Alex Tabarrok

George Mason University Website

Alex Tabarrok is the Bartley J. Madden Chair in Economics at the Mercatus Center, Professor of Economics at George Mason University, and Co-Founder of Marginal Revolution University. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University.

Voting History

Mass violence

Red flag laws, allowing police or family members to petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from a person who presents a danger to themselves or others, would reduce the frequency or severity of mass violence.

Vote Confidence
Disagree 8
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 7
Comments

Doubtful. A lot of the time the family is also crazy and/or absent. Petitioning a court is a big deal as is removing someone's constitutional right based on someone else's say so--agree or not this is going to be a slow, convoluted process.

Universal background checks, which would require almost all firearm sales in the US to go through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, would reduce the frequency or severity of mass violence.

Vote Confidence
Agree 6
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Agree 5
Comments

There were 39.3 million federal and state background checks in 2020, accounting for a majority of gun purchases. A few more may help but probably not that much.

Increasing the presence of armed security at schools and other public venues would reduce the frequency or severity of mass violence.

Vote Confidence
Neutral/No Opinion 5
Median Survey Vote Median Survey Confidence
Neutral/No Opinion 5
Comments

Displacement seems likely. Also sends the message that you need to have a gun to protect yourself which could mean more guns overall.