Kerby Anderson

When the New York gun control law went into effect earlier this month, two politicians made some statements that deserve some rebuttal. New York Governor Kathy Hochul claimed, “This whole concept that a good guy with a gun will stop the bad guys with a gun, it doesn’t hold up. And the data bears this out, so that theory is over.”

At the same press conference, New York City Mayor Eric Adams implied that more concealed carry permits might lead to an increase in violence at Times Square (even though Times Square remains a gun-free zone for permit holders).

Let me quote from another former New York politician. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan believed that “Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” Research data on guns contradicts the governor and mayor.

In a recent column, Professor John Lott acknowledges that given the fact that the media rarely covers defensive gun uses, it isn’t surprising that the governor thinks such actions are rare. “But survey estimates show on average that Americans use guns defensively about 2 million times a year. According to academic estimates, defensive gun uses – including instances when guns are simply shown to deter a crime – are four to five times more common than gun crimes.”

The mayor may think that more people with concealed carry permits will increase gun violence, but studies show more permits are less dangerous. In two states John Lott cites, “permit holders are convicted of firearms-related violations at one-twelfth the rate of police officers.” And remember that a police officer wearing a uniform is akin to wearing a sign saying, “Shoot me first.” Concealed carry holders are harder for an attacker to identify.

Actual research on gun data comes to the opposite conclusion of these two New York politicians.