Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A new study by John Lott and John Moody has found that concealed carry laws may reduce murder rates in the long run. The study, which was published in the journal Economic Inquiry, found that the effect of concealed carry laws on murder rates takes time to manifest but that it is negative and statistically significant in the following years. When you read “negative,” understand that means concealed carry is reducing the murder rate.
Estimating The Effect Of Concealed Carry Laws On Murder: A Response To Bondy et al. Carlisle Moody & John R. Lott
The study was conducted using a sample of all 50 states from 1970 to 2018. The researchers controlled for a variety of factors that could affect murder rates, such as the unemployment rate, the poverty rate, and the incarceration rate.
The researchers found that the effect of concealed carry laws on murder rates is heterogeneous. This means that the effect of these laws may vary depending on the state or the type of law. For example, the study found that constitutional carry laws, which allow people to carry guns without a permit, may have a larger effect on murder rates than right-to-carry laws, which require people to obtain a permit (aka permission slips) to carry guns.
Lott and Moody write: “We find that the effect of right-to-carry laws on murder is negative but not significantly different from zero in the year of adoption. However, the effect becomes negative and statistically significant in the following years. This suggests that it takes time for people to get permits and start carrying guns, and that it takes time for the effects of this to be felt on crime rates.”
The news study’s findings are important because they suggest that concealed carry laws, and in particular constitutional carry, may be an effective way to reduce murder rates.
As expected, the study by Lott and Moody has been criticized by anti-gun researchers, who argue that the findings are not statistically significant and that the study does not adequately control for other factors that could affect murder rates. For example, the controversial study by Bondy et al. found that concealed carry laws are actually associated with an increase in murder rates.
Bondy et al. write: “Our results suggest that right-to-carry laws are associated with an increase in homicide rates. This is contrary to the findings of Lott and Moody, but it is consistent with other recent studies.”
The findings in the Lott & Moody Study contradict the findings of other studies that conveniently found that concealed carry laws are associated with an increase in murder rates.
The study’s authors acknowledge that more research is needed to confirm their findings. However, they believe that their study provides strong evidence that concealed carry laws may be an effective way to reduce murder rates.
The study’s findings are likely to be met with mixed reactions. Some people will welcome the findings, while others will be critical of them. However, the findings are an important contribution to the debate over the effects of concealed carry laws.
The study by Lott and Moody is the first to find a long-term effect of concealed carry laws reducing murder rates. This finding is significant, and it should be considered by policymakers who are considering the adoption of these laws.