The Bias Against Guns
Encyclopedia
The Bias Against Guns: Why Almost Everything You've Heard About Gun Control Is Wrong is a book by John Lott, following up on his controversial More Guns, Less Crime
. It is intended to reach a broader audience than its highly technical predecessor. Lott explores what he sees as the reasons for popular misconceptions about gun ownership, including the practice of carrying concealed weapon
s.
.
He feels that some of this bias is because crimes committed with guns are more sensational than crimes prevented by guns. Even though there are millions of defensive gun uses each year, almost none of them are reported by the media.
He goes further, though, and explains that this is not enough to explain some of the bias present in media. For example, polls on gun control are systematically skewed to give pro-gun control results.
Finally, Lott examines how the media systematically under reports the benefits of gun ownership. He shows examples of stories where people, even children, have used guns to protect their families from intruders, which receive almost no media attention despite their sensational nature. He also cites a story that gained national media attention in which students were able to stop a school shooting. In almost every report, reporters not only neglected to mention that the students who stopped the shooting used guns to do so but also instead gave the impression that the perpetrator was tackled.
The first is that government funded studies of guns in society are heavily biased. One reason is that politicians control the questions that are investigated. It is typical for most studies to investigate questions that are focused on the benefits of gun control, or the harm that guns do in society. It is rare for government funded studies to explore the benefits of gun use, or the detrimental effects of gun control laws.
The second is that the government funds advertisements that are both factually incorrect, and worse, advise citizens to take actions that increase the chances of someone in their family coming to harm. For example, these advertisements state that parents should lock away their guns so that children can not accidentally shoot themselves or other children. However, Lott explains that despite hearing about such events in the media, they are very rare.
Lott's first argument is that gun free zones are attractive to criminals because no law abiding citizens will be able to stop them from taking hostages or killing. Lott makes the case that gun free zones are the safest places for criminals, and that it should not be surprising that these kinds of situations occur there, when criminals have so much incentive to do so.
Lott also examines the converse, when ordinary citizens are given the opportunity to carry concealed weapons to protect themselves. He shows that mass murders decrease greatly when law abiding citizens are allowed to carry, explaining that criminals know that in public there is a good chance that someone nearby will be able to stop them.
The second argument concerns the effect of laws that force gun owners to lock their guns in the home. Lott believes that more lives are lost than are saved when these laws are enacted, because people are less able to defend themselves when they need to.
's Institute for Legal Action website describe how Lott's book:
David Hemenway
, a professor of health policy at Harvard University
with a focus on violence, homicide and guns, and author of a book called Private Guns Public Health stated that Lott's book had many incorrect statistics including misuse of statistics and failure to refer to peer-reviewed studies:
More Guns, Less Crime
More Guns, Less Crime is a book by John Lott that says violent crime rates go down when states pass "shall issue" concealed carry laws. He presents the results of his statistical analysis of crime data for every county in the United States during 18 years from 1977 to 1994...
. It is intended to reach a broader audience than its highly technical predecessor. Lott explores what he sees as the reasons for popular misconceptions about gun ownership, including the practice of carrying concealed weapon
Carrying concealed weapon
Concealed carry, or CCW , refers to the practice of carrying a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or in proximity....
s.
Main topics
The Bias Against Guns has two parts. The first explains where Lott believes most misconceptions and false information about gun ownership come from. The second examines the issues regarding gun ownership, paying specific attention to topics that often arise in debates over gun politicsGun politics
Gun politics addresses safety issues and ideologies related to firearms through criminal and noncriminal use. Gun politics deals with rules, regulations, and restrictions on the use, ownership, and distribution of firearms.-National sovereignty:...
.
Media bias
Lott contends that news media ignore or downplay stories and statistics which, he says, prove his claim that widespread gun ownership prevents crime.He feels that some of this bias is because crimes committed with guns are more sensational than crimes prevented by guns. Even though there are millions of defensive gun uses each year, almost none of them are reported by the media.
He goes further, though, and explains that this is not enough to explain some of the bias present in media. For example, polls on gun control are systematically skewed to give pro-gun control results.
Finally, Lott examines how the media systematically under reports the benefits of gun ownership. He shows examples of stories where people, even children, have used guns to protect their families from intruders, which receive almost no media attention despite their sensational nature. He also cites a story that gained national media attention in which students were able to stop a school shooting. In almost every report, reporters not only neglected to mention that the students who stopped the shooting used guns to do so but also instead gave the impression that the perpetrator was tackled.
Government against gun ownership
Lott examines two fundamental ways in which he believes the government creates a bias against gun ownership.The first is that government funded studies of guns in society are heavily biased. One reason is that politicians control the questions that are investigated. It is typical for most studies to investigate questions that are focused on the benefits of gun control, or the harm that guns do in society. It is rare for government funded studies to explore the benefits of gun use, or the detrimental effects of gun control laws.
The second is that the government funds advertisements that are both factually incorrect, and worse, advise citizens to take actions that increase the chances of someone in their family coming to harm. For example, these advertisements state that parents should lock away their guns so that children can not accidentally shoot themselves or other children. However, Lott explains that despite hearing about such events in the media, they are very rare.
Mass murders
Lott details the effects of gun laws on multiple victim shootings in public places. His two main arguments are that gun free zones increase these events, and that shall issue concealed carry laws greatly reduce them.Lott's first argument is that gun free zones are attractive to criminals because no law abiding citizens will be able to stop them from taking hostages or killing. Lott makes the case that gun free zones are the safest places for criminals, and that it should not be surprising that these kinds of situations occur there, when criminals have so much incentive to do so.
Lott also examines the converse, when ordinary citizens are given the opportunity to carry concealed weapons to protect themselves. He shows that mass murders decrease greatly when law abiding citizens are allowed to carry, explaining that criminals know that in public there is a good chance that someone nearby will be able to stop them.
Guns in the home
Lott discusses the effect of having guns in the household, focusing on two points. His first argument is that people are almost never killed accidentally by their own guns. That most deaths involving guns in the home are suicides, and children are much more likely to be killed by household items such as 5 gallon buckets, beds, or pools than by a gun.The second argument concerns the effect of laws that force gun owners to lock their guns in the home. Lott believes that more lives are lost than are saved when these laws are enacted, because people are less able to defend themselves when they need to.
Conclusions
Lott concludes that media and government bias against guns lead to gun control legislation that is costly both economically and in the number of lives that are lost due to bad policy: when ordinary citizens are allowed to defend themselves, violent crime is decreased and lives are saved.Reception
Lott's book has been well received by those in the pro-gun lobby and amongst conservatives more generally. Two reviewers on the National Rifle AssociationNational Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
's Institute for Legal Action website describe how Lott's book:
David Hemenway
David Hemenway
David Hemenway is Professor of Health Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health. He has a B.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in economics. He is the director of the and the . He is also currently a James Marsh Visiting Professor-at-Large at the University of Vermont. Dr...
, a professor of health policy at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
with a focus on violence, homicide and guns, and author of a book called Private Guns Public Health stated that Lott's book had many incorrect statistics including misuse of statistics and failure to refer to peer-reviewed studies:
See also
- FreedomnomicsFreedomnomicsFreedomnomics: Why the Free Market Works and Other Half-Baked Theories Don't is a book by John R. Lott, Jr., author of More Guns, Less Crime and The Bias Against Guns. Freedomnomics takes an economic look at the effects of the free market, and presents some arguments against those found in...
- Lott's newest book - More Guns, Less CrimeMore Guns, Less CrimeMore Guns, Less Crime is a book by John Lott that says violent crime rates go down when states pass "shall issue" concealed carry laws. He presents the results of his statistical analysis of crime data for every county in the United States during 18 years from 1977 to 1994...
- Lott's preceding work, a statistical study of the effects of gun control laws. - Carrying concealed weaponCarrying concealed weaponConcealed carry, or CCW , refers to the practice of carrying a handgun or other weapon in public in a concealed manner, either on one's person or in proximity....
s - Gun politicsGun politicsGun politics addresses safety issues and ideologies related to firearms through criminal and noncriminal use. Gun politics deals with rules, regulations, and restrictions on the use, ownership, and distribution of firearms.-National sovereignty:...
- Second Amendment to the United States ConstitutionSecond Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, along with the rest of the Bill of Rights.In 2008 and 2010, the Supreme Court issued two Second...