Illegals Commit Crimes At Double The Rate Of Native-Born: Study

Stephen Dinan at the Washington Times offers a piece on a report of on illegal immigrants and crime. 

The crime rate among illegal immigrants in Arizona is twice that of other residents, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday, citing a new report based on conviction data.

The report, from the Crime Prevention Research Center, used a previously untapped set of data from Arizona that detailed criminal convictions and found that illegal immigrants between 15 and 35 are less than 3 percent of the state’s population, but nearly 8 percent of its prison population.

And the crimes they were convicted of were, on the whole, more serious, said John R. Lott Jr., the report’s author and president of the research center.

His findings also challenge the general narrative that immigrants commit fewer crimes. Those past studies usually don’t look at legal versus illegal populations, Mr. Lott said.

Mr. Lott said the Arizona data is able to peek behind that curtain, and the differences between the populations were stark.

“There appears to be a huge difference between the two groups,” Mr. Lott said. “The type of person who goes through the process to legally immigrate in the United States appears to be very law-abiding versus even the U.S.-born population. The reverse is true for undocumented immigrants — they are committing crimes, and more serious crimes.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/jan/26/illegals-commit-crimes-double-rate-native-born-stu/ 

The War On Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies

Joseph Greenlee offers a review in the Washington Times of John R. Lott's The War On Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies.  

In his new book, “The War on Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies,” John Lott methodically dismantles one popular gun-control myth after another.

It has been said that a lie told often enough becomes the truth, and a similar phenomenon is overwhelming the gun debate in America. Oft-repeated untruths have formed common beliefs that often sway the debate about firearms. Gun-control advocates have learned that their exaggerated claims are likely to go unchecked by a largely sympathetic media, allowing them to control the narrative and shape public opinion.

What is more, as Mr. Lott explains, billionaire elitists like George Soros and Michael Bloomberg are spending hundreds of millions of dollars lobbying legislators, funding conclusion-driven research, developing “grass-roots” organizations, and literally training reporters to cover gun control issues the way they want them covered; the purpose being to negatively distort the public’s view of firearms so that there is less resistance when gun rights are taken away. There is an astonishing amount of money being poured into the gun-control movement, and the success of the movement will ultimately depend on how the public perceives the issues — meaning that facts are now more important than ever.

Thankfully, Mr. Lott has set the record straight in “The War on Guns.” In his usual methodical style, he answers the baseless rhetoric and hyperbole of gun-control advocates with facts and statistics. And better yet, in addition to providing an abundance of tables and graphs, Mr. Lott states his case in a way that is easy to comprehend so that the reader, too, can start setting the record straight when confronted with misinformation.

You can read the rest of the review via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/aug/29/book-review-the-war-on-guns-arming-yourself-agains/ 

Why Terrorists Target Gun-Free Zones

John R. Lott Jr. offers a piece in the New York Post on why terrorists and criminals like gun-free zones.

When will politicians finally recognize that they can’t protect all the possible shooting targets?

Possibly the largest mass public shooting in US history occurred early on Sunday morning, leaving 50 dead. On Friday, also in Orlando, singer Christina Grimmie was murdered after a concert.

Both of these shootings had something in common: They both occurred in places where private citizens were banned from carrying permitted concealed handguns.

With the exception of Donald Trump, over the last few days politicians have talked about everything but gun-free zones. Hillary Clinton and President Obama have been talking background checks on the private transfers of guns or banning people who are on the “no-fly lists” from buying guns.

But not one of the mass shootings since at least 2000, including Sunday’s, would’ve been stopped by these laws. Nor would renewing the federal “assault weapons” ban solve the problem; even research paid for by Bill Clinton’s administration found no evidence the ban reduced any type of crime.

Just a couple of months ago, a young ISIS sympathizer planned a shooting at one of the largest churches in Detroit. An FBI wire recorded him explaining why he had picked the church as a target: “It’s easy, and a lot of people go there. Plus people are not allowed to carry guns in church. Plus it would make the news.”

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

http://nypost.com/2016/06/15/why-terrorists-target-gun-free-zones/

For More Americans, Owning A Gun = Safety

John R. Lott Jr offers a piece at Philly.com on the growing number of people who own guns and have a licence to carry.

Americans are increasingly convinced that owning a gun makes them safer.

A new Rasmussen poll found that an overwhelming margin of Americans (68 to 22 percent) “feel safer in a neighborhood where guns are allowed.” And a series of polls by Gallup, Pew Research Center, and ABC News/Washington Post show similar results.

But it isn’t just what people say. They are clearly putting increased stock in self-defense. Since 2007, the number of concealed handgun permits has soared from 4.6 million to 12.8 million. A new study by the Crime Prevention Research Center finds that a record 1.7 million permits have been issued in just the past year. This is a 15.4 percent increase.

While 5.2 percent of adults nationwide have a permit, in Pennsylvania it is almost 11 percent, ranking it fourth in the country. More than 1 million Pennsylvanians have permits.

You can read the rest of the piece via the below link: 

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/thinktank/For-more-Americans-owning-a-gun--safety.html