Pennsylvania Township puts up Pro-gun Signs

A township in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania has put up signs proudly announcing that it is not a gun free zone. Conoy Township had put up four signs and was planning on putting up 10 more. From wgal.com:

Township officials said the signs are meant to deter crime. Police in the township aren't taking a position on the signs themselves, but say they're for anything that deters crime.

Comments at the facebook page are overwhelmingly approving of the measure. Here are a few:

Carol White I am a resident and I don't mind at all that money was used for these signs! I am really glad and proud to live here!!
Garrett Spicer Well would you break into someones house if you knew they had a gun? Crime rates will drop with that sign alone.
Hope they have statistics this time next year.
Andy Zimmerman This makes me want to live in conoy twp now
Debra Kreider Shouldn't ALL USA be able to post this since it is one of our constitutional rights?
Alexander Pagano It's a silly waste of taxpayer resources. Since when are criminals deterred by signs?
Keith Reismiller I just called the township and requested that one of the signs be placed on my street their number is 7173674927 feel free to call and ask for a sign on your street

When criminals are made aware of the possibility of resistance, they tend to look for easier targets, as noted by several of the commenters. Burglars in the United States tend to target empty homes. They target the empty homes because of their fear of armed homeowners. In other countries they commit many more home invasions. From davekopel.org:

It is axiomatic in the United States that burglars avoid occupied homes. As an introductory criminology textbook explains, "Burglars do not want contact with occupants; they depend on stealth for success." [FN8] Only thirteen percent of U.S. residential burglaries are attempted against occupied homes. [FN9] But this happy fact of life, so taken for granted in the United States, is not universal.

The overall Canadian burglary rate is higher than the American one, and a Canadian burglary is four times more likely to take place when the victims are home. [FN10]

In Toronto, forty-four percent of burglaries were against occupied homes, and twenty-one percent involved a confrontation with the victim. [FN11] Most Canadian residential burglaries occur at night, while American burglars are known to prefer daytime entry to reduce the risk of an armed confrontation. [FN12]

This preference for unoccupied houses is likely to be reinforced by the signs in Conoy Township. It is uncertain whether the overall crime rate will drop,

but there is a strong possibility that it will move down a small amount. Most researchers have found that an increase in concealed carry permits either reduces some crime a measurable amount, or has no effect. John Lott found that there was some transfer effect, where crimes involving confrontation were reduced, and some property crimes were increased.

The erection of the signs comes as gun law reforms are restoring second amendment rights in Pennsylvania. Allentown has just repealed local gun laws:

“I cannot put the city at risk of heavy financial loss with potential lawsuits,” said Pawlowski. “We elected leaders of Allentown have a collective fiduciary responsibility to repeal the ordinances and adhere to current state law. “We all took an oath to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to protect our great city.”

Several Pennsylvania cities are being sued.  The cites themselves are attempting to overturn the law that allows them to be sued for the illegal ordinances.    The state AG, Kathleen Kane, is being investigated by a grand jury.   She refuses to defend the law passed by the legislature and signed by the Governor.

©2015 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch