Signs Don't Stop Evildoers

By Charles C. W. Cooke. May 2, 2023

Will wonders never cease? In February, The New York Times began to question one of the stupidest—perhaps the stupidest—piece of gun-control orthodoxy on offer in these United States: that hardened criminals will be stopped from taking guns into a given area by signs telling them that they are not allowed to do so.

In the wake of a murder in New York’s Times Square, the Times noted that “the shooting was the first since the creation of the expansive, signposted zone, the police said in a statement,” and suggested that this “immediately renewed questions about whether such a designation can truly protect the area.”

Surprisingly, the paper then went so far as to answer its own question with a quotation from Tom Harris, a retired New York police inspector who argued that the very idea of gun-free zones is intrinsically ridiculous: “‘A gun-free zone is not going to stop a criminal from carrying a gun,’ Mr. Harris said.”

Harris is, of course, correct. And that the Times finally seems to be waking up to this raises a couple of important questions going forward. First, having noticed that signposts do not stop criminals from committing crimes, will the Times continue to insist that gun-free zones somehow prevent crime? If not, why not? .....