Self-Defense Laws and Violent Crime Rates in the United States PDF Download

Author: John F. Ross
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781888118032
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 16

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Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Crime
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Author: Rosanna Smart
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781977404312
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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In this report, part of the RAND Corporation's Gun Policy in America initiative, researchers seek objective information about what the scientific literature reveals about the likely effects of various gun laws. In this second edition of an earlier work, the authors add five gun policies to the 13 examined in the original analysis and expand the study time frame to incorporate a larger body of research. With those adjustments, the authors synthesize the available scientific data on the effects of 18 policies on firearm deaths, violent crime, the gun industry, defensive gun use, and other outcomes. By highlighting where scientific evidence is accumulating, the authors hope to build consensus around a shared set of facts that have been established through a transparent, nonpartisan, and impartial review process. In so doing, they also illuminate areas where more and better information could make important contributions to establishing fair and effective gun policies.

Author: Caroline Light
Publisher: Beacon Press
ISBN: 0807064661
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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A history of America’s Stand Your Ground gun laws, from Reconstruction to Trayvon Martin After a young, white gunman killed twenty-six people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, in December 2012, conservative legislators lamented that the tragedy could have been avoided if the schoolteachers had been armed and the classrooms equipped with guns. Similar claims were repeated in the aftermath of other recent shootings—after nine were killed in a church in Charleston, South Carolina, and in the aftermath of the massacre in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida. Despite inevitable questions about gun control, there is a sharp increase in firearm sales in the wake of every mass shooting. Yet, this kind of DIY-security activism predates the contemporary gun rights movement—and even the stand-your-ground self-defense laws adopted in thirty-three states, or the thirteen million civilians currently licensed to carry concealed firearms. As scholar Caroline Light proves, support for “good guys with guns” relies on the entrenched belief that certain “bad guys with guns” threaten us all. Stand Your Ground explores the development of the American right to self-defense and reveals how the original “duty to retreat” from threat was transformed into a selective right to kill. In her rigorous genealogy, Light traces white America’s attachment to racialized, lethal self-defense by unearthing its complex legal and social histories—from the original “castle laws” of the 1600s, which gave white men the right to protect their homes, to the brutal lynching of “criminal” Black bodies during the Jim Crow era and the radicalization of the NRA as it transitioned from a sporting organization to one of our country’s most powerful lobbying forces. In this convincing treatise on the United States’ unprecedented ascension as the world’s foremost stand-your-ground nation, Light exposes a history hidden in plain sight, showing how violent self-defense has been legalized for the most privileged and used as a weapon against the most vulnerable.

Author: Suzanne Uniacke
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521564588
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Do individuals have a positive right of self-defence? And if so, what are the limits of this right? Under what conditions, if any, does this use of force extend to the defence of others? These are some of the issues explored by Dr Uniacke in this comprehensive philosophical discussion of the principles relevant to self-defence as a moral and legal justification of homicide. She establishes a unitary right of self-defence and defence of others, one which grounds the permissibility of the use of necessary and proportionate defensive force against culpable and non-culpable, active and passive, unjust threats. Particular topics discussed include: the nature of moral and legal justification and excuse; natural law justifications of homicide in self-defence; the Principle of Double Effect and the claim that homicide in self-defence is justified as unintended killing; and the question of self-preferential killing. This is a lucid and sophisticated account of the complex notion of justification, revolving around a critical discussion of recent trends in the law of self-defence.

Author: John R Lott
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226493640
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Does allowing people to own or carry guns deter violent crime? Or does it simply cause more citizens to harm each other? Directly challenging common perceptions about gun control, legal scholar John Lott presents the most rigorously comprehensive data analysis ever done on crime statistics and right-to-carry laws. This timely and provocative work comes to the startling conclusion: more guns mean less crime. In this paperback edition, Lott has expanded the research through 1996, incorporating new data available from states that passed right-to-carry and other gun laws since the book's publication as well as new city-level statistics. "Lott's pro-gun argument has to be examined on the merits, and its chief merit is lots of data. . . . If you still disagree with Lott, at least you will know what will be required to rebut a case that looks pretty near bulletproof."Peter Coy, Business Week "By providing strong empirical evidence that yet another liberal policy is a cause of the very evil it purports to cure, he has permanently changed the terms of debate on gun control. . . . Lott's book could hardly be more timely. . . . A model of the meticulous application of economics and statistics to law and policy."John O. McGinnis, National Review "His empirical analysis sets a standard that will be difficult to match. . . . This has got to be the most extensive empirical study of crime deterrence that has been done to date." Public Choice "For anyone with an open mind on either side of this subject this book will provide a thorough grounding. It is also likely to be the standard reference on the subject for years to come."Stan Liebowitz, Dallas Morning News "A compelling book with enough hard evidence that even politicians may have to stop and pay attention. More Guns, Less Crimeis an exhaustive analysis of the effect of gun possession on crime rates."James Bovard, Wall Street Journal "John Lott documents how far 'politically correct' vested interests are willing to go to denigrate anyone who dares disagree with them. Lott has done us all a service by his thorough, thoughtful, scholarly approach to a highly controversial issue."Milton Friedman

Author: John R. Wright, Ph.d.
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781466286405
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Legalized Killing examines the self-defense laws of America, especially the so-called castle laws of states like Texas and Oklahoma, where citizens can use deadly force even if they merely think they are threatened, which in hindsight might not be true. These laws supposedly protect citizens from prosecution if they injure or kill an intruder in self-defense, and they also disallow civil lawsuits against the one defending. But there is an inherent weakness in these laws, which can be found in the answer to a simple question: was it genuine self-defense, where the choice was shoot or die, or was the incident suspicious, clearly not necessary or related to a dispute between the individuals involved? Applying this question to real life incidents finds that many so-called self-defense shootings were not true life or death necessities, yet the one doing the shooting was nevertheless protected by the castle law. These laws could be in conflict with other laws and constitutional provisions. There is no statute of limitations for murder; do these laws create an exception? Is the denial of legal redress to survivors even constitutional? In some states deadly force can be used almost anywhere, e.g., on the road, at a park, at the workplace, etc -- any place a person has a right to be. These laws no doubt protect some who are forced to defend their lives, but they also pose a hazard to other individuals; they almost invite murders and a trigger-happy mentality from certain elements of society. Meter readers and children who wander into a neighbor's yard are put at risk. Legalized Killing takes note of the variability of justice, as evidenced by examples where the laws apparently worked correctly and others where they failed miserably. Legislators, members of the legal and law enforcement communities and private citizens alike share in the substantial ignorance of what can or cannot be done in a self-defense situation, or better stated, what should or should not be done. Misconceptions of what is allowed thus create the dangers. Very few citizens actually know what the statutes contain, and that has led to unwarranted shootings. For example the use of deadly force to defend property is not allowed. A couple in Texas killed a seven year old boy who was going to the bushes to urinate, thinking that the Texas law allowed it! Awareness of such dangers, a hopeful outcome of this book, can actually save lives by steering individuals away from the castle law situation, because there are ways to get into it in total innocence (and very quickly). Similarly, if those who think the castle laws give them a license to kill are caused to realize that a court's decision of justifiable homicide is not a sure outcome, perhaps better judgment will be used. There are many books devoted to the subject of using weapons in self-defense, but Legalized Killing focuses on the problems posed by the castle laws. Only two chapters of Legalized Killing examine the reasons why people own guns along with the nature of the criminal intruder and the actual use of a gun. The book would not be complete without a consideration of those issues. The other eight chapters examine the main focus: failures of the castle laws, the factors that cause the self-defense situation, a comparison of self-defense laws state-by-state and a forum of quotations that reveals the level of ignorance that exists in 2011. The book's emphasis is upon avoidance of trouble and using good judgment. It is well worth knowing about these laws because they have the potential to affect everyone, young or old, rich or poor, innocent or criminal-minded, often with fatal consequences.

Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Subcommittee on Crime
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309091241
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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For years proposals for gun control and the ownership of firearms have been among the most contentious issues in American politics. For public authorities to make reasonable decisions on these matters, they must take into account facts about the relationship between guns and violence as well as conflicting constitutional claims and divided public opinion. In performing these tasks, legislators need adequate data and research to judge both the effects of firearms on violence and the effects of different violence control policies. Readers of the research literature on firearms may sometimes find themselves unable to distinguish scholarship from advocacy. Given the importance of this issue, there is a pressing need for a clear and unbiased assessment of the existing portfolio of data and research. Firearms and Violence uses conventional standards of science to examine three major themes - firearms and violence, the quality of research, and the quality of data available. The book assesses the strengths and limitations of current databases, examining current research studies on firearm use and the efforts to reduce unjustified firearm use and suggests ways in which they can be improved.

Author: John R. Lott
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1621575985
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

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When it comes to the gun control debate, there are two kinds of data: data that's accurate, and data that left-wing billionaires, liberal politicians, and media want you to believe is accurate. In The War on Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies, nationally-renowned economist John R. Lott, Jr. turns a skeptical eye to well-funded anti-gun studies and stories that perpetuate false statistics to frighten Americans into giving up their guns. In this, his latest and most important book, The War on Guns, Lott offers the most thorough debunking yet of the so-called “facts,” “data,” and “arguments” of anti-gun advocates, exposing how they have repeatedly twisted or ignored the real evidence, the evidence that of course refutes them on every point. In The War on Guns, you’ll learn: Why gun licenses and background checks don’t stop crime How “gun-free” zones actually attract mass shooters Why Stand Your Ground laws are some of the best crime deterrents we have Women now hold over a quarter of concealed handgun permits How big-money liberal foundations and the federal government are pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into “public health” studies, the sole purpose of which is to manufacture false data against guns How media bias and ignorance skew the gun debate—and why it will get worse From 1950-2010, not a single mass public shooting occurred in an area where general civilians are allowed to carry guns