A study by Ohio’s attorney general, Dave Yost, found that gun crime dropped in 6 of the state’s 8 largest cities after a constitutional carry law went into effect, allowing concealed carry without a permit.
Researchers analyzed crime data from a year before and after the 2022 law.
“In the year following, crime involving guns dropped across Ohio’s eight largest cities as a whole and in six of the eight individually,” the state attorney general’s office stated.
Six of Ohio’s eight largest cities saw less gun crime after the state’s “constitutional carry” law took effect, according to a study published today by the Center for Justice Research, a partnership between the office of AG Yost and @bgsu.
Details: https://t.co/6gYnmJOdfe pic.twitter.com/OGCEgYPF2L— Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (@OhioAG) January 3, 2024
Significant decreases occurred in Akron, Columbus and Toledo, with an overall 8% drop across the cities.
The study refutes claims that more legal guns cause more crime.
“Researchers analyzed data spanning from June 2021 to June 2023 — a year before and a year after the law took effect — focusing on crimes involving firearms, verified gunshot-detection alerts and the number of officers struck by gunfire,” the office said.
“The study showed significant decreases in the number of crimes involving firearms in Akron, Columbus and Toledo, and across all eight cities combined,” the office added.
While gun violence is a real problem, the attorney general said pressure must be kept on criminals, not law-abiding gun owners exercising their rights.
He noted gun laws do little to stop criminals accessing guns illegally.
“I genuinely did not know what the study would find,” Yost said. “I thought it would be useful either way.”
“This is not to downplay the very real problem of crime in many neighborhoods in our cities — you don’t need a research team to see that gun violence destroys lives, families and opportunity,” he said.
“The key takeaway from this study is that we have to keep the pressure on the criminals who shoot people, rather than Ohioans who responsibly exercise their Second Amendment rights,” he said.
Critics argue gun control mainly restricts self-defense rights and empower criminals, as crime has risen in Democrat-run cities with strict laws.
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