John Lott was interviewed on C-Span's Washington Journal. From that interview:
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/GunControlP
1. When the President and his allies speak of assault weapons ban, he neglects to address why it hasn’t worked when tried before, 1994-2000, as shown by the work of many academics: if you ban guns based on how they look, rather than how they work, why would one believe the banning would make any difference.
2. There are three types of guns: machine guns, semi-automatics, and manual loading guns. In the first, a pull of the trigger, lots of bullets come out, in the second type, each pull releases one bullet, and in the last loading each bullet requires an individual action. “Assault weapons” are no different than any other semi-automatic weapon; functionally identical.
a. The majority of weapons owned are semi-automatics. The reason is personal safety. Bolt-action rifles are limited if one is attacked.
3. Lott wrote an Op-Ed in the WSJ, “Facts About Assault Weapons and Crime,” in which he exposes Senator Feinstein’s claim that academic studies show the ban reduce crime. “Ms. Feinstein points to two studies by criminology professors Chris Koper and Jeff Roth for the National Institute of Justice to back up her contention that the ban reduced crime.” Lott quotes their follow-up paper: "we cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation's recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence." John Lott: The Facts About Assault Weapons and Crime - WSJ.com
a. When the ban was about to sunset in 2004, Senator Feinstein and others predicted double digit increases in murder and robbery rates….those rates never went up.
4. No academic peer-reviewed paper has found that murder or other crime rates have gone up as a result of increases in concealed carry permits.
5. Lott point to the recent appeals court decision, which pointed out that Illinois tried to ban concealed carry permit by claiming that there was a bad effect of same.
“SPRINGFIELD - In a huge win for gun-rights groups, a divided federal appeals court in Chicago Tuesday tossed the state's ban on carrying concealed weapons and gave Illinois' Legislature 180 days to craft a law legalizing concealed carry…."Illinois had to provide us with more than merely a rational basis for believing that its uniquely sweeping ban is justified by an increase in public safety. It has failed to meet this burden," Posner wrote.” Appeals court overturns Illinois concealed carry law in gun rights victory - Sun-Times Politics
a. Again: Illinois could not show that said permits would threaten public safety.
6. Permit holders are extremely law abiding. They would lose their permits for any weapons-related infraction. It doesn’t happen
a. Example: “Of the 51,078 permits that have been issued by the state since the law took effect in 2007, 44 permit holders have been charged with a crime while using a firearm through late October, according to records provided by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.”
Few crimes committed by concealed-carry permit holders in Kansas | Wichita Eagle ( .00086%)
7. He points out that the National Academy of Sciences, 2004, found –“ There is no credible evidence that "right-to-carry" laws, which allow qualified adults to carry concealed handguns, either decrease or increase violent crime. To date, 34 states have enacted these laws.”
National-Academies.org | Newsroom
a. “Researchers who have evaluated gun control strategies say buybacks – despite their popularity – are among the least effective ways to reduce gun violence. “Gun buybacks popular but ineffective, experts say John Lott states that the vast majority are old or inoperable.
b. The CDC studied laws throughout the country, and found: “In summary, the Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence.” http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5214.pdf
8. Experience, logic, data…these must be used in considering problems. John Lott is a starting point.
http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/GunControlP
1. When the President and his allies speak of assault weapons ban, he neglects to address why it hasn’t worked when tried before, 1994-2000, as shown by the work of many academics: if you ban guns based on how they look, rather than how they work, why would one believe the banning would make any difference.
2. There are three types of guns: machine guns, semi-automatics, and manual loading guns. In the first, a pull of the trigger, lots of bullets come out, in the second type, each pull releases one bullet, and in the last loading each bullet requires an individual action. “Assault weapons” are no different than any other semi-automatic weapon; functionally identical.
a. The majority of weapons owned are semi-automatics. The reason is personal safety. Bolt-action rifles are limited if one is attacked.
3. Lott wrote an Op-Ed in the WSJ, “Facts About Assault Weapons and Crime,” in which he exposes Senator Feinstein’s claim that academic studies show the ban reduce crime. “Ms. Feinstein points to two studies by criminology professors Chris Koper and Jeff Roth for the National Institute of Justice to back up her contention that the ban reduced crime.” Lott quotes their follow-up paper: "we cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation's recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence." John Lott: The Facts About Assault Weapons and Crime - WSJ.com
a. When the ban was about to sunset in 2004, Senator Feinstein and others predicted double digit increases in murder and robbery rates….those rates never went up.
4. No academic peer-reviewed paper has found that murder or other crime rates have gone up as a result of increases in concealed carry permits.
5. Lott point to the recent appeals court decision, which pointed out that Illinois tried to ban concealed carry permit by claiming that there was a bad effect of same.
“SPRINGFIELD - In a huge win for gun-rights groups, a divided federal appeals court in Chicago Tuesday tossed the state's ban on carrying concealed weapons and gave Illinois' Legislature 180 days to craft a law legalizing concealed carry…."Illinois had to provide us with more than merely a rational basis for believing that its uniquely sweeping ban is justified by an increase in public safety. It has failed to meet this burden," Posner wrote.” Appeals court overturns Illinois concealed carry law in gun rights victory - Sun-Times Politics
a. Again: Illinois could not show that said permits would threaten public safety.
6. Permit holders are extremely law abiding. They would lose their permits for any weapons-related infraction. It doesn’t happen
a. Example: “Of the 51,078 permits that have been issued by the state since the law took effect in 2007, 44 permit holders have been charged with a crime while using a firearm through late October, according to records provided by the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.”
Few crimes committed by concealed-carry permit holders in Kansas | Wichita Eagle ( .00086%)
7. He points out that the National Academy of Sciences, 2004, found –“ There is no credible evidence that "right-to-carry" laws, which allow qualified adults to carry concealed handguns, either decrease or increase violent crime. To date, 34 states have enacted these laws.”
National-Academies.org | Newsroom
a. “Researchers who have evaluated gun control strategies say buybacks – despite their popularity – are among the least effective ways to reduce gun violence. “Gun buybacks popular but ineffective, experts say John Lott states that the vast majority are old or inoperable.
b. The CDC studied laws throughout the country, and found: “In summary, the Task Force found insufficient evidence to determine the effectiveness of any of the firearms laws reviewed for preventing violence.” http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/pdf/rr/rr5214.pdf
8. Experience, logic, data…these must be used in considering problems. John Lott is a starting point.
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