Book Review—The War on Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies

While attacks on the Second Amendment are all-too common in today’s politically charged climate, advocates fighting for our right to self-defense and the right to bear arms now have a powerful new tool in The War On Guns: Arming Yourself Against Gun Control Lies, the latest book by John R. Lott Jr.

Lott, who holds a doctoral degree in economics and has established himself as a peerless investigator on the topics of gun use and gun rights, once again provides decisive analysis and careful research of current studies and government data to prove there really is an effort to limit, if not completely remove, firearms from the hands of the American public. Roughly two-thirds of the book is centered on analytic proof and commentary that gives backbone to Lott’s thesis that a concerted campaign is being waged by politicians and bureaucrats with gun-control agendas. Impressively, and as any serious study should include on such a broad topic, there are two appendices of data and an extensive set of footnotes citing every source Lott mentions in his textual analysis. There is also an index for more specific topics.

What makes this book unique among pro-gun and pro-Second Amendment rights-related tomes is the detailed chapter-by-chapter breakdown of the many lies and obfuscations pushed by influential anti-gun figures. Lott corroborates contradictory data from various sources, including analyses and studies he has (in full disclosure) conducted himself. What’s more, the author is actually able to break down the anti-gunners’ arguments by citing their own data. To further expose the often-corrupt motives behind gun-banners’ data manipulation and silencing of those who challenge their intentions, Lott recounts several instances of media and academic bias, if not blatant censorship, from his own attempts to build public awareness of actual facts supporting self-defense and gun ownership.

Whatever the specific issue, readers will be able to find a relevant chapter to enhance their understanding of what’s really at stake. Topics include: how academics and the media distort facts; how public health officials, the CDC and physicians have failed to produce sufficient proof, cause or correlation to determine that firearms are a detriment to people’s well-being; and how Stand Your Ground laws and background checks have real world applications and ramifications on everyday law-abiding citizens. Lott dedicates three chapters specifically to how the U.S. compares to other countries. He dedicates an entire chapter to Australia and whether that nation’s gun control initiatives have worked—hint: they haven’t. The most chilling of his conclusions is that an obvious collaboration between factions in government, media and academia is attempting to control public discourse by distorting facts to meet expected outcomes.

Lott has accomplished the difficult task of collecting, consuming, analyzing and disseminating hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces of research to give readers and advocates hard numbers to present in debate or discourse. As such, readers might find it challenging to pore through such a wealth of statistics and data, though the text is articulately written. Lott peppers the chapters with tables and line graphs to better illustrate where the data is and where it clearly doesn’t support the left’s assertions. The author also highlights biases in the collection of data and study methodology, either because of the failings of the data, in how the data was poorly sampled or how it was manipulated by those conducting the studies. It is a heroic effort to show that good guys with guns do make a difference while also condemning those who purposely mislead or misdirect those seeking the truth.

John R. Lott Jr., $27.99, hardcover, 256 pages, Regnery Publishing, regnery.com