a twitter debate...lol

[RogueUSMC]

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm? ... id=2814691

Charles C.W. Cooke posted this link in a tweet this morning. we have been in a minor debate...lol.

https://twitter.com/charlescwcooke/stat ... 5284820992

He is equating the drop in required class time to the increase in minorities getting licenses due to lower class cost. I submit that correlation does not always equate to causation... what say y'all?

[pushpullpete]

OK. I'll put my 2 cents (and my neck) out there.
I think that more people, all races, obtained their carry licenses and then purchased one or more weapons due
in no small part to the efforts of our commander & chief and his friends, the anti 2nds. I think people saw the
writing on the wall and wanted to take a stand. That in turn raised the number of gun sales in general across
the country. All this because of a twisted belief that this countrys citizens don't have the right to defend
themselves, their loved ones and their property.
I may be wrong but, this is what I believe to be true.



edit: I don't believe that cost or time was a big factor.

[RogueUSMC]

Twitter's 140 (at best) character limit makes some things hard to debate...lol. So I posted a quick blog post lining it out as I saw it.

http://www.lcwhatley.com/minorities-and-guns/

My conclusion was that it was the demand for classes leading to demand for instructors resulting in competitive pricing...

[RoyGBiv]

Did classes actually get cheaper when they got shorter?

Serious question. I have not had any reason to check.

[Jusme]

Twitter's 140 (at best) character limit makes some things hard to debate...lol. So I posted a quick blog post lining it out as I saw it.

http://www.lcwhatley.com/minorities-and-guns/

My conclusion was that it was the demand for classes leading to demand for instructors resulting in competitive pricing...

I haven't noticed a huge drop in prices for classes, but I haven't actively been shopping them either. Licensing fees have also not gone down. I think that more people, of all ethnicities, are waking up to the fact that our government, cannot, and will not, protect them, and that they are ultimately responsible for their own safety.
Equating cost with the increase in minority permits, to me, sounds racist, the cost is the same for everyone, and has been, it has never been so prohibitive, that most people cannot afford it. Firearm prices have gone up due to demand, but obviously that has not led to a decrease in sales. So I think that there is more of a societal shift, in the way permitted persons are viewed, along with the realization, that no one is going to be better able to protect a person, than themselves.JMHO

[mojo84]

If the guy thinks it's only price reduction and shorter class time that led to more minorities obtaining LTC, how does he explain the even larger increase in women getting their LTC in addition to minorities?

Interesting how some try to boil everything down to just race and money. It may be the perceived increase need to protect one's self and increased awareness of crimes against defenseless people. It could also be the political uncertainty that led to the increase. It could be the convenience of a shorter class. It may even be a combination of all of the above, which is what I think.

[RogueUSMC]

The prices have dropped around here but not by a whole lot. MAYBE a 20% reduction in total cost of the license when it is said and done. $25 less on around $250 is not going to give enough of an incentive to the lower income bracket demographics to make that a driving force.

And the increase in women has outpaced the increase in men since 2012 I think.

In the end, I welcome the increased diversity. Various demographics that were previously not 'gun folks' are joining the gun culture. The more the merrier I say.