one he picked wasnt even the one with the largest auditorium or the one that was closest to his home.
Or take Elliot Rodger, who fatally shot three people in 2014 near the campus of UC Santa Barbara. Rodger ruled out various targets where he thought some with a gun would be able to stop his killing spree. Justin Bourque, who shot to death three people in Canada in 2014, even posted to Facebook a cartoon of a defenseless victim explaining to his killer that guns are prohibited.
All of this is footnoted in his book, which I'm not taking the time to reproduce here.
Paul Peloquin
Did government credibility die of Covid or with Covid?
Did government credibility die of Covid or with Covid?