(from app.com) Gun owners and dealers alike are well aware that firearm sales spike during times of national crisis. This usually occurs when people fear that new gun laws may be implemented in the near future. However, this year a different kind of scare has sparked a national run to the gun shops. While we are in an election season, the increase in purchasing firearms also correlates with the rise of COVID-19, and is greater than the typical surge. How Large Is the Increase? Before t...

(from courier-journal.com) [Ed: Economist John Lott, Jr., Ph.D. does the soundest fundamental research on gun control in the business, far better than the "public health" research DRGO routinely critiques. This is his latest (August 8) biweekly or so report on his work and appearances that he sends to subscribers. It's well worth a spot in our post rotation, and it's well worth your subscribing and donating to his non-profit Crime Prevention Research Center.] This past week we released a ...

(from en-volve.com) [Ed: Dr. Petrocelli sent this letter to the mayor of Richmond, Virginia earlier this week in response to the mayor's attempt to ban firearm possession anywhere near all city-permitted events, demonstrations, parades, etc. As Dr. Petrocelli notes, no one likes it. Write and call your own elected leaders, regardless of their party or existing position. It does matter and the more we do, the greater difference we make. (Title quote from Isaiah 8:14).] . Dear Mayor Sto...

(from Ammoland.com) [Ed: This was originally published on Ammoland August 6. Edited modestly for DRGO.] As a NYPD veteran police officer, and Adjunct Professor/Lecturer of Police Science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, National Rifle Association Certified Firearms Instructor (pistol, rifle, and shotgun), and Training Counselor, and active member of the International Association of Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors, and lifetime resident of New York City, I have dedicated my l...

[Ed: Dr. Faria published this review first at Hacienda Publishing on July 27. Guns Save Lives is available at Amazon, etc.] Once again author Robert A. Waters has performed a great service for true gun research adding to the chronicles of personal defense — and along the way, enhancing the cause of liberty. This book continues what he started in his best-seller, The Best Defense: True Stories of Intended Victims Who Defended Themselves with a Firearm (1998). In this newer tome, Waters es...

(from mhcd.org) There are two more ways that social workers and other mental health professionals can assist police officers and their departments:  Community Mental Health Liaisons “The Community Mental Health Liaison (CMHL) program is part of the Strengthening Mental Health Initiative. Thirty-one CMHLs work across the state [Missouri] to assist law enforcement and courts.  The goal is to form better community partnerships between Community Behavioral Health Clinics, law enforcem...

(from mhcd.org) There are four ways that social workers and other mental health professionals have been helping police officers/departments for a long time.  [Ed: Part 1 can be found here.] This article will explore two methods. Crisis Intervention Training (CIT)  Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, developed in Memphis TN, provides a model of specialized law enforcement expertise. Volunteer officers, based in the general patrol division, work in cooperation with the mental h...

[Ed: Given the talk about replacing some functions of police with social work interventions, DRGO turned to our expert on the subject, Warren Lind, LCSW.] One of the many suggestions (or demands) coming out of the current political upheaval is to put more social workers in police departments.  In my long career in social work from 1971 to 2018, I was twice a police social worker.  This concept dates back to the early 1900’s.  Unfortunately, few of the nation’s 13,000 polic...