Western Europe has some of the strictest gun laws, yet three of the worst school shootings in the world took place in either Britain or Germany. In China, a country that bans guns, it is common for a school attack to take place each month; instead of guns, the killers use hammers, knives, and meat cleavers to kill school children. In Kennesaw, Georgia, the law requires that each household (with a few exception) own a firearm. In 2007, Family Circle named it one of the 10 best towns for families. The reason is probably because ever since the law passed in 1982 requiring everyone to own a gun, crime rate has decreased 50% and continues to decrease, having one of the lowest crime rates in the country. The residents believe it is because criminals know that everyone had a gun, thus it is best not to rob someone’s house. Strict gun laws do not guarantee safety since criminals do not obey the laws and will do harm, even in countries where guns are not allowed, the criminal still manages to kill. Meanwhile a town with a lax gun law boasts one of the lowest crime rates in the country.
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In 1999, John Lott of the University of Maryland and William Landes of the University of Chicago published a study that stated that mass shootings usually occur at places were firearms are banned, such as schools and malls. A shooter does not want to be shot before he finishes his goal of killing. When he goes into a gun-free zone, he knows that no one will be able to fire back at him. The Aurora movie theater killer, who killed 12 people, had 7 theaters to choose within 20 minutes of his house to commit his vicious crime. He did not choose the farthest theater or the closes theater, he chose the only one that banned concealed handguns. In the past, several shootings that occurred on gun-free zones were stopped when a civilian ran back to his car to get a gun out from the glove compartment and then confronted the shooter. Though some people are outraged that President Obama proposed more police officers in schools, the large number of mass shootings that require at gun-free zones show that gun-free zones do not work; to the shooter, he knows he has plenty of time to kill before the police arrive.
