Talk on Bloomberg and background checks on private transfers

 Dr. John Lott gave a talk on the Crime Prevention Research Center's new research on Bloomberg's push for background checks on the private transfer of guns.  A video of the talk is available here.  If you can't make out the slides in this talk, they are from Lott's book "The War on Guns" and can be seen there.

 (Sunday, August 27th, 2017 at the Carry Guard Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

Talk on the CPRC's new research on Mass Public Shootings and Gun-free zones

Dr. John Lott gave a talk on the Crime Prevention Research Center's research on Mass Public Shootings and Gun-free zones.  The video is available here.  Unfortunately, the first few minutes of the beginning of the talk is missing. The first reference is to a quote from former President Obama that if guns stop mass public shootings, the US shouldn't have any mass shootings. Beyond Lott's response to that point in the video, a list of mass public shootings that were stopped by concealed handgun permit holders.  The slides in the talk are based on information in his book "The War on Guns."

(Saturday, August 26th, 2017 at the Carry Guard Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

At Fox News: "Concussions occur in soccer and other sports, too -- but yeah, let's go after all-American football"

With all the commotion over Ed Cunningham's resignation from ESPN this last week, the media is solely focused on concussions in football.  While this involves legal violence, not crime, the piece still illustrates how media does a very poor job of informing people about what is happening.  The piece starts this way:

Did you know who Ed Cunningham is? Probably not. Cunningham, a college football analyst for ESPN, was unknown to all but hardcore football fans. But by tying himself closely to a politically correct cause – in this case, resigning his position Wednesday, in a protest over concussions in football – he is guaranteed fawning media coverage.  The New York Times is leading the Cunningham canonization. 

With the new college football season for most teams starting this weekend, the resignation seems timed for maximum attention.  But the politically correct movement seems much more focused on opposing what is uniquely American than where players actually face the greatest risks of concussion. 

In college, women's soccer has a higher rate of concussions than men's football or soccer: 6.3 per 10,000 times women participate in soccer practice or a game versus 4.9 for men's soccer and 6.1 for men's football. Men's wrestling and hockey have even higher rates at 12.4 and 8.4 respectively. 

But concussions aren't the only problem. In total injuries, both men's and women's soccer exceed those of men's football. Total injuries for men's soccer are 11.14 per 10,000 practices or games and 9.7 for women's soccer. For football, the number is 9.5. 

College sports are about twice as likely as high school sports to result in concussions. At the high school level, the numbers for soccer aren't quite as bad as for football. High school football is the riskiest. But girls' and boys' soccer are still the second and third most dangerous sports for concussions, followed closely by girls' basketball. 

There is also data showing that, while football causes a higher number of concussions, girls and boys' high school soccer is responsible for more of the serious concussions. We can tell that from the recovery time. Concussions from soccer are about twice as likely as football to require 22 or more days of recovery. . . .

The rest of the piece is available here.

With all the attacks on Trump, how much have Democrats given to charity?

Donald Trump is giving one million dollars to help people after Hurricane Harvey.  He and his family have also been extremely generous over time to others.

Gores' Charitable Giving Raises Some Eyebrows

Biden gave average of $369 to charity a year

Bush, Clinton, and Gore Release Charitable-Giving Records

96 Percent Of Hillary’s Charitable Donations In 2015 Went To Clinton Foundation -- The Clintons then get everything from travel to meals to support staff provided to them from their foundation.

Talk on the CPRC's new research on the changing face of people who are carrying permitted concealed handguns

Dr. John Lott gave a talk on the Crime Prevention Research Center's new research on the changing face of people who are carrying permitted concealed handguns.  The video is available here.  The slides in the talk are available here or in his book "The War on Guns."
 (Saturday, August 26th, 2017 at the Carry Guard Expo in Milwaukee, Wisconsin)

At Fox News: "Police and military equipment - overturning Obama ban protects Americans and law enforcement"

I have a new piece up at Fox News on the Trump administration's decision to overturn Obama's ban on used military equipment being given to police.  The piece starts this way:

Police have a tough and dangerous job.  Armored military vehicles and military-grade body armor aren’t just useful for soldiers, they make it possible for police to protect Americans. 

During his address Monday to the annual meeting of the Fraternal Order of Police, the nation's largest police union with 330,000 members, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that President Trump is overturning Obama’s ban on supplying surplus military equipment to police. 

It is an issue that the Fraternal Order of Police and other police organizations cared about deeply during the campaign last year.  Indeed, they based their endorsement of Trump during the election on his promise to overturn this ban. 

Obama first ordered a review of the Clinton-era program after heavily armored police confronted rioters in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Obama worried that the armored vehicles and heavily-armored police only exacerbated tensions and led to more violence, but Obama never seemed to understand that with rocks, bottles, and tent poles being thrown at the police -- and even bullets being fired at them -- the police couldn’t have stood between the protestors and those who they were protecting without this gear.  And that without the police, the violence would have been much worse. 

If there are any doubts what would have happened without such protection, just remember how much worse the riots were when Governor Nixon (D-Missouri) temporarily kept the police and national guard out of Ferguson.  As one newspaper wrote: “A show of force by police and the U.S. National Guard in Ferguson, Missouri, prevented a second night of widespread rioting by early on Wednesday.”  Nixon might have been well motivated by the fear that police would only antagonize the rioters, but his decision meant that the demonstrators ran wild, destroying businesses and harming people. 

With businesses destroyed and leaving the area, it is the loss of jobs and higher prices that leave long-term scars on minority communities such as Ferguson. 

The vast majority of the military surplus equipment provided the police is purely defensive.  Still, even the more extreme sounding weapons, such as flashbang grenades and sniper rifles, have important uses.  Some police departments face well-armed and vicious drug gangs.  Flashbang grenades may be the safest option to immobilize criminals before police enter a room.  Sniper rifles might be necessary to save innocent lives when hostage situations exist. . . .

The rest of the piece is available here.