Here is some basic starter information on three types of laws that are being extensively discussed these days.
Background Checks on the Private Transfer of Guns (Universal Background Checks) — See here
Red Flag Laws — See here
For much more in-depth info, please see Dr. Lott’s books: “The War on Guns” and “More Guns, Less Crime“
UPDATE: Data directly from the Federal Police shows a different set of numbers (Original Post below). The number of CAC licenses in Brazil increased from 867,472 in 2022 to 1,026,633 in 2026 (see screenshots below), but those are internal government numbers that links...
The Washington Post doesn't really want to give President Trump credit for the drop in crime in DC. Please look at the graph above and notice that there was a discrete change in August and September 2025 (and the change only started about half way through August on...
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, August 1, 2025 (Rutherford Source) A customer shot and killed a suspected thief during an attempted ATM theft early Friday at a 7-Eleven Exxon on East Northfield Boulevard, Murfreesboro police detectives said. Detectives with the Criminal...
Just finished War on Guns, on background checks, haven’t nearly all mass shooters passed their background check?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-used-to-think-gun-control-was-the-answer-my-research-told-me-otherwise/2017/10/03/d33edca6-a851-11e7-92d1-58c702d2d975_story.html
https://mises.org/power-market/why-gun-control-doesnt-explain-australias-low-homicide-rates?page=4
The researcher’s story in the first link above sounds familiar – almost Dr Lott’s route, but was brought to my awareness by Scott Rasmussen in our local paper, Post & Courier, 6 AUG 2019. Libresco was rather pro-gun control until she thought about the data, and it didn’t support the hype. This Libresco piece was published in Washington Post after the Las Vegas shooting.
The second is an Australian piece that backs up Dr Lott’s analyses on Australia’s gun confiscation results.
Two instances of a lot going on out there. Vox couldn’t handle Libresco’s results.
When John Lott discusses the effectiveness of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban he only talks about data for crimes committed with “assault weapons”.
He neglects to mention the mass shootings done with pistols equipped with high-capacity ammunition magazines.
After all. a ban on high-capacity magazines, (for ALL guns), was a key part of the 1994-2004 Assault Weapons Ban.
This seems like a glaring oversight on Lott’s part.
Looking at just 20 of the mass shootings, (post 2004), I found mass shootings, (committed with pistols with high-capacity magazines), were more common than those done with assault rifles.
How can anyone judge the Assault Weapons Ban without including these pistols?.