Another shooting in a another gun free zone: Binghamton, NY
Here is a piece that I have up at Fox News:
Police try their best and thank goodness they are available, but as often happens in these cases, it took a very long time for police to respond. It is disappointing though that the police chief can't give a more precise number on how long it took for them to respond.
Six new anti-gun bills will be heard in NY this next week.
Time after time multiple- victim public shootings occur in “gun free zones” — public places where citizens are not legally able to carry guns. The horrible attack today in Binghamton, New York is no different. Every multiple-victim public shooting that I have studied, where more than three people have been killed, has taken place where guns are banned.
You would think that it would be an important part of the news stories for a simple reason: Gun-free zones are a magnet for these attacks. Extensive discussions of these attacks can be found here and here. We want to keep people safe, but the problem is that it is the law-abiding good citizens, not the criminals, who obey these laws. We end up disarming the potential victims and not the criminals. Rather than making places safe for victims, we unintentionally make them safe for the criminal.
At some point, you would think the media would notice that something is going on here, that these murderers aren’t just picking their targets at random. And this pattern isn’t really too surprising. Most people understand that guns deter criminals. . . . .
Police try their best and thank goodness they are available, but as often happens in these cases, it took a very long time for police to respond. It is disappointing though that the police chief can't give a more precise number on how long it took for them to respond.
The chief defended the time it took officers to go into the building — an hour to 90 minutes.
Six new anti-gun bills will be heard in NY this next week.
Labels: GunFreeZone, multiplevictimpublicshooters, op-ed
posted by John Lott at 6:19 PM
9 Comments:
I wrote a paper last year involving school shootings. Every school shooting has taken place in a "gun free zone." I have not found one exception. Why are you the only one who repeatedly promotes this message? Why aren't their more people keen to this fact? I find it disturbing that increased attention to shootings in the media in recent months. I'm waiting for the proposal of gun bans in a few months after people are convinced that guns are the problem, and not a people problem.
I agree with you on gun-free zones, so I guess more out of curiosity I ask this, but in light of the statement "[e]very multiple-victim public shooting that I have studied, where more than three people have been killed, has taken place where guns are banned," how would you characterize the shooting spree in South Alabama a few weeks ago?
Dear jr:
You could go and read the op-ed that I had on those shootings here. I hope that helps. Thank you.
Can somebody clear this up???
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C04%5C04%5Cstory_4-4-2009_pg1_6
"Mayor Matthew Ryan told the Binghamton Press and Sun Bulletin the gunman had a high-powered rifle."
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/At-least-12-dead-Binghamton/story.aspx?guid=%7BE679856C-2327-4997-B1C4-32B8B037C118%7D
"...New York Gov. David Paterson said Friday that at least 12 people were killed during a shooting incident in Binghamton, N.Y. News reports said a man with a rifle..."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30030756/
"Police found two handguns — a 9 mm and a .45-caliber — as well as a hunting knife, authorities said."
http://dailycontributor.com/200904034188/13-dead-26-wounded-in-binghamton-ny-shooting/
"Two handguns were recovered at the crime scene."
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5324JP20090403
"New York (Reuters) - A man armed with two handguns...
http://www.hindu.com/2009/04/04/stories/2009040460570100.htm
"The suspected Asian assailant, armed with a high-powered rifle..."
http://www.fox6now.com/news/witi-090403-binghamton-230pm,0,41233.story
Binghamton, N.Y., shooting leaves about a dozen people dead
"Reports say a gunman entered a building with a high-powered rifle..."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/04/04/2534909.htm?section=justin
"Our original information is that the shooter was using handguns and we did recover two handguns at the scene."
http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20090089640&ch=432009111900PM
"According to report, the suspect, a man in his 30s wearing bright green jacket, entered the building and started shooting with a rifle."
>Extensive discussions of these attacks can be found here and here.
There are no links in that sentence.
Mr. Lott,
Thank you for all the hard work you and your collegues do in the name of freedom.
And thank you for the Binghamton article on Fox--I wholeheartedly agree.
You might be interested in my article on the subject:
Was Binghamton Massacre Aided By Current Gun Laws?
at: http://amccright.blogspot.com/2009/04/was-binghamton-massacre-aided-by.html
Thanks, again, for your efforts.
Mr. Lott -
You mention that this was a "gun free zone". This is (not surprisingly) the first time I have heard this. What kind of a gun free zone was it? Was it some kind of school? Was there some kind of notice posted in this building that firearms were not allowed? I am not familiar with the laws in NY. I live in Texas and I am a licensed concealed handgun carrier. In TX gun free zones fall into certain specific categories such as sporting venues, courtrooms, or schools. Or businesses that are clearly marked with a "code 30.06" sign or a "red 51" sign (i.e. places that get more than 51% of their income from the sale of alcohol.) Those of us who hold CHLs are instructed clearly that by law we are not allowed to enter these zones armed. So I tend to stay away from them. In order to get better laws passed which reduce the number of these zones it would help if we knew more about this one. What kind of gun free zone was this? What NY laws prohibited guns there? Could someone with a concealed weapon permit from NY have legally carried a gun there? (I know those are incredibly difficult to get in NY, but there are some citizens who have them.) Or, by choosing this location as a target, was the killer guaranteed a building full of unarmed, defenseless, victims?
-- Thanks
I'm wondering if Mr. Lott (or somebody else) can please answer the following for me, as I'm rather new to the whole gun issue controversy: Say hypothetically this country were categorically to outlaw all private gun ownership -- and in perfectly legal manner, subvert outright the 2nd Amendment -- how then do you answer the argument, made by many gun nabbers, that, under such a gun-prohibitive scenario, any ostensible black market for guns would be greatly attenuated because the current black-market exists precisely because of the already legal existence of private gun ownership and sales?
"how then do you answer the argument, made by many gun nabbers, that, under such a gun-prohibitive scenario, any ostensible black market for guns would be greatly attenuated because the current black-market exists precisely because of the already legal existence of private gun ownership and sales?"
Walk him downtown and buy him a back of crack.
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