This is a revised, updated version of a post originally written on April 21, 2015. We have most seriously updated this list starting at the beginning of 2020. UCLA Law Professor Eugene Volokh wrote in the Washington Post on April 20, 2015: "Have civilians with...
Our newest research paper is available here. Because of our earlier work on this topic, the Ohio legislature on June 30th passed the Data Analysis Transparency Archive bill to ensure that the number of voters who voted can be matched with the number of ballots cast. ....
Dr. John R. Lott, Jr. and James Varney have a new piece at Real Clear Investigation. The piece was also republished at Zero Hedge, Black Hill Pioneer (South Dakota), Ohio Press Network, and Rantingly. . As gun violence has spiked across the country, Republicans have...
We have previously examined this rate from 2011 to 2015, but the above chart updates that data from 2016 to 2020. The FBI only has firearm murder data up through 2020. The average over the last five years is 67%, down slightly from the five-year average from 2011 to...
From a Twitter Post on June 17, 2023 Kamala Harris: "The number one cause of death of the children in America is gun violence." As we have previously discussed, a common claim is that firearms are the leading cause of death for "children or adolescents." On June 2nd,...
Fox News has a news article on a bet that Dr. John Lott offered twelve prominent pro-gun control academics. He wrote about this offer in The Federalist and in the piece he deals with the claims made below by a couple of the academics. A gun expert is asking academics...
Dr. John Lott testified five times before the Texas House Select Committee on Community Safety on multiple bills, from raising the age to 21, universal background checks, waiting periods, and paperwork requirements for gun dealers. The testimony on these various bills...
Updated March 28, 2023: At some point, you would think that the empirical evidence would be overwhelming. When the Aurora, Colorado Batman movie theater shooter attacked, there were seven movie theaters showing "The Dark Knight Rises" on July 20th within 20 minutes of...
Here is some updated information on the characteristics of mass public shooters. Including some information from the Covenant school shooter on March 27, 2023. Here is also an Excel file with even more detailed information. Also, here is information on statements by...
Multiple Victim Public Shootings
Yale University Law School Working Paper, October 19, 2000.
Lott, John R., Jr., Yale University Law School
Landes, William M. University of Chicago Law School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
University of Chicago Law School, John M. Olin Law & Economics Working Paper No. 73, 1999.
Lott, John R., Jr., University of Chicago Law School
Landes, William M. University of Chicago Law School; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Safe Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides, and Crime
Yale Law School, Law & Economics Working Paper No. 237, 2000.
Lott, John R. University of Maryland Foundation, University of Maryland
Whitley, John E. University of Adelaide – School of Economics
National Instant Criminal Background Check System:
Fact vs. fiction on background checks and the gun control debate
Background checks have “no impact,” “zero” costs on law-abiding?
Tracking use of claim that 40% of gun sales take place without a background check
1968 Misdemeanor Conviction prevents U.S. Navy veteran from getting gun for self protection
One of the problems with background checks for gun purchases
More Problems with Brady Background Checks
The Problem with Brady Background Checks
What to make of the claim that 247 people on the terror watch list bought guns last year
Phantom gun control claims over the holes in the NICS background check system
NICS checks by state by month by year from 1998 to December 2010
Crime in Australia:
New Australian Study Shows More Guns, Less Crime
Gun smuggling in Australia, apparently the criminals are still obtaining guns
Some notes on claims about Australia’s crime rates
Gun permits almost double over last 5 years in New South Wales Australia
Australian gun regulations on murder
Crime in Ireland:
Some examples of the impact of gun bans on murder rates
Even more gun control in Ireland
So were Piers Morgan and Christiane Amanpour dishonest about crime rates last night?
Crime in Jamaica:
Some examples of the impact of gun bans on murder rates
So were Piers Morgan and Christiane Amanpour dishonest about crime rates last night?
Jamaica’s Bloody Lesson on Guns
Figure on Jamaica’s murder rate from the third edition of More Guns, Less Crime
Murder rates in Jamaica through the roof
Crime in Chicago:
Weren’t Chicago murder rates supposed to soar after the Supreme Court Decision?
“Gun Decision Was Product of University of Chicago”
Chicago has most murders of any city in the country
7th Circuit Appeals Court strikes down Chicago ban on gun ranges within the city limits
Chicago’s gang problem, role of cuts and changes in police policies
Alan Gura predicts that crime will drop if gun ownership allowed in Chicago
Chicago makes it even more costly to own a gun
Let’s Face It, Chicago’s Mayor Richard Daley Wants to Ban Guns, All Guns
Crime in Washington, D.C.:
Updating the changes in DC’s crime rates since Heller
Vet loses guns to DC police as he travels through nation’s capital
DC drags feet on correcting false info on DC’s gun laws
Ask Canada — gun registration won’t make D.C. safer
Crime down after Supreme Court overturns city gun bans
DC reluctantly moves to remove some gun control laws
DC’s phony crime closure rates
Where is the ACLU in Chicago and DC gun fee cases?
“Shot down: D.C. residents unable to register handguns”
Just a reminder about DC and Chicago’s crime rate changes after the Supreme Court decisions
NY Times points to Times Square BOMBER as reason for more government regulation of guns?
How difficult is it to get a handgun in DC? Very, very difficult.