“Americans willing to pay nearly $100 billion to reduce gun violence,” the headline from a Tuesday announcement from Duke University of findings published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences claims. “A new study finds that Americans are willing to pay nearly $100 billion for policies that reduce gun violence by 20%, underscoring the widespread desire for stronger intervention.”
The “research” is the brainchild of Philip J. Cook and Marc Jeuland of Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy and Jens Ludwig of the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy that “uses a nationally representative survey to measure willingness to pay (WTP) for gun violence prevention programs. The findings show that there is widespread support from Americans of all stripes to invest financially in solutions.”
Their conclusion?
“Households are willing to pay an average of $744 annually for a 20% reduction in gun violence, totaling $97.6 billion nationwide.”
All that’s left is to figure out how to do that, and the affinity for “gun control” advocated by the “study” authors is a good indicator of why they won’t recommend investing in freedom solutions instead of financial ones. Because Americans are already invested up to our necks, and it isn’t working.
Think of all the taxes we pay at the federal, state, and municipal levels for government that has the prime directive to protect life, liberty, and property, and then look at how many agents and agencies are actively working against all three. Throw more money into that? What’s the definition of insanity, again?
The authors’ presumption is that the “wider desire [is] for stronger intervention.” More police? The “Only Ones”? With higher rates of suicide than the general public, and higher rates of criminality than concealed carry permit holder? And none of whom have an actual duty to protect for which they can be legally held liable should they fail…?
For $744, you can get a pretty reliable handgun, shotgun, or rifle and some ammunition for it. And there are plenty of gun groups eager to provide training for nominal costs.
One example, the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s “First Shots” program offers seminars in most states (scroll down the linked page and click on the interactive map) that provide “An educational introduction to the safe and recreational use of firearms; A clear understanding of the local requirements for owning and purchasing a firearm; Individual and group training; A rundown of shooting sports opportunities for all levels of interest [and] A chance to give shooting a try!”
Do you want to reduce “school shootings”? Look at all the money on “hardening” schools, including on school resource officers and “first responders” (with the most “famous” ones notorious for sheltering themselves instead of the children they’re deployed to protect). Then look at FASTER training (Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response) and realize:
“There have been no shooting attacks in schools where teachers can legally carry guns.”
That’s a heck of a lot more than 20%.
What’s to stop any of this? In a word, Democrats.
They’re the ones who push citizen disarmament. They’re the ones who make carry permits hard to get, and out of reach for lower income Americans. They’re the ones whose catch-and-release policies put career criminals back onto the streets where they easily bypass all the prior restraints the “law abiding” must overcome before obtaining a gun. They’re the ones conjoined with teachers’ unions that are the loudest and shrillest opponents of defending themselves and their charges.
Don’t look for the new “study” to tell you any of this. Its grant-funded ivory tower eggheads are too busy trying to convince us to keep doing what experience shows us will never work—throwing money at government hoping it will relieve us of our individual duties and responsibilities as “We the People” to “secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.”
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
from https://ift.tt/20Hug9t
via IFTTT
No comments:
Post a Comment