- Hardcover: 236 pages
- Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; illustrated edition edition (Jun 1 1998)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0226493636
- ISBN-13: 978-0226493633
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.1 x 2.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (146 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#559,423 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #70 in Books > Law > Business > Labour & Employment
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Multiple regression analyses are rarely the subject of heated public debate or 225-page books for laypeople. But John R. Lott, Jr.'s study in the January 1997 Journal of Legal Studies showing that concealed-carry weapons permits reduced the crime rate set off a firestorm. The updated study, together with illustrative anecdotes and a short description of the political and academic response to the study, as well as responses to the responses, makes up Lott's informative More Guns, Less Crime.
In retrospect, it perhaps should not have been surprising that increasing the number of civilians with guns would reduce crime rates. The possibility of armed victims reduces the expected benefits and increases the expected costs of criminal activity. And, at the margin at least, people respond to changes in costs, even for crime, as Nobel-Prize winning economist [TAG]Gary Becker showed long ago. Allusions to the preferences of criminals for unarmed victims have seeped into popular culture; Ringo, a British thug in Pulp Fiction, noted off-handedly why he avoided certain targets: "Bars, liquor stores, gas stations, you get your head blown off stickin' up one of them."
But Lott's actual quantification of this, in the largest and most comprehensive study of the effects of gun control to date, a study well-detailed in the book, provoked a number of attacks, ranging from the amateurish to the subtly misleading, desperate to discredit him. Lott takes the time to refute each argument; it's almost touching the way he footnotes each time he telephones an attacker who eventually hangs up on him without substantiating any of their claims.
Lott loses a little focus when he leaves his firm quantitative base; as an economist, he should know that the low number of rejected background checks under the Brady Bill doesn't demonstrate anything by itself, because some people may have been deterred from even undergoing the background check in the first place, but he attacks the bill on this ground anyway. But the conclusions that are backed by evidence--that concealed-weapons permits reduce crime, and do so at a lower cost to society than increasing the number of police or prisons--are important ones that should be considered by policymakers. --Ted Frank
From Kirkus Reviews
An intriguing and shocking took at crime, guns, and gun control policy. Lott (Law/Univ. of Chicago) writes with a relentless distaste for conventional wisdom, such as the belief that most people are killed by someone they know. That category, Lott protests, is simply too large to be meaningful, and he takes to task the notion that concealed guns increase crime. To Lott's mind, citizens who carry concealed guns protect themselves against both friends and strangers and prevent the death of innocent citizens. Lott cites a host of cases where armed victims managed to outwit or kill their attackers. Common sense approaches like gun buyback programs or waiting periods for gun parchases, the hallmark of the Brady Bill, also seem useless to Lott. He draws on studies and data to suggest that an armed citizen is a safe citizen. Lott stresses that many western states like Arizona, Texas, and Oklahoma have nondiscretionary handgun laws, and crime is significantly lower in those areas. Sure to raise questions and some controversy, and hopefully will draw attention to the complex issue of crime and potential solutions. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must read for anyone interested - regardless of stance.,
By
This review is from: More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, Second Edition (Paperback)
An absolute must read for anyone interested in this topic, regardless of position on firearms. The world is full of myths and misquoted information. All too often you hear made up statistics over this issue - on both sides. This book takes a scholarly look at the issue using open information and sources that can be verified and indepently analyzed to verify the results - something usually sorely missing from all discussions on this topic. This does however make it a pretty dry read - if you are looking for the grandstanding theatrics usually associated with both sides of gun control, look elsewhere. If you are for the free ownership of firearms, it provides you with solid information and statistics to back your position. If you are against firearms ownership, and have a rational and reasoning mind, this book will give you some great food for thought, if you don't throw it away and you actually do read it. I have suggested and given this book to a few people with strong feelings about this topic, and they usually just ignore this book's information, as it is so much easier to just blindly charge on with nothing more than emotionally based sound bites as a substitute for reason and thought.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful evidence for reducing crime,
By Greg Kopp (Garfield Heights, OH USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, Second Edition (Paperback)
I found out about this book from a friend and read it with great interrest. I never realized just how wrong gun control advocates were.The author used data straight from the government and showed that by allowing law abiding citizens to excercize their god-given right to self defense using hand guns, you reduce overall crime. Some of the data is difficult for the lay-person to understand, but this can be overcome by reading the synopsis offered by the author.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
This book was boring!,
By A Customer
This review is from: More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws (Hardcover)
I do favor concealed gun laws, but this book was a dry read
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