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

Sep 1, 2016 | Featured

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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. . . .

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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.

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