Summary
In a move that gun-safety advocates fear will put children and teens at risk, a new state law will force the city of Nashville to allow commuters to carry loaded guns in a busy bus station used by thousands of students each day.
The law, which goes into effect July 1, requires local governments in Tennessee to either allow people with permits to carry loaded guns in public places or to secure those facilities by installing metal detectors and security guards, the Associated Press reported Sunday.
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Proponents of the law say permit holders carrying guns will make people safer, but research has shown that isn’t necessarily the case. Stanford Law School professor John Donohue is the author of a 2014 paper that found right-to-carry laws — which make it easier for people to obtain gun permits — lead to increases in violent crime, indicating more guns don’t necessarily lead to safer cities.
That may very well turn out to be the case in Nashville. When “you’ve got a lot of guns circulating,” Donohue said in a phone call Monday, there’s an increased likelihood those guns wind up in the hands of “bad actors.”
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“Certainly a lot more guns get lost and stolen” when there are just more guns around, Donohue explained. “Travel hubs are a bad idea to be carrying guns anyway,” he said, adding that guns, like cell phones and bags, can be lost or left behind in transit.
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