2/14/2008

Yet another shooting in a gun free zone

Here is a story on the latest tragedy:

DE KALB, Ill (CBS) ― Several people have been shot on the Northern Illinois University campus. The suspect killed himself and officials say the danger has passed.

Officials confirmed that several people were shot at Cole Hall, a large lecture hall on campus, shortly after 3 p.m. and the campus was immediately placed on lockdown.

Kishwaukee Hospital reported that up to 13 people were being brought to the hospital and that three to four of those victims had suffered head wounds.

Student journalists at the school's Northern Television Center reported that there were 18 victims, two of them fatalities, including the gunman. . . . .


Illinois is of course one of two states that completely ban people carrying concealed handguns anyplace.

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9 Comments:

Blogger Rail Claimore said...

I was waiting for you to post about this.

2/14/2008 7:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

John, Do you have any statistics of the percentage of murders in the U.S. that are committed in homes?

2/14/2008 10:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm sure it would have been better to have gun-toting students so that a gunfight would have erupted and the number of people dead would number in the dozens instead of six.

2/15/2008 1:52 AM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Dear Anonymous:

There have been a number of attacks where individuals with permitted concealed handguns stopped the attack. Name me one case where one of these individuals accidentally shot others when they were trying to stop an attack. I don't one one single case where that happened.

2/15/2008 3:48 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anonymous,
In the Illinois University case there was one bad guy, not two or three who were spread out. Why would a gun fight aimed at killing a single bad guy spiral out of control?

When everyone wants to defend themselves from a single person all the bullets tend to go in one direction -- towards the murderer, not the innocent bystanders. This is usually the case even under extreme pressure.

What a tragedy. Moral of the story: never work or study in a gun-free zone if you can avoid it.

2/15/2008 4:18 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just been over to the Brady site (don't worry, I washed my hands before typing this).

Apparently they rate IL as 9th state out of 50 for disarming people ready for them to be shot / mugged / raped/ murdered...

I also took a quick look at their list of school shootings:

http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/highprofile/

about 2 up from the bottom is Pearl MS. for some reason they fail to include the "FACT" that the little shit was stopped by a person with a CCW.

I haven't checked for Appalachian Law School yet, wonder if they mention that?

Alpacca 45

2/15/2008 7:27 AM  
Blogger TYF said...

Makes me all the more glad we've moved out of IL and into a state with CCW permits.

What's particularly bothersome about the coverage is how this criminal is consistently referred to as a "gunman," thus tarring the word "gun" by using it as part of the person's descrpition. When someone beats another person to death with a baseball bat, for example, the NY Times doesn't refer to him as a "Baseball Player," or even a "Batsman." He's just a thug with a deadly weapon.

I suppose this is all just another aspect of the "Bias Against Guns", which you so thoroughly documented in your book.

2/15/2008 7:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Clearly there is a problem with some gun owners and the sloppy way they handle their guns:

http://tinyurl.com/3dt3oj

A gun is safe when it is unloaded and locked up. The more loaded guns that are walking around on the street the more accidents we will see. Just ask the Vice President.

2/15/2008 8:57 AM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Dear Last Anonymous:

Thanks for the note, but the problem is that gun locks and safes result in significantly more lost lives than they save. If you are interested in the research on this, please look here.

2/15/2008 10:10 AM  

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