> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gene Sais [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
>
> Statistically, states where handguns are legal are the states
> where violent crimes are less. Criminals prefer easy
> victims. Outlaw handguns and only Outlaws will have them. Check out:
>
> http://www.tsra.com/LottPage.htm
>
I'll just mention that the issue, like most issues, is not as simple as that.
John Lott has published some studies indicating crime drops following concealed-carry laws in some areas, but numerous critics have pointed out that changes in crime rates involve a very complex mix of lots of factors, and Lott himself acknowledges that much more work needs to be done to make the results conclusive. And that still wouldn't settle the question of how we should balance the increased deterrent effects of having more guns around (if indeed they exist) with the increased dangers of other kinds (more gun thefts, more gun accidents, more casualties of non-criminal conflicts) that we might get from having more guns around.
