Dear editor:
I read with interest and some dismay the dueling letters between Dr. John Lott and lawyer Linda Burt about the issue of gun free zones.
We all know the old definition of lies: Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics.
I do think Dr. Lott is much better at statistics than either Ms. Burt or “the Lancet.”
But It should seem apparent to anyone reading the news that the most horrible tragedies, school shootings, take place in schools, that are called “gun free school zones.”
But, of course, they are not “gun free” on the day of the killing are they? The only relevant question to ask about these laws is do they work? And clearly they do not.
Sometimes legislators get a bit full of themselves and think if they pass a law surely it will be obeyed by everyone. And other naive people tell themselves they hope it will work.
But unfortunately the only people that obey those laws are the ones who always obey laws and who would never use a gun inappropriately to hurt others.
And they are the people who we wish did have a gun that day in order to put the killer down like the rabid skunk that he is.
Tell me, have you ever heard of a case, even in “The Lancet” where a person who woke up in the morning prepared and intending to go to a school to use his gun to kill people, has been deterred upon getting there and seeing a sign that says, “Gun Free Zone.”
So he turns away and goes for a latte’ instead? That does not happen ever.
The only way to create a “gun free zone” is to build a wall or fence around it and have one controlled entrance with a means of detecting guns. All of this talk is just silly noise that may raise the hope, and ire, of people who don’t understand how this all works, but accomplishes nothing.
When I retired I wrote a book entitled, “A Few Commonsense Gun Laws - Is there such a thing and can they work?” Unfortunately I concluded the answer to both questions is likely “No.”
Sincerely,
Kip Crofts,
Former Director, DCI and former US Attorney
