For years, gun-control advocates have argued that public safety depends on increasingly restrictive firearm regulations. But Americans are increasingly focused on outcomes rather than regulations. They want safer neighborhoods, less crime and a justice system that works. They are becoming less convinced that new restrictions are the answer.
That reality was underscored by a recent national survey of 1,000 likely general election voters commissioned by the Crime Prevention Research Center.
The survey found that lawful concealed carry has increased significantly in less than two years, reflecting a growing number of Americans who have chosen to take responsibility for their own safety. . . .
A 2006 study by the Crime Prevention Research Center found “[i]t is hard to see any evidence that voting regulations differentially harm either minorities, the elderly, or the poor,” and that “[r]egulations that prevent fraud are shown to actually increase the voter participation rate.” . . .
But according to new research from economist and Crime Prevention Research Center President Dr. John Lott, that conclusion depends almost entirely on which statistics you’re looking at.
In a new investigation published by Real Clear Investigations, Lott argues that when you compare the total number of people who say they’ve actually been victims of crime (not just crimes reported to police) the United States often fares much better than commonly believed.
And in some categories, it fares better than Canada and Australia.
That’s why countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia all conduct large victimization surveys. Instead of counting police reports, researchers ask thousands of people whether they’ve personally been victims of crimes such as robbery, assault, sexual assault, or burglary: even if they never called police.
The U.S. uses the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), which interviews roughly 240,000 Americans every year.
The piece focuses on a national survey conducted by the Crime Prevention Research Center in partnership with McLaughlin & Associates, comparing attitudes and self-reported behavior from December 2024 to May 2026. During that 18-month period, the percentage of Americans who say they carry a firearm for self-defense increased from 24.3% to 29.8%. Within that group, about 13.2% report carrying all or most of the time, roughly unchanged from 2024, while those who carry at least sometimes or rarely grew from 11.2% to 16.6%, a 5.4-point increase.
Chesnut describes this as a significant increase despite ongoing efforts in “anti‑gun” states to limit lawful carry through legislation and lawsuits. He observes that this trend matches a broader national rise in concealed‑carry permits, citing over 21.46 million adult permit holders and highlighting women, Asians, and African Americans as the fastest-growing groups among permittees. . . .
When it comes to violent crime rates by country, John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, says you shouldn’t believe everything you read or hear.
Both left and right have been pushing the same false narrative
Writing at realclearinvestigations.com, Lott reported that the assertion by conservatives demanding stronger penalties for crimes and by progressives arguing for stronger gun laws that the U.S. has higher violent crime than most other nations is simply false.
Australia and Canada media point to U.S. crime — and get the story wrong
As Lott pointed out, other nations — including Australia and Canada — with extremely restrictive gun laws point to crime as an “Achilles heel” of the American system. In 2025, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that “the U.S. generally sees higher violent crime rates than many other countries.” Last year, the Canadian Press similarly reported that “the number of police-reported violent crimes for every 100,000 people continue to be higher in the United States than in Canada.”
“The data, however, undercuts this narrative,” Lott wrote. “While the United States still leads in some categories, on the whole it has significantly less violent crime per capita than those two nations.”
Homicide is 0.21% of U.S. violent crime — Australia and Canada don’t fare better across the board.
Lott reported that regarding homicide, the most heinous crime of all, it’s true that in 2025, the U.S. murder rate was about four per 100,000 people — roughly twice Australia’s and Canada’s 2024 homicide rate. Yet it’s also true that homicides account for only a tiny fraction of violent crime.
“In 2024, homicides represented just 0.21% of violent crimes in the U.S., based on National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) estimates of rape/sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault, and simple assault,” Lott wrote. “Murder comprises an even smaller fraction of crimes in Australia and Canada.”
Australia’s rape rate is three times the U.S. rate — and burglary is 2.5 times higher
As Lott further pointed out, when analyzing the incidence of a broader set of crimes, the U.S. is nowhere near the most dangerous developed country, as some like to contend.
“Using these broad estimates, Australia’s rape and sexual assault rate is roughly three times higher than that of the United States,” Lott reported. “Australia’s assault rate is about twice as high, and its burglary rate is about 2.5 times higher. Robbery is the only category where the two countries report similar rates.” . . . [and much more]
Giddins cites a recent survey from the Crime Prevention Research Center that found 1 in 5 voters have an active concealed carry license, which is pretty extraordinary given that more than half the country no longer requires a permit to carry. Giddins believes that bearing arms for self-defense “is no longer exceptional,” but is instead part of the American mainstream. . . .
John R. Lott Jr. reports for RealClearInvestigations that, contrary to conventional wisdom that the U.S. is the world’s most violent developed nation, victimization survey data show that Australia and Canada – both praised for strict gun laws – actually have significantly higher rates of violent crime than the United States, despite the U.S. maintaining a higher murder rate. . . .
John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, directly challenges the assertion that the United States has higher violent crime rates than Canada and Australia. His analysis reveals that when counting all violent crime—not just homicides—both nations experience more violence per capita than America.
Anti-gun advocates routinely cite U.S. homicide rates as justification for stricter firearm laws. They point to Canada and Australia as success stories after implementing strict gun restrictions. Lott’s research exposes a critical flaw in this argument: homicide counts tell only part of the story. . . .
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