Introduction

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

The New York Times has detailed the broad support that gun rights have in Arizona, where even Representative Gabrielle Giffords boasted of carrying a Glock 9.

In the days since the shootings in Tucson of Ms. Giffords and 19 other people, there is little hue and cry for tighter gun controls in the state, which has among the most permissive firearm laws in the country. If anything, the debate in Arizona is on whether more citizens should carry weapons, and be ready to use them, to protect public safety. This argument -- "more guns, less crime" -- has encouraged concealed-carry laws in states across the nation in the last decade. Does it make sense?