Concealed Carry and its effects on crime

Quinnipiac University economist Mark Gius has published a new study, "An examination of the effects of concealed weapons laws and assault weapons bans on state-level murder rates," in the journal Applied Economics Letters. From the abstract:

The purpose of the present study is to determine the effects of state-level assault weapons bans and concealed weapons laws on state-level murder rates. Using data for the period 1980 to 2009 and controlling for state and year fixed effects, the results of the present study suggest that states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murder rates than other states. It was also found that assault weapons bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level. These results suggest that restrictive concealed weapons lawis may cause an increase in gun-related murders at the state level. The results of this study are consistent with some prior research in this area, most notably Lott and Mustard (1997).

Intriguing.

For more background: The most recent Reason-Rupe poll reports that 63 percent of Americans don't believe that stricter gun laws would keep weapons out of the hands of criminals.

From the reason app I have. No link to post that I could find.

Quinnipiac is a Soviet institution. And even though the results of their study sound nice to me, it also sounds fairly meaningless.

I wonder if there is a correlation between murder rates and states where people carry .45 vs. 9mm? The answer is yes. The statistical significance of the correlation remains to be seen, but the meaninglessness is evident without study.

I actually prefer the way two anti-gun researchers put it (copied from wikipedia):

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In a 2003 article, Yale Law professors John J. Donohue III and Ian Ayres have claimed that Lott's conclusions were largely the result of a limited data set and that re-running Lott's tests with more complete data (and nesting the separate Lott and Mustard level and trend econometric models to create a hybrid model simultaneously calculating level and trend) yielded none of the results Lott claimed.[105] However Lott has recently updated his findings with further evidence. According to the FBI, during the first year of the Obama administration the national murder rate declined by 7.4% along with other categories of crime which fell by significant percentages.[107] During that same time national gun sales increased dramatically. According to Mr. Lott 450,000 more people bought guns in November 2008 than November 2007 which represents a 40% increase in sales, a trend which continued throughout 2009.[106] The drop in the murder rate was the biggest one-year drop since 1999, another year when gun sales soared in the wake of increased calls for gun control as a result of the Columbine shooting.

In an interview by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Ayres and Donohue stated that "There are many factors that people might weigh in deciding whether to pass these laws or not, but this idea that there is a statistical basis for thinking that these laws will reduce crime simply is not true." When asked about Lott's response to their work, Donohue states: "There's really nothing they can say, It's sort of like we caught them failing to carry the 1." He later went on to acknowledge that, "Mr. Lott's research has convinced his peers of at least one point: No scholars now claim that legalizing concealed weapons causes a major increase in crime."

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Originally Posted by ungawa

Quinnipiac is a Soviet institution.

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The college in Connecticut is Soviet?

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Originally Posted by donotknowme

The college in Connecticut is Soviet?

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Most are. And certainly in this case, IMO.

I'm not sure if it's in their charter LOL :)

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Originally Posted by ungawa

Quinnipiac is a Soviet institution. And even though the results of their study sound nice to me, it also sounds fairly meaningless.

I wonder if there is a correlation between murder rates and states where people carry .45 vs. 9mm? The answer is yes. The statistical significance of the correlation remains to be seen, but the meaninglessness is evident without study.

I actually prefer the way two anti-gun researchers put it (copied from wikipedia):

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Soviet? no. socialist? certainly.

Soviets are socialist but all socialist are not soviets.

If you use a +100 to -100 scale for world politics with +100 being Fascist and -100 being Marxist, then the US political system (with elected politicians) ranges from roughly +90 (very hard right minutemen types) to roughly -50 ("ultraliberal" in US parlance). Most of Europe ranges from +40 to -70 (note I am talking about elected reps with power).

Part of the problem in understanding the differences in definition is that very rarely are there any discussions at the high school level on different political systems or any comparative religion courses. This lack of discussion is due to the "outcries, even tar and feathering parties" that would occur due to what is usually a lack of understanding by parents of the role(s) of comparative discussions of such differences.

Having come up through a selective (read academic) school system in the UK, that had such courses taught with discussion back and forth amongst teachers and students, then coming to the US well after graduate school, I was very surprized to find that the basic differences in political systems are still not understood in the US when compared to other countries, and I have been here close to 45 yrs. Dave_n

Lets see... in NJ, people get carjacked -- people can't carry. In PA, people can carry and you rarely hear of a carjacking. My analysis lacks statistical significance but it seems reasonable to me. IMHO

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Originally Posted by pa350z

Lets see... in NJ, people get carjacked -- people can't carry. In PA, people can carry and you rarely hear of a carjacking. My analysis lacks statistical significance but it seems reasonable to me. IMHO

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PA350Z, I agree. I have been in the Poconos for 18 yrs and never heard of a car jacking. I am sure it has happened but is prob rare.
After the CC citzen shot the bg at Walmart about a year ago who was being robbed at gun point it may have sent a good message out to area thugs. The situation may not turn out as he(BG) had planned! But I know lots of people that CC in the Stroudsburg areas. As a matter of fact I was shocked how many carry when the discussion has come up, including woman that carry.