4/16/2009

UPDATE: John Lott & Others Respond to 20/20 Report

Respected firearms scholar and researcher John Lott posted a blog entry on Fox News where he too responds to the rigged "experiment" produced by 20/20. I am happy to say that Prof. Lott and I came to similar conclusions about the nature and tone of the program. He illustrates how 20/20's methods were poor and their summations biased (and perhaps disingenuous):

The show ends with this claim:

“If you are wondering where are all the studies about the effectiveness of guns used by ordinary Americans for self-defense, well keep searching, we could not find one reliable study and the ones we found were contradictory.”

Yet, “contradictory” is an overstatement. There have been 26 peer-reviewed studies published by criminologists and economists in academic journals and university presses. Most of these studies find large drops in crime. Some find no change, but not a single one shows an increase in crime.

Dr. Ignatius Piazza, of the acclaimed Front Sight firearms training school, also responded to the 20/20 story. While he uses the ill prepared students as a plug to advocate training at his schools, he clearly states what 20/20 casually overlooked:
Even though you may...fall into the category of the 99% of people who are not yet mentally or physically prepared to win a gun fight, the chances are your opponent is not trained either — so having a gun and some training is still better than not having a gun!
More importantly, Piazza provides a nice list of articles and videos about concealed carry holders defending themselves and stopping violent crime. Here is that list:

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