John Lott Report Misstates a Lot
* Several letters June 6 showed support for Sheriff Mike Carona’s willingness to provide more permits to carry concealed weapons.
These National Rifle Assn. advocates have been using bad data and telling half-truths for a while now, so this is not a surprise.
Robert Davenport made reference to the infamous John Lott research, which gun advocates like to refer to.
In analyzing the Lott Report, the Johns Hopkins University Center for Gun Policy and Research and criminologists concluded that the claims were unsubstantiated, the conclusions were implausible and the report used “incorrect and discredited methodology” and included errors in stating when concealed weapons laws were implemented in various states.
The truth is that violent crime has decreased by almost 20% nationwide since 1992. Compared to states with liberal laws to carry concealed weapons, those with strict and no-issue laws had decreased crime rates of approximately 11% and 25%, respectively.
There is the empirical data; now for the logic: Will thousands of ill-trained citizens carrying guns have a positive effect on the crime rate? Of course not.
THOM BALDING
Costa Mesa
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