Armed Citizens Can Prevent Mass Shootings, Says Researcher
Following the deadly first weekend of this month, when mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Tex. claimed 29 lives and airwaves, news pages and social media went wild with talk of “gun violence,” new “gun control” proposals and the potential for armed citizens to intervene and stop such incidents, one familiar voice weighed in.
John Lott, founder, Crime Prevention Research Center.
John Lott, founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, put the lie to arguments that armed citizens would only increase the chaos, shoot the wrong people or get shot themselves. In a discussion on Fox News, Lott offered an interesting observation that was buried in a story carried by Sinclair Broadcasting affiliates.
The story said Lott “suggested that concerns about individuals with concealed carry permits causing more harm than good are unsupported by the data.”
“Though possible,” the story continued, “Lott said there is ‘not one single case’ where either a police officer accidentally shot a permit holder or a permit holder accidentally shot a bystander.”
The report coincided with the Arizona Department of Public Safety revealing that 345,508 active concealed carry permits were in circulation in Arizona and came just days after Washington reported more than 627,000 active concealed pistol licenses.
Down in Florida, there are more than 2 million carry licenses and both Texas and Pennsylvania each have more than 1 million permits in circulation.
Like it or not, people are arming up. Whether this is in reaction to mass shootings or people are being more cautious about their own safety is merely speculation at this point.
Police in Dayton were able to put down the mass shooter within a minute—about how long it took police in Gilroy, Calif., to take down a mass shooter there, though the medical examiner says that guy killed himself.
It took El Paso police about 5-6 minutes to respond to the Walmart shooting, and the suspect there wasn’t taken into custody for several more minutes.
What About Media Bias?
On the same weekend that saw the tragic shootings in Ohio and Texas, there were, according to the New York Times, shootings that killed seven people and wounded 52 others in Chicago.
Insider Online looked at Chicago a week ago. The trend promises to continue through the rest of the summer—which has a month remaining—and into autumn.
Is it media bias to focus on tragedies in two cities and not on the continuing tragedies in the Windy City? Some people think so, and the press isn’t helping.
For example, in its coverage of the continuing slaughter in Chicago, MSN published a report with the following headline: “As summer violence rages on, a Chicago gang member’s jail recordings offer a rare look at the city’s entrenched gun culture.”
But the story talked about gang conflicts and the gang culture. It’s just easier to demonize guns than thugs, presumably.
But don’t let that deter you. This one might be hard to resist, and here’s why. The new pistol has a two-tone finish with a bead-blasted stainless slide and matte black glass-reinforced polymer frame. There are two versions, one with a cross-bolt safety in the frame and the other without.
The pistol has cocking serrations fore and aft, plus the front and rear 3-dot sights are dovetailed into the frame. Mossberg designed the MC1sc to hold a single-stack 7-round clear magazine. It’s got a 3.4-inch barrel cut with a 1:16-inch twist.
According to Mossberg, the pistol leaves the factory with a 5- to 6-pound trigger pull and a short reset, the trigger also sporting an integrated blade safety. The handgun itself has a weight of approximately 19 ounces empty.
The grip angle is similar to that of a 1911 and the polymer grip surface is textured for a firm hold.
Here’s a compact pistol that can easily tuck into a cargo pocket, purse, IWB holster or some other easily concealable rig thanks to an OAL of 6.25 inches.
Both versions of the MC1sc carry an MSRP of $421.
2019 Gun Rights Conference looms
Whether it’s guns, gangs, the current troubles within the National Rifle Association, concealed carry or protecting your rights, it’s likely to be on the agenda at the 2019 Gun Rights Policy Conference.
Co-hosted by the Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the 34th annual GRPC will be held in Phoenix the weekend of Sept. 20-22. Attendance is free and everyone who attends can take away a treasure of books, reading materials and information about what gun owners can do as the 2020 elections approach.
Featuring a packed agenda of panel discussions, the annual awards luncheon and reports from leaders in the Second Amendment movement, the GRPC attracts the top names in gun rights. Activists from across the country gather for this event, and considering everything that’s been happening over the past few months, this conference could be a sizzler. Plus, Insider Online will be there.
You can pre-register online at saf.org/grpc
