ECONOMIST SAY GUNS FIGHT CRIME

Chicago Sun Time News on line

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/lott08.html 

In one of his most controversial statements made in the wake of the
Littleton, Colo., shootings, Lott said allowing teachers to carry concealed
handguns would not only stop shootings in progress, but deter shootings. 

"Rather than creating safe zones for our children, we are unintentionally
creating safe zones for those intent on harming our children," Lott said.
For example, he says his research shows that people who engage in mass
public shootings--a tiny fraction of murders--are deterred in states with
right-to-carry laws--which allow people to carry concealed handguns after
they meet certain criteria.
 
Lott studied mass shooting deaths and injuries in 14 states that adopted
right-to-carry laws between 1987 and 1995. Before the states passed
right-to-carry laws, their number of mass shootings per 100,000 people was
.0136.
 
After they passed right-to-carry legislation, that figure dropped to .002
per 100,000 people--an 84 percent drop.
 
Lott also says gun control laws have noticeably reduced gun ownership in
some states, with the result that for each 1 percent drop in ownership,
there was a 3 percent increase in violent crime. 

And Lott contends that legal possession of concealed handguns does not raise
the number of accidental deaths or suicides. And he says women who behave
passively are 2.5 times more likely to end up seriously injured when
confronted by a criminal than a woman who has a gun.