12/18/2004

A reminder of what I wrote three years ago on the National Academy of Sciences Panel

My piece in the LA Times is still accurate today. It is interesting that the panel claims that for "80 gun prevention programs" they can't find any evidence that gun control reduced violent crime, suicides, or accidental deaths. While I will write up a more substantive discussion, James Q. Wilson's very unusual dissent in the first appendix says a lot. Wilson concluded that the research provides "confirmation of the findings that shall-issue laws drive down the murder rate . . . ," though he is less convinced of the change in other crimes. The NAS won't tell me how many panels have had dissents previously, though they admit that they are very rare. It is disappointing that the panel refused to let me ask questions during their presentation.

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