johnrlott
Dr. John Lott has a letter responding to the absurd declare within the Los Angeles Instances that there are solely 2,000 defensive gun makes use of per 12 months.
To the editor: Dr. Steven J. Sainsbury pushes the absurd declare there are solely 2,000 defensive gun makes use of per 12 months. (“Thinking of buying a gun for self-defense? Don’t do it,” Opinion, Jan. 31)
The declare overwhelmingly depends on counting defensive gun makes use of reported in information articles, however that may be a dramatic undercount as a result of the overwhelming majority of profitable self-defense instances don’t make the information. Ninety-five % of defensive gun makes use of contain merely brandishing a gun, and fewer than 1% contain the attacker being killed or wounded.
However most information tales solely report on instances the place attackers are killed and brandishings are ignored.
Seventeen nationwide surveys discover a median of two million defensive gun makes use of per 12 months. The U.S. Division of Justice’s Nationwide Crime Victimization Survey places it at round 100,000. Each present the two,000 declare to be ridiculous.
Lastly, the article labels me as a “gun rights advocate,” not a researcher who has held educational positions on the College of Pennsylvania, the College of Chicago, Stanford and Yale. I’ve additionally been a senior advisor for analysis on the U.S. Division of Justice.
John R. Lott Jr., Missoula, Mt.
The author is president of the Crime Prevention Analysis Middle.
John R. Lott, Jr. “Letters to the Editor: You don’t have to shoot someone to use a gun defensively,” Los Angeles Times, February 10, 2022.
John R. Lott, Jr., “Letters to the Editor: You don’t have to shoot someone to use a gun defensively,” Yahoo! News, February 10, 2022.
The unique model of the letter that I despatched in had extra particulars, however I needed to ship it the shorter piece above for them to contemplate it.
Expensive Letters Editor:
Your article pushes the absurd declare there are solely 2,000 defensive gun makes use of per 12 months (Steven Sainbury, “Considering of shopping for a gun for self-defense? Don’t do it,” Jan 31). The declare overwhelmingly depends on counting defensive gun makes use of reported in information articles, however that misses the overwhelming majority of instances as a result of probably the most newsworthy instances contain cases the place somebody is killed or not less than wounded. Ninety-five % of defensive gun makes use of contain merely brandishing a gun, and fewer than 1% contain the attacker being killed or wounded. However most information tales solely report on instances the place attackers are killed, over 40% cowl woundings, and simply 4% brandishings.Seventeen national surveys discover a median of two million defensive gun makes use of per 12 months. The U.S. Division of Justice’s Nationwide Crime Victimization Survey places it at round 100,000. Each present the two,000 declare is ridiculous. Even the NCVS is low as a result of it first asks a respondent if they’ve been a criminal offense sufferer. Solely respondents who reply “sure” are requested if they’ve ever used a gun defensively. Those that efficiently use a gun could by no means view themselves as having been a sufferer.
The piece emphasizes how few justifiable homicides are reported by the FBI, however he appears completely unaware that lower than 10% of police departments report justifiable homicides to the FBI, and even the departments that do are lacking most instances.
The article labels me as a “gun rights advocate,” not a researcher who has held educational positions at Wharton, the College of Chicago, Stanford, and Yale, and served because the Senior Adviser for Analysis and Statistics on the U.S. Division of Justice.
Sincerely, John R. Lott, Jr.
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