Paper on the politicization of the FBI forthcoming in the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Today, May 2015

The abstract:      

An FBI report released on September 16th, 2014 makes the assertion that active shooter attacks and deaths have increased dramatically since 2000 – both increasing at an annual rate of about 16 percent. As the headline in the Wall Street Journal stated: “Mass Shootings on the Rise, FBI says.” 

But the FBI made a number of subtle and misleading decisions as well as outright errors. Once these biases and mistakes are fixed, the annual growth rate in homicides is cut in half. When a longer period of time is examined (1977 through the first half of 2014), deaths from Mass Public Shootings show only a slight, statistically insignificant, increase – an annual increase of less than one percent. 

The FBI’s misleadingly includes cases that aren’t mass shootings – cases where no one or only one person was killed in a public place. While the FBI assures people that it “captured the vast majority of incidents falling within the search criteria,” their report missed 20 shootings where at least two people were killed in a public place. Most of these missing cases took place early on, biasing their results towards showing an increase.

The paper can be downloaded here. 

My newest piece at Fox News starts this way:

Terrorists can strike anywhere and at any time, giving them a huge strategic advantage.Unfortunately, too many politicians around the world are refusing to admit this.
After the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris earlier this month, France placed 10,000 uniformed soldiers in front of Jewish sites across the country.  Unfortunately, this is unlikely to be very effective. 

Israel learned this lesson the hard way. For several decades after its founding, Israel responded by putting more soldiers and armed police on the streets. Unfortunately, a mass killer can wait for officers to leave the scene or to kill the uniformed officers first. No matter how much money Israel spent, terrorists could wait patiently until they see an opening to attack. 

Today, in Israel, over 12 percent of adult Jewish civilians are licensed to carry firearms.  This complicates things for terrorists, as they don’t know who might be able to stop them. 

Possibly this lesson is why this past week a leading European rabbi, Menachem Margolin, called for European Jews to be able to carry handguns.  Of course, in countries that won’t even let off-duty police carry guns, that isn’t going to happen. . . . .

The rest of the piece is available here.

Iowa's concealed handgun permits soar 450 percent since 2010

From an article at Fox News:

In 2010, Iowa's numbers were just shy of 40,000, but according to data from the Iowa Department of Public Safety, last year the number crested 220,000. In 2011 alone, the number of permits issued in the state more than doubled. 

Nationally, a report by the Crime Prevention Research Center found that between 2007 and 2014 found there was a 127-percent increase in gun permit holders in America. However, in the same time period, Iowa saw over 400 percent growth in permit holders. Ross Loder, the bureau chief of the weapons permits division of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, says is likely due to a change in state gun permit laws. . . .

Yet another example of why it can pay to be able to fire many bullets in self defense

Here is a homeowner who faced to armed men breaking into his home at 12:30 AM.  A total of 30 shots were fired.  Limiting this homeowner to 7 or 10 shots might have been the difference between life and death.  As I have pointed out before, this type of case is not that uncommon.  From KHOU in Houston, Texas:

. . . The homeowner told authorities he was sleeping when two men kicked in his front door. 

According to investigators, the homeowner grabbed his pistol and began firing shots at the criminals from the top of the stairs. 

"It's our understanding he was quite scared and terrified, in fear of his life. He discharged his weapon, and as they retreated, they shot back," said Assistant Chief Mark Herman with Harris County Precinct 4. 

The men reportedly fired repeatedly at the homeowner before they fled in a 2015 Dodge pickup. 

Deputies said no one was hurt, despite more than two dozen shots being unloaded. 

"I don't know what to expect next," said neighbor Dale Bahn. "There's a lot of people that have guns in their homes. In this area, there are several gun owners and a gun club." . . .

Masked gunman fatally shot as he tried breaking into home at midnight

The masked, armed, home invader here apparently was suspected in another murder.  Fortunately, the home owner was able to protect himself after he was shot.  From Chester, Pennsylvania (the Delaware County Daily Times):

Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 26-year-old man late Sunday during a confrontation in which he is believed to have tried to force his way into a city home.Terrance Reason was identified as the man who was fatally shot at about 11:46 p.m. in the 1100 block of Walnut Street.
According to police, a masked gunman, later identified as Reason, tried to force his way into a house in that block. The occupants held the door closed, preventing him from entering, according to Captain Anita Amaro.
Reason raised his arm and began firing, striking a 30-year-old male occupant in the leg, police said. The wounded man returned fire, striking Reason in the shoulder, according to police.
Reason fled from the scene, but later showed up at Crozer-Chester Medical Center. He was taken into surgery, where he died, police said.
The 30-year-old victim was transported to CCMC, where he was listed in stable condition.
Investigators had long eyed Reason as a suspect in the October 12, 2010, shooting death of Whylisha Foreman, but he was never charged, according to police sources. . . .

Thanks to Rick Valent for the link.