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Lott: The Real Costs of Gun Licensing
8/25/00
Commenting in the Aug. 23 Los Angeles Times, John R. Lott Jr., a senior research scholar at Yale University Law School, said gun licensing could lead to increased crime and lost lives.
Lott, the author of the book, "More Guns, Less Crime," was writing in response to the gun licensing measure currently before the California Senate. "If the California Senate passes licensing this week, it will not only cost Californians hundreds of millions of dollars annually, but, more important, it will increase violent crime," Lott wrote.
In theory, Lott pointed out, licensing and registration of guns should help authorities trace guns left at the scene of a crime. "But, amazingly, despite police spending tens of thousands of man hours administering these laws in Hawaii (the one state with both rules), as well as in big urban areas with similar laws, such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., there is not even a single case where the laws have been instrumental in identifying someone who has committed a crime," Lott said.
The reason, he continued, is that criminals rarely leave their guns at the scene of a crime. Furthermore, criminals hardly ever get licenses or register their weapons, he said.
Lott also disputed the claim by gun-control advocates that licensing would allow for even more comprehensive background checks and thus keep criminals from getting guns in the first place. "Unfortunately for gun-control advocates, there is not a single academic study concluding that background checks reduce violent crime," Lott stated.
Lott: The Real Costs of Gun Licensing
8/25/00
Commenting in the Aug. 23 Los Angeles Times, John R. Lott Jr., a senior research scholar at Yale University Law School, said gun licensing could lead to increased crime and lost lives.
Lott, the author of the book, "More Guns, Less Crime," was writing in response to the gun licensing measure currently before the California Senate. "If the California Senate passes licensing this week, it will not only cost Californians hundreds of millions of dollars annually, but, more important, it will increase violent crime," Lott wrote.
In theory, Lott pointed out, licensing and registration of guns should help authorities trace guns left at the scene of a crime. "But, amazingly, despite police spending tens of thousands of man hours administering these laws in Hawaii (the one state with both rules), as well as in big urban areas with similar laws, such as Chicago and Washington, D.C., there is not even a single case where the laws have been instrumental in identifying someone who has committed a crime," Lott said.
The reason, he continued, is that criminals rarely leave their guns at the scene of a crime. Furthermore, criminals hardly ever get licenses or register their weapons, he said.
Lott also disputed the claim by gun-control advocates that licensing would allow for even more comprehensive background checks and thus keep criminals from getting guns in the first place. "Unfortunately for gun-control advocates, there is not a single academic study concluding that background checks reduce violent crime," Lott stated.