On its initial publication in 1998, John R. Lott’s More Guns, Less Crime drew both lavish praise and heated criticism. More than a decade later, it continues to play a key role in ongoing arguments over gun-control laws: despite all the attacks by gun-control advocates, no one has ever been able to refute Lott’s simple, startling conclusion that more guns mean less crime. Relying on the most rigorously comprehensive data analysis ever conducted on crime statistics and right-to-carry laws, the book directly challenges common perceptions about the relationship of guns, crime, and violence. For this third edition, Lott draws on an additional ten years of data—including provocative analysis of the effects of gun bans in Chicago and Washington, D.C—that brings the book fully up to date and further bolsters its central contention.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
“A compelling book with enough hard evidence that even politicians may have to stop and pay attention. More Guns, Less Crime is an exhaustive analysis of the effect of gun possession on crime rates. . . . Mr. Lott’s book—and the factual arsenals of other pro-gun advocates—are helping to redefine the argument over guns and gun control.”
(James Bovard Wall Street Journal )“John Lott’s More Guns, Less Crime revives the wisdom of the past by using the latest tools of social science. By constructing careful statistical models and deploying a wealth of crime data he shows that laws permitting the carrying of concealed weapons actually lead to a drop in crime in the jurisdictions that enact them. . . . By providing strong empirical evidence that yet another liberal policy is a cause of the very evil it purports to cure, he has permanently changed the terms of debate on gun control. . . . Lott’s book could hardly be more timely. . . . Lott’s work is a model of the meticulous application of economics and statistics to law and policy.”
(John O. McGinnis National Review )
About the Author
John R. Lott, Jr., is the author five books, including Freedomnomics and Are Predatory Commitments Credible? Who Should the Courts Believe?, the latter also published by the University of Chicago Press.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
103 of 117 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Nine more years of data in this third edition of "More Guns, Less Crime."
When I read the second edition eight years ago, I was pleased that John Lott's hypothesis of the mid-1990's had up held.
After all, it's just common sense that if a potential rapist thought a woman might be able to protect herself with a gun that he would be less likely to attack, being the cowards rapists are.
But the leap from common sense to policy formation sometimes takes facts.
Fortunately, this book is packed with them.
Besides showing that no state that has adopted right-to-carry legislation has seen any of the parade of horribles that opponents trot out occur, the data presented show that crime actually does decrease when people are allowed to carry firearms.
In my own state of Illinois, there was a member of the Armed Forces killed while sitting in the front row of the Northern Illinois University lecture hall when the shooter entered the stage from an outside door and started firing. Lott points out that campus security arrived in six minutes---faster than in any other mass shooting at an institution of higher learning---but that was still not good enough.
Maybe, had NIU not been a protection free zone, she (the soldier was a woman) and others would be alive today.
Perhaps the mayor of Washington, D.C., whom I understand is a fellow graduate of Oberlin College, will read the book and figure out that he could lower his city's crime rate by advocating something no good little Oberlin liberal would ever think would work...unless he or she actually was willing to follow data to their logical policy conclusions.
Not that I think my former legislative colleague, now mayor of Chicago, could make that leap, but, maybe, just maybe, the mayor of Washington can.
The rest of us who read this book will be armed with information to promote a logical "we can protect ourselves when the police aren't around, if policy-makers will let us" policy.
Incidentally, lower hurdles to get a license (in training and dollars) tend to result in larger drops in crime rates.
When I read the second edition eight years ago, I was pleased that John Lott's hypothesis of the mid-1990's had up held.
After all, it's just common sense that if a potential rapist thought a woman might be able to protect herself with a gun that he would be less likely to attack, being the cowards rapists are.
But the leap from common sense to policy formation sometimes takes facts.
Fortunately, this book is packed with them.
Besides showing that no state that has adopted right-to-carry legislation has seen any of the parade of horribles that opponents trot out occur, the data presented show that crime actually does decrease when people are allowed to carry firearms.
In my own state of Illinois, there was a member of the Armed Forces killed while sitting in the front row of the Northern Illinois University lecture hall when the shooter entered the stage from an outside door and started firing. Lott points out that campus security arrived in six minutes---faster than in any other mass shooting at an institution of higher learning---but that was still not good enough.
Maybe, had NIU not been a protection free zone, she (the soldier was a woman) and others would be alive today.
Perhaps the mayor of Washington, D.C., whom I understand is a fellow graduate of Oberlin College, will read the book and figure out that he could lower his city's crime rate by advocating something no good little Oberlin liberal would ever think would work...unless he or she actually was willing to follow data to their logical policy conclusions.
Not that I think my former legislative colleague, now mayor of Chicago, could make that leap, but, maybe, just maybe, the mayor of Washington can.
The rest of us who read this book will be armed with information to promote a logical "we can protect ourselves when the police aren't around, if policy-makers will let us" policy.
Incidentally, lower hurdles to get a license (in training and dollars) tend to result in larger drops in crime rates.
52 of 60 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Lott's preface to this book is right: nearly a decade has passed since the most recent comprehensive look at effects of gun laws, a period in which fundamental changes have taken place, not least of which the sunset of an "assault weapon" federal law. Understanding the effects of these policy changes is critical, and his book covers it all. Good piece of work and very accessible material!
31 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
More Guns, Less Crime 2010 is the third edition of Lott's book originally based on his and David Mustard's Right-To-Carry study of 1997 that measured the result of 22 states going "shall issue" on carry permits for handguns between 1986 and 1996. The first 1998 edition was focussed on the RTC issue.
The 2nd edition 2000 looked at other gun control policies as well, and commented on the controversy that Lott & Mustard 1997 and Lott 1998 engendered in the media and among academics.
Since the 2nd edition 2000, a lot has happened: the CDC 2003 and NAS 2004 reviews on gun laws and gun violence, the sunset of the 1994-2004 federal Assault Weapon Ban, the Supreme Court decision on the Heller case in 2008 (gun ban in DC v Second Amendment), and so on. The 3rd edition 2010 is expanded by about 150 pages to cover these new issues.
I would like to correct an impression that may be created by an earlier reviewer, that Lott's book is a major Second Amendment resource. First, in the 2nd edition there were one sentence and one paragraph in the text and three paragraphs in the footnotes on the Second Amendment out of 300+ pages (Second Admendment issues were "...important issues that are beyond the scope of this book"--Lott at page 168); while the 3rd edition expands somewhat on the Second Amendment, it is not a resource book on the Second Amendment. Secondly, Lott stated in the Oct 2008 NPR debate on guns that his family did not own a gun until his 1996 research convinced him that having a gun was beneficial for self defense within reasonable safety costs. Lott's argument on guns and gun control is based on weighing the economic benefits v the costs of gun ownership and gun control: this is a law and economics argument, not a constitutional law argument. If you are interested in the debate over the benefits and costs of gun ownership and gun laws, this is an important book regardless of your apriori beliefs on the gun issue; if you are interested in the debate over the constitutionality of gun laws, gun rights v gun control, there are books devoted to those subjects. This book is a study of the good v the harm done with guns and by gun laws; it is not a dedicated Second Amendment analysis. Journal of Economic Literature Subject Classification K42 (Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law).
The 2nd edition 2000 looked at other gun control policies as well, and commented on the controversy that Lott & Mustard 1997 and Lott 1998 engendered in the media and among academics.
Since the 2nd edition 2000, a lot has happened: the CDC 2003 and NAS 2004 reviews on gun laws and gun violence, the sunset of the 1994-2004 federal Assault Weapon Ban, the Supreme Court decision on the Heller case in 2008 (gun ban in DC v Second Amendment), and so on. The 3rd edition 2010 is expanded by about 150 pages to cover these new issues.
I would like to correct an impression that may be created by an earlier reviewer, that Lott's book is a major Second Amendment resource. First, in the 2nd edition there were one sentence and one paragraph in the text and three paragraphs in the footnotes on the Second Amendment out of 300+ pages (Second Admendment issues were "...important issues that are beyond the scope of this book"--Lott at page 168); while the 3rd edition expands somewhat on the Second Amendment, it is not a resource book on the Second Amendment. Secondly, Lott stated in the Oct 2008 NPR debate on guns that his family did not own a gun until his 1996 research convinced him that having a gun was beneficial for self defense within reasonable safety costs. Lott's argument on guns and gun control is based on weighing the economic benefits v the costs of gun ownership and gun control: this is a law and economics argument, not a constitutional law argument. If you are interested in the debate over the benefits and costs of gun ownership and gun laws, this is an important book regardless of your apriori beliefs on the gun issue; if you are interested in the debate over the constitutionality of gun laws, gun rights v gun control, there are books devoted to those subjects. This book is a study of the good v the harm done with guns and by gun laws; it is not a dedicated Second Amendment analysis. Journal of Economic Literature Subject Classification K42 (Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law).
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The bible of understanding guns
If you want to understand guns and gun control laws; you have to read Prof. Lott's books on the subject. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Wild Bill
finally, the truth
THis is a great book. Now in its third edition, with even more data. The analysis is rigorous and statistically valid.
Published 2 months ago by J. Grimes
More guns, less crime. Enough said.
This book would be terribly damaging to the anti's if they were to be concerned about facts. Mr Lott has done a great job in his analysis and presentation taking care to look at... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Kevin Calloway
Misses the big picture
The book is clearly a valuable addition to the debate, as it provides a solid analysis on the 'correlation" between gun possession and crime rates in the 'current' USA context. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Travel4fun
Great if you enjoy extreme data analysis
After 4 chapters (out of 10), I couldn't grind thru any more pages and gave up reading the book. For me, I was primarily in interested in the summary of what the data showed and... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mortalcoil
Interesting, well written and researched book
I enjoyed this book, and was very impressed by the compiled statistics. Lott made every effort to make his statistics unbiased by factoring in all conceivable reasons the data may... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Jason D. Baird
Hard Read
Now I know why I wasn't an accountant or in statistics. The comparisons are great, but it is slow, painful reading. Definitely not a 'page-turner' like a nice fiction novel.
Published 12 months ago by Abe Froman
Sense
It is the first book that show shows truth about gun control and what it really is and what it really does.
Published 13 months ago by pajjjor
A Great Insight to actual facts, not just speculation
This book is a very objective look at the relationship of violent crime vs. guns.
Lott's book is almost entirely based on statistics. Read more
Lott's book is almost entirely based on statistics. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Bill C
Good science - proven facts
This author deserves credit for using proven statistical methods, without bias, to prove his points.
He has uncovered a huge myth, a credit to society.
He has uncovered a huge myth, a credit to society.
Published 14 months ago by Donald Burleson
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In 2006 there were a total of 642 accidental firearm deaths in the entire country. A relatively small portion of these involved children under age ten: 13 deaths involved children up to four years of age and 18 more deaths involved five- to nine-year-olds.38 In comparison, 1,305 children died in motor-vehicle crashes and another 392 died when they were struck by motor vehicles, 651 died from drowning, and 348 were killed by fire and burns. Almost three times as many children drown in bathtubs each year than die from all types of firearm accidents.
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National crime rates have been falling at the same time as gun ownership has been rising. Likewise, states experiencing the greatest reductions in crime are also the ones with the fastest growing percentages of gun ownership.
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Of all the methods studied so far by economists, the carrying of concealed handguns appears to be the most cost-effective method for reducing crime.
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