GunFreedomRadio EP341 Political Statistical Trickery with John Lott

Our guest today is John Lott. John is a world-recognized expert on guns and crime and the author of a number of books including “The War On Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies”.

He is an American economist, who served in the Trump Administration as Senior Advisor for Research and Statistics in the Office of Justice Programs for the US Department of Justice and then the Senior Advisor for Research and Statistics in the Office of Legal Policy for the US Department of Justice.
John is the President of the Crime Prevention Research Center (CPRC), which is a research and education organization dedicated to providing an objective and accurate scientific evaluation of both the costs and benefits of gun ownership as well as policing activities.

John’s work gives those of us who are protecting our 2A Rights a solid foundation of precision-focused research.

1) You recently wrote an op-ed in Real Clear Investigations titled: “Despite What Biden Says, Guns Factor in Only a Small Percentage of Violent Crimes”, and that about 92% of violent crimes in America DO NOT even involve firearms. Could it be that the President is engaged in some political statistical trickery?
- Although firearms were used in about 74% of homicides in 2019, they comprise less than 9% of violent crimes in America.
- The vast majority of violent offenses – including robberies, rapes and other sex crimes – almost always involve other weapons or no weapons at all.
- Over 50% of the murders take place in just 2% of the counties (60 of the 3,140 counties, the 60 making up 27.5% of the population), and even within those counties most murders occur within 10-block areas. These are overwhelmingly gang-related murders. They are surely important, but don’t touch the lives of most Americans. Fifty-four percent of counties have no murders and another 15% have one.
2) Even with all of the statistical trickery going on from Politicians and members of the Media feeding us story lines designed to malign guns and those who own them, according to a July 202 Gallup poll only 1% of Americans named guns/gun control the most important problem facing the country.
- And only 4% of Americans viewed crime/violence as the most important problem.
3) In a Rasmussen poll it appears that gun control has become a class issue, with affluent people being more in favor of control, while poorer populations are the freedom-lovers. From your experience, is this a surprising finding?
- strongest opposition to gun control is among the poor, and the strongest support is among the highest income earners, those earning more than $200,000.
4) On the CPRC website there are a number of mentions of censorship you are experiencing. What is the nature of this censorship?
5) Over your career you have had many impressive accomplishments. And it hasn’t been an easy road going up against all of the negative pushback from the Bloomberg financed gun control propaganda machine. What would you say is one of your most impactful and proud moments?