“I’d like to point out one other ‘association.’ The Associated Press reports that Prof. Lott’s fellowship at the University of Chicago is funded by the Olin Foundation, which is ‘associated with the Olin Corporation,’ one of the nation’s largest gun manufacturers. Maybe that’s a coincidence, too. But it’s also a fact.”
Congressman Schumer’s letter elicited a powerful response from William Simon, the Olin Foundation’s president and former U.S. Treasury secretary, in the Wall Street Journal two days later. Here is an excerpt:
An Insult to Our Foundation
As president of the John M. Olin Foundation, I take great umbrage at Rep. Charles Schumer’s scurrilous charge (Letters to the Editor, Sept. 4) that our foundation underwrites bogus research to advance the interests of companies that manufacture guns and ammunition. He asserts (falsely) that the John M. Olin Foundation is “associated” with the Olin Corp. and (falsely again) that the Olin Corp. is one of the nation’s largest gun manufacturers. Mr. Schumer then suggests on the basis of these premises that Prof. John Lott’s article on gun-control legislation (editorial page, Aug. 28) must have been fabricated because his research fellowship at the University of Chicago was funded by the John M. Olin Foundation.
This is an outrageous slander against our foundation, the Olin Corp., and the scholarly integrity of Prof. Lott. Mr. Schumer would have known that his charges were false if he had taken a little time to check his facts before rushing into print. Others have taken the trouble to do so. For example, Stephen Chapman of the Chicago Tribune looked into the charges surrounding Mr. Lott’s study, and published an informative story in the Aug. 15 issue of that paper, which concluded that, in conducting his research, Prof. Lott was not influenced either by the John M. Olin Foundation or by the Olin Corp. Anyone wishing to comment on this controversy ought first to consult Mr. Chapman’s article and, more importantly, should follow his example of sifting the facts before reaching a conclusion.
THE 2004 REPORT SAID WE NEED MORE DATA AND RESEARCH ON GUNS—AND THEY’RE RIGHT, WE NEED TO KNOW MORE.
“ ‘the pervasiveness of guns in our society is destroying America’ ” Josh Feldman, “Piers Morgan and Alan Dershowitz Get in Shouting Match with Other Panelists Over Gun Control,” mediaite.com, August 7, 2012, http://bit.ly/10jL3t0. • “waiting periods, stand-your-ground laws, gun lock laws, and so on” John R. Lott Jr., More Guns, Less Crime, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). • “ ‘mandated and funded by Congress and federal agencies’ ” “Who We Are,” nationalacademies.org, accessed March 9, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jL7sT.
MORE GUNS MEANS MORE CRIME. ANY DATA TO THE CONTRARY IS A LIE OR NRA PROPAGANDA.
“ ‘it makes us have a much more dangerous society’ ” Michael Bloomberg, Meet the Press, NBC, December 16, 2012, http://nbcnews.to/10jLa87. • “ ‘The NRA buys scholars. They buy statistics. It’s just wrong’ ” Alan Dershowitz, “Guns in America,” Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN, January 7, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jLcfY. • “that clearly reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents” Charles F. Wellford, John V. Pepper and Carol V. Petrie, eds., Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review (Atlanta, GA: National Academies Press, 2005), http://bit.ly/TGJ6q3. • “Per-Capita Firearm Murder Victims” William J. Krouse, Gun Control Legislation, report prepared for Members and Committees of Congress, 112th Cong., 2d sess., 2012, Committee Print, 9, http://bit.ly/wvkslu. • “Source of Firearm Estimate: 1994: Nat’l Inst. Of Justice” Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms (Washington, D.C., May 1997), http://bit.ly/XqS6Mw. • “Source of Firearm Estimate: 1996: ATF” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Commerce in Firearms in the United States (Washington, D.C., February 2000), A3–A5. • “Source of Firearm Estimate: 2000: ATF” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Firearms Commerce in the United States 2001/2002 (Washington, D.C., April 2002), E1–E3. • “Source of Firearm Estimate: 2007: ATF” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Annual Firearm Manufacturing and Export Reports for 2002 through 2007 (Washington, D.C., May 2010). • “Source of Firearm Estimate: 2011: ATF” U.S. Department of the Treasury, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Firearms Commerce in the United States 2011 (Washington, D.C., August 2011), 11, 13, 15. • “seems to point away from the premise that more guns leads to more crime, at least in Virginia . . . . From my personal point of view, I would say the data is pretty overwhelming.” Bowes, Mark, “Gun-related Violent Crimes Drop as Sales Soar in Va,” Richmond Times Dispatch, January 28, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jM2tk. • “bigger drops the longer the right-to-carry laws are in effect” John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010), 10. • “in a state without right-to-carry law sees a slight increase” Stephen G. Bronars and John R. Lott, Jr., “Criminal Deterrence, Geographic Spillovers, and the Right to Carry Concealed Handguns,” American Economic Review 88, no. 2 (1998), 475–79, See also: John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). • “violent crime relative to property crime” Eric Helland and Alex Tabarrok, “Using Placebo Laws to Test ‘More Guns, Less Crime,’ ” Advances in Economic Analysis and Policy 4, no. 1 (2004); see also: John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). • “murders relative to mass (multiple victim) public homicides” John R. Lott, Jr., The Bias Against Guns (Washington, D.C., Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2003), Chapter 6. • “studies have claimed either small benefits or no effect” Bruce L. Benson and Brent D. Mast, “Privately Produced General Deterrence,” Journal of Law and Economics 44, no. 2 (2001), 725, 734–35. • “ ‘the longer a right-to-carry law is in effect, the greater the drop in crime’ ” John R. Lott, Jr., and John E. Whitley, “Safe-Storage Gun Laws: Accidental Deaths, Suicides and Crime,” Journal of Law and Economics 44, no. 2 (2001), 659, 680. • “ ‘concealed-handgun permit holders are extremely law abiding’ ” John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010), 336. • “ ‘right-to-carry laws do help on average to reduce the number of these crimes’ ” Florenz Plassmann and T. Nicolaus Tideman, “Does the Right to Carry Concealed Handguns Deter Countable Crimes? Only a Count Analysis Can Say,” Journal of Law and Economics 44, no. 2 (2001), 771, 796. • “ ‘reinforce the basic findings of the original Lott and [David] Mustard study’ ” Carlisle E. Moody, “Testing for the Effects of Concealed Weapons Laws: Specification Errors and Robustness,” Journal of Law and Economics 44, no. 2 (2001), 799–813. • “ ‘overall long run effect on crime’ ” Carlisle S. Moody and Thomas B. Marvell, “The Debate on Shall-Issue Laws” Econ Journal Watch 5, no. 3 (2008), 269, 292. • “ ‘crimes against persons and towards crimes against property’ ” Eric Helland and Alex Tabarrok, “Using Placebo Laws to Test ‘More Guns, Less Crime,’ ” Advances in Economic Analysis and Policy 4, no. 1 (2004); see also: John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010). • “ ‘decrease in total homicides’ driven by a drop in gun killings’ ” David E. Olsen and Michael D. Maltz “Right-to Carry Concealed Weapons Laws and Homicide in Large U.S. Counties: The Effect on Weapons Types, Victim Characteristics, and Victim-Offender Relationships,” Journal of Law and Economics 44, no. 2 (2001), 747, 759. • “ ‘private security industry is rejected’ ” Bruce L. Benson and Brent D. Mast, “Privately Produced General Deterrence,” Journal of Law and Economics 44, no. 2 (2001), 725, 734–35. • “right-to-carry laws reduce violent crime” John R. Lott, Jr., More Guns, Less Crime, 3rd ed. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010), 283. • “ ‘no indication of any consistent RTC impact on crime’ ” Abhay Aneja, John J. Donohue III, and Alexandria Zhang, “The Impact of Right-to-Carry Laws and the NRC Report: Lessons for the Empirical Evaluation of Law and Policy,” Ame
rican Law and Economics Review 13, no. 2 (2011), 565, http://bit.ly/WF5lvX. • “severely biased the results toward finding a negative effect from right-to-carry laws” Carl Moody, John R. Lott, Jr., Thomas B. Marvell, and Paul R. Zimmerman, “Trust But Verify: Lessons for the Empirical Evaluation of Law and Policy” (working paper, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, January 25, 2012). • “A later addendum to this paper admitted the errors and claimed that the underlying results were still valid” Abhay Aneja, John J. Donohue III and Alexandria Zhang. “Addendum to ‘The Impact of Right-to-Carry Laws and the NRC Report: Lessons for the Empirical Evaluation of Law and Policy,’ ” American Law and Economics Review 13, no. 2 (2011) http://bit.ly/WF5mjk. • “disagree, and have not been provided access to the data used to reach these conclusions” “Note on John Donohue’s Latest Paper,” John Lott’s website, November 13, 2011, http://bit.ly/10jMCqR.
THE REASON NOTHING CHANGES IS THAT THE NRA BUYS OFF POLITICIANS.
“ ‘trying to get exactly the measures in place that you’ve just suggested’ ” Piers Morgan, “Gun Control in America,” Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN, December 20, 2012, http://bit.ly/11hag6p. • “ ‘Congress have an A-rating from the NRA’ ” Chris Wallace, “Captain Mark Kelly, Wayne LaPierre on Chances for Compromise in Gun Control Debate,” Fox News Sunday, Fox News, February 3, 2013, http://fxn.ws/10jMGag. • “to protect our communities and our kids” President Barack Obama, “Remarks by the President and the Vice President on Gun Violence,” Office of the Press Secretary, the White House, January 16, 2013, http://1.usa.gov/10jIiI4. • “ ‘it’s our fault, not the NRA’s fault’ ” Alan Dershowitz, “Gun Control in America,” Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN, January 7, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jLcfY. • “Do you think there should be a law banning the possession of handguns” “Guns,” gallup.com, accessed March 10, 2013, http://bit.ly/ZM7ZPx. • “illegal to manufacture, sell, or possess semi-automatic . . . assault rifles” “Guns,” gallup.com, accessed March 10, 2013, http://bit.ly/ZM7ZPx. • “for context, the ACLU claims about 500,000 members” “ACLU History,”American Civil Liberties Union, www.aclu.org/aclu-history. • “such as freedom of speech and freedom of the press” “Slim Majority of Americans Support Passing Stricter Gun Control Laws,” August 15, 2012, http://bit.ly/11h99DE. • “The top recipients go $9,900” Michelle Martinelli and Michelle Merlin, “Gun Rights Groups’ Political Spending Crushes That of Gun Control Supporters,” opensecrets.org, December 14, 2012, http://bit.ly/11ha9Yx. • “or against Republicans who don’t” “AFL-CIO Outside Spending,” opensecrets.org, accessed March 10, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jMTdA.
THE NRA IS SO CRAZY THAT THEY ACTUALLY WANT TO ARM OUR KIDS!
“ ‘We don’t want to live there’ ” Alan Dershowitz, “Guns in America,” Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN, January 7, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jLcfY. • “ ‘they can be deployed right now’ ” Wayne LaPierre, “The NRA Breaks Silence on Newtown Shooting,” CNN Newsroom, CNN, December 21, 2012, http://bit.ly/10jN0FP. • “federally funded by the Clinton administration” Ashley Fantz, “NRA Clarifies Its Stance on Arming Schools,” cnn.com, December 27, 2012, http://bit.ly/10jN4oY.
COLUMBINE PROVES THAT PUTTING ARMED GUARDS IN SCHOOLS JUST DOESN’T WORK.
“ ‘were able to prevent the 15 deaths’ ” “Michael Moore: Columbine’s Armed Guards Were No Help,” twitchy.com, December 21, 2012, http://bit.ly/10jNb4a. • “ ‘[Columbine] had armed guards and it didn’t stop the tragedy’ ” Ashley Fantz, “NRA Clarifies Its Stance on Arming Schools,” cnn.com, December 27, 2012, http://bit.ly/10jN4oY. • “according to the Jefferson County, Colorado, Sheriff’s Office” “Jefferson County, Colorado, Sheriff: Deputies on Scene,” cnn.com, accessed March 9, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jNgEW.
COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE TOO IRRESPONSIBLE TO CARRY GUNS.
“ ‘We just don’t need guns every place’ ” Michael Bloomberg, Meet the Press, NBC, December 16, 2012, http://nbcnews.to/10jNkEE. • “the right to carry concealed handguns on university campuses” “Guns on Campus: Overview,” ncsl.org, August 2012, http://bit.ly/11h8YrS. • “most liberal universities have views similar to Mayor Bloomberg’s” Kate Murphy, “Most Professors Against Guns on College Campuses,” kentwired.com, February 4, 2013, http://bit.ly/11h8JgG. • “Florida issued permits to 2.4 million people” “Concealed Weapon or Firearm License Summary Report, October 1, 1987–June 30, 2013,” (report, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Licensing, Tallahassee, FL, 2003), http://bit.ly/11h8QZx. • “the average person maintaining that permit for more than a decade” John Lott, “Should Bans Against Carrying Concealed Weapons Be Lifted on College Campuses?” foxnews.com, March 9, 2011, http://fxn.ws/10jOWOL. • “carrying a concealed handgun into a gun-free zone, such as a school or an airport” Concealed Weapon or Firearm License Summary Report, October 1, 1987–June 30, 2013,” (report, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Division of Licensing, Tallahassee, FL, 2012), http://bit.ly/11h8QZx. • “there were 519,000 active license holders” “Gun Control: States’ Laws and Requirements for Concealed Carry Permits Vary across the Nation,” (report, United States Government Accountability Office, Washington, D.C., July 2012), http://1.usa.gov/MPNBF6. • “a rate of 0.023 percent—and only a few of those crimes involved a gun” “Conviction Rates for Concealed Handgun License Holders, Reporting Period: 01/01/2011–12/31/2011” (report, Texas Department of Public Safety, Regulatory Services Division, Austin, TX, July 20, 2012), http://bit.ly/11h8G4y. • “ ‘pop a round at somebody’ ” Bill Hallowell, “Campus Rape Victim Says Gun-Free Zones Empower Criminals, Defend Concealed Carry,” theblaze.com, February 21, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jPi7O. • “ ‘I was in a safe zone and my attacker didn’t care’ ” Bill Hallowell, “Campus Rape Victim Says Gun-Free Zones Empower Criminals, Defend Concealed Carry,” theblaze.com, February 21, 2013, http://bit.ly/10jPi7O.
THE POLICE SUPPORT MORE GUN CONTROL LAWS—YOU SHOULD, TOO.
“ ‘we’re going to go on strike [until more gun control is adopted]’ ” Michael Bloomberg, “Why Don’t Police Stand Up,” Piers Morgan Tonight, CNN, July 23, 2012, http://bit.ly/11gWqRw. • “ ‘[should] be able to purchase a firearm for sport or self-defense’ ” National Association of Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the United States, “22nd Annual National Survey Questions,” nacoponline.org, 2010, http://bit.ly/z84sm0. • “ ‘crime-fighting potential of the professional law enforcement community’ ” National Association of Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs in the United States, “22nd Annual National Survey Questions,” nacoponline.org, 2010, http://bit.ly/z84sm0. • “ ‘law would only be obeyed by law-abiding citizens’ ” David Griffith, “Shooting Straight: The Majority of Cops Believe Responsible Citizens Should Have the Right to Own Handguns,” Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine, March 1, 2007, http://bit.ly/11gWMYr. • “letting law-abiding private citizens carry concealed handguns” San Diego Police Officers Association “Assault Weapons Survey Results,” Informant newsletter, May 1997, http://bit.ly/11hOKOI. • “especially if attacked by multiple assailants” Kurtis Lee, “County Sheriffs of Colorado releases memo in opposition of new gun law,” Denver Post, January 29, 2013, http://bit.ly/11gX15L.
WE SHOULD RESTRICT MAGAZIES TO A MAXIMUM OF TEN ROUNDS.
“ ‘Why can’t we ban assault weapons’ ” EJ Dionne, Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, January 13, 2011, http://nbcnews.to/11gXgh8. • “ ‘only used for killing a large number of humans or trying to’ ” Rachel Maddow, Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, January 10, 2011, http://nbcnews.to/11gXkNO. • “ ‘at least restricting the size of the magazines to 10’ ” Rep. Jim Morgan, Ed Show, MSNBC, January 13, 2011, http://nbcnews.to/11gXpBg. • “Or should it be seven bullets, as New York has decided” David Ariosto, “N.Y. Governor Signs Nation’s First Gun-Control Bill Since Newtown,” cnn.com, January 28, 2013, http://bit.ly/11h8Atv. • “three rounds” Dianne Feinstein, Congressional Record, (July 29, 1993), Page: S9778, accessed March 18, 2013, http://1.usa.gov/ZydQJ7. • “they looked at involved ma
gazines holding more than ten bullets” Mark Follman and Gavin Aronsen, “ ‘A Killing Machine’: Half of All Mass Shooters Used High-Capacity Magazines,” Mother Jones, January 30, 2013, http://bit.ly/11h8vGg. • “forcing the others to flee” “Family Fights Back When 3 Gunmen Storm Their Home; One Intruder Shot,” khou.com, February 22, 2013, http://bit.ly/11gXzbA.
DON’T BELIEVE THE GUN NUTS: HITLER DIDN’T TAKE ANYONE’S FIREARMS AWAY.
“Hitler in fact relaxed gun control laws” Backell, “Beware of Tyrants in Sheep’s Clothing,” dailykos.com, January 20, 2013, http://bit.ly/11gXHrB. • “disarming opponents in order to prevent resistance” Daniel D. Polsby and Don B. Kates Jr., “Of Holocausts and Gun Control,” Washington University Law Review 75, no. 3 (1997), 1236–75, http://bit.ly/11gXMLU. • “ ‘licenses to obtain or to carry firearms shall only be issued to persons whose reliability is not in doubt’ ” Jay Simkin and Aaron Zelman, Gun Control: Gateway to Tyranny (Milwaukee, WI: Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Inc., 1992), 14, 52. • “authorized the German states to register all firearms” Jay Simkin and Aaron Zelman, Gun Control: Gateway to Tyranny (Milwaukee, WI: Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Inc., 1992), 40. • “ ‘emergency decree’ ” Stephen P. Halbrook, “ ‘Arms in the Hands of Jews Are a Danger to Public Safety’: Nazism, Firearm Registration, and the Night of the Broken Glass,” St. Thomas Law Review 21 (2009), 109, 123, http://bit.ly/11gXTqX. • “ ‘fall into the hands of radical elements’ ” Stephen P. Halbrook, “ ‘Arms in the Hands of Jews Are a Danger to Public Safety’: Nazism, Firearm Registration, and the Night of the Broken Glass,” St. Thomas Law Review 21 (2009), 124, http://bit.ly/11gXTqX. • “ ‘was consolidated by massive searches and seizures of firearms from political opponents’ ” Stephen P. Halbrook, “Nazi Firearms Law and the Disarming of the German Jews,” Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law 17, no. 3 (2000), 483–84, http://bit.ly/11h8kuH. • “ ‘Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State’ emergency measure” Otis C. Mitchell, Hitler Over Germany: The Establishment of the Nazi Dictatorship (1918–1934) (Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1983). • “Nazi police began to search homes and offices for subversive literature and firearms” “Red Terror Plans Alleged by Reich,” New York Times, March 1, 1933. • “searched ‘for hidden arms, but found only a revolver’ ” “Nazis Raid Home of President Ebert’s Widow,” New York Times, March 15, 1933. • “ ‘but the nearest thing to arms they found was a bread knife’ ” “Nazis Hunt Arms in Einstein Home,” New York Times, March 21, 1933. • “ ‘Nazi auxiliaries raided a Jewish quarter in Eastern Berlin’ ” “Raid on Jewish Quarter,” New York Times, April 5, 1933. • “Communist literature, arms, and munitions were seized in Berlin” “Seize Literature and Arms,” New York Times, April 13, 1933. • “ ‘permits to carry arms will not in the future be issued to any member thereof’ ” “Permission to Possess Arms Withdrawn from Breslau Jews,” New York Times, April 23, 1933. • “as the state determined that you were not a threat” Stephen P. Halbrook, “Nazi Firearms Law and the Disarming of the German Jews,” Arizona Journal of International and Comparative Law 17, no. 3 (2000), 513–14, http://bit.ly/11h8kuH. • “relying on those helpful Weimar firearm registration lists” Stephen P. Halbrook, “ ‘Arms in the Hands of Jews Are a Danger to Public Safety’: Nazism, Firearm Registration, and the Night of the Broken Glass,” St. Thomas Law Review 21 (2009), 115–22, http://bit.ly/11gXTqX. • “shops were ransacked and synagogues were burned” “Nazis Smash, Loot, and Burn Jewish Shops and Temples Until Goebbels Calls Halt,” New York Times, November 11, 1938. • “ ‘are threatened with the severest punishment’ ” “Nazis Ask Reprisal in Attack on Envoy,” New York Times, November 9, 1938. • “ ‘penalty of twenty years confinement in a concentration camp’ ” “Possession of Weapons Barred,” New York Times, November 11, 1938. • “ ‘to retain possession of firearms—all these things are prohibited’ ” “Topics of the Times: Their Common Fate,” New York Times, July 2, 1940. • “The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to allow the subject races to possess arms” Adolf Hitler, Hitler’s Secret Conversations, 1941–1944, trans. Norman Cameron and RH Stevens (New York: Farrar Straus and Young, 1961), 403.