Dr. Carl Moody, the Crime Prevention Research Center’s research director, has published a new paper on stopping mass public shootings. He found that concealed carry is a deterrant and mass shooters prefer gun-free zones.

According to the researcher, “We find that none of the proposed policies significantly reduce such deaths. However, we find evidence that mass public shooting deaths are lower in places that allow the carrying of concealed firearms.”

“There is evidence that mass public shootings that occur in those places where ordinary citizens are prohibited from carrying concealed weapons are associated with significantly higher fatalities compared to places that allow such weapons, especially for mass shootings in which six or more people are killed,” the report continues.

A copy of the paper is available here or below.

The fact that an individual is willing to commit the most serious crime that carries with it the most serious punishment means that that person is unlikely to be deterred by laws with less serious consequences.

This situation is compounded by the fact that many multiple victim public shooters are expecting, even planning, to die in the commission of their crimes.

Combining newly developed and traditional difference-in-differences methodologies, we analyze several policies that have been suggested as possibly effective in reducing deaths due to mass public shootings. We find that none of the proposed policies significantly reduce such deaths. However, we find evidence that mass public shooting deaths are lower in places that allow the carrying of concealed firearms.

31026-271919-1-PB Dr. Moody’s research paper