Extended excerpt from the Fox News article ‘Proposed gun control measures lack empirical evidence they reduce crimes, experts say’
This page presents an extended excerpt from a Fox News article, used in a research study on how people reason about scientific information in polarized topics.
To clarify the evidence referenced in general terms in the original article, I have attached relevant research from RAND which reviews existing studies on the effects of ‘assault’-weapon and high-capacity magazine bans on mass shooting incidents.
Hosting these pages serves a study task in which participants selected one of eight excerpts and drafted a social-media post (Bluesky). Hosting does not imply endorsement by the original authors or outlets.
All rights remain with the original authors and publishers. This page is provided for research and educational purposes.
Sources
Calls for gun control have echoed across the nation following a series of devastating mass shootings. Some experts, however, say there’s little to no evidence showing that tightening laws on guns will prevent violent crimes and similar shootings.
“Not really,” Crime Prevention Research Center President John Lott told Fox News Digital when asked if there is empirical evidence showing gun control measures can prevent violent crimes. “There’s been a lot of studies done on things like assault weapons bans, background checks … Even for the assault weapons ban, even the Clinton administration - which signed it into law - paid for research on it. And even their studies couldn’t find any benefits in terms of reducing a type of violent crime or in terms of stopping things like mass public shootings.”
According to a recent Rand Corp. review of existing causal-design studies, evidence for assault-weapon/high-capacity magazine bans on mass shootings and their fatalities is limited or inconclusive. The authors also note that investigations into defensive gun use and related owner-salient outcomes are sparsely studied, limiting comprehensive cost-benefit analyses of some proposed restrictive gun policies.
