Gun Opponents Argue “With Emotion”

By Broadside Staff Reporter Erica Terrini
Photo by Broadside Asst. Photography Editor Laura Foltz

The College Republicans sponsored a series of events regarding concealed weapons on campus. The second event, held Wednesday, April 2 in the Johnson Center, presented noted author and a contributor to the national gun debate, Dr. John Lott, who has a Ph.D. in economics.

• Read about the first event in the concealed carry series here.
• Check out this article about the third event in the series.

The forum presented many of the ideals Lott wrote of in his book, "More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws."

Lott began his presentation by acknowledging the advantages and disadvantages for each side of the debate.

“Guns make it easier for bad things to happen, but they also make it easier to protect yourself,” Lott said.

This broad statement opened the discussion to various arguments that both sides, those for the unrestricted right to carry and those opposed, tend to use. Lott has spent years hearing the opposing arguments and has come to connect those who generally oppose unrestricted gun access to be arguing with emotion and having a perspective that has been manipulated by the media.

As for the group supporting the right to carry, Lott connects their arguments to statistical data and with a more logical appeal rather than an emotional one. Lott explained that part of the issue, which especially applies to those using the emotional appeal, is that many people think they are experts because they see guns in almost every aspect of daily life such as movies, advertisements, television shows and news programs. What many do not consider is that they have not done the research and explored the data.

“Facts matter a lot and many think too broadly,” Lott said. “Guns are a topic that people think they know a lot about because they frequently hear a story about guns and these stories help form their experiences with guns without looking at the facts and data. So, when you present them with real facts, it just gets thrown into an ocean of stories that they’ve already gained a perspective on guns from.”

Lott spoke of the goal for the majority of those who support the right to carry guns is defensive gun use and not to hurt others. A reoccurring point was that law-abiding citizens typically do not have the intent to harm others, only to defend themselves, and that leads many to believe there would not be an increase in crime rate.

“[Lott] provided a lot of statistics about how crime went up following the implementation of the new laws,” said Mason student Fred Iacoletti, undergraduate senior and math major. In fact, some would argue that those citizens who carry guns are actively stopping crime but these stories are not publicized because there is a fear of letting the idea of carrying a concealed weapon gain popularity.

“I think it’s pretty easy why defensive gun stories aren’t considered newsworthy and it’s because 95 percent of people using guns defensively aren’t killing,” Lott said. The gun debate is a complex series of issues that covers actual hard facts accounting for accidental gun related deaths per year, waiting periods for obtaining a gun, a one-sided perspective from the media and the right to the Second Amendment and basic freedoms as well as the right to defend one’s self without relying on law enforcement.

“My concern isn’t the amount of information people have,” Lott said. “My concern is the balance of information people have.”

Ultimately, it comes down to a safety issue that has split the public into two major groups whose overall goal is the same: to stop crime.

Lott is affiliated with numerous schools nation-wide, including his current place of employment, the University of Maryland, in College Park, Md., as well as with the following universities and organizations:

• University of Chicago
• Yale University
• Stanford University
• University of California, Los Angeles
• Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
• Rice University
• United States Sentencing Commission

Lott has worked in various academic journals. He has written over 90 articles, is a regular contributor to the FOX News Channel and runs a blog.