National Review’s book review of The War on Guns: “Some of the scams that Lott exposes are indeed extraordinary”

Sep 1, 2016 | Featured

National Review Banner

From the review:

It’s a sustained game of whack-a-mole.  Up pops the claim, and in comes the hammer.  Bang!  Bang!  Bang!  And that’s why you’re wrong.

Believe that most academics are in favor of more gun control?  Bang, you’re wrong.  Convinced that extending background checks is a no-brainer? Bang, you’re wrong.  Outraged that research into “gun violence” is outlawed in the United States? Bang, bang, bang again. Nothing escapes Lott’s gaze: Not the idea that American gun violence is unique among the world’s nations; not the claim that Australia’s harsh restrictions yielded a worthwhile outcome; not the recent hysteria over the prevalence of “mass shootings”; not the fallacious belief that “Stand Your Ground” laws hurt, rather than help, minorities.  And, one by one, he addresses them.  At his best, he dismantles shoddy and mendacious work with the skill of an experienced surgeon.  At his worst, he presents the best possible counter-cases with misplaced confidence.  Still, in both cases, the corrective is welcome.

Some of the scams that Lott exposes are indeed extraordinary. . . .

(You can enlarge this text by opening it in a new tab.)
NR Review 1

NR review 2

johnrlott

3 Comments

  1. Rick Stevens

    This is a great, fair review of Dr. Lott’s work. Thank you for being intellectually honest in what you’ve written, Mr. Cooke, it is indeed refreshing.

  2. Tom Campbell

    Great review. I hope the book is an amazon.com best seller. My only question of the reviewer is, with which conclusions does he not agree. I didn’t find one.

  3. Fred Miller

    I own, and have read most of Dr. Lott’s books. I’m looking forward to adding this one to my library.

    Also, I’ve come to have a lot of respect for Charles Cooke. He moved to the U.S. from Britain some years ago. He still has the accent that the women love, but he probably knows more about American history and laws than you do.

    If he says this is a good book, you can believe it.

Categories

Archives

Talk in Houston: The FBI Crime Data is  a Politicized Mess

Talk in Houston: The FBI Crime Data is a Politicized Mess

Dr. John Lott gave a talk in Houston on April 17th, 2026 titled "The FBI Crime Data is a Politicized Mess." The audio here isn't perfect,, but hopefully between the audio and the PowerPoint the main message will get across. This audio missed the first 10 minutes of...

Spencer Pratt was told by police and security to get a gun after getting many death threats, & he became a Republican because Republicans were the only ones who supported Pratt and his wife getting a concealed handgun permit

Spencer Pratt was told by police and security to get a gun after getting many death threats, & he became a Republican because Republicans were the only ones who supported Pratt and his wife getting a concealed handgun permit

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nzpD8B-z0zY Spencer Pratt, who is running to be the mayor of Los Angeles, said he bought a gun during the height of his reality TV fame on The Hills, when he was receiving numerous death threats. In a May 2026 CNN interview, he...