This oughta be an interesting ride. I'm pretty sure how we all feel about Ann Coulter here, myself included. But I don't exclude her blog from my reading just because she's an abrasive, arrogant, self-righteous bitch - many people could say the same things about me. And now and then, she strikes a tone that resonates, at least with me.
Only one policy has ever been shown to deter mass murder: concealed-carry laws. In a comprehensive study of all public, multiple-shooting incidents in America between 1977 and 1999, the inestimable economists John Lott and Bill Landes found that concealed-carry laws were the only laws that had any beneficial effect.
And the effect was not insignificant. States that allowed citizens to carry concealed handguns reduced multiple-shooting attacks by 60 percent and reduced the death and injury from these attacks by nearly 80 percent.
Apparently, even crazy people prefer targets that can't shoot back. The reason schools are consistently popular targets for mass murderers is precisely because of all the idiotic "Gun-Free School Zone" laws.
From the people who brought you "zero tolerance," I present the Gun-Free Zone! Yippee! Problem solved! Bam! Bam! Everybody down! Hey, how did that deranged loner get a gun into this Gun-Free Zone?
Now, by no means am I suggesting that Ms. Coulter be the voice of the majority (or even that her comments reflect a whole truth) but I like to get alternative perspectives here and there.
Oh by the way, the other major "Gun-Free Zone" in America is the post office.