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Concealed handguns deter crime.

In a landmark study that analyzed FBI crime data, John R. Lott, Jr., PhD, found that states that implemented shall-issue concealed carry laws reduced murders by 8.5%, rapes by 5%, aggravated assaults by 7%, and robberies by 3%. Lott calculated that 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults, and 12,000 robberies could have been prevented between 1977 and 1992 if concealed carry had been legal in every US state during that time period. [8]

John Malcolm, JD, Vice President of the Institute for Constitutional Government, and Amy Swearer, JD, Visiting Legal Fellow at the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, stated, “Between 2007 and 2015, murder rates dropped 16 percent and violent crime rates dropped 18 percent, even though the percentage of adults with concealed carry permits rose by 190 percent.” They continued, “Regression estimates show a significant association between increased permit ownership and a drop in murder and violent crime rates. Each percentage point increase in rates of permit-holding is associated with a roughly 2.5 percent drop in the murder rate.” [92]

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