Robert Woolley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On 8/13/03 3:46 AM, "Tim Lambert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > http://timlambert.org/2003/08#0811 > > > > Lott (along with Eli Lehrer) has an editorial in the Washington Times > > which claims that the 1976 gun ban caused crime to increase. > > > > D.C. residents need more protection: Crime has risen significantly > > since the gun ban went into effect. In the five years before > > Washington's ban in 1976, the murder rate fell from 37 to 27 per > > 100,000. In the five years after it went into effect, the murder > > rate rose back up to 35. In fact, the murder rate after 1976 has > > never fallen back to what it was in 1976. Robberies and overall > > violent crime changed just as dramatically. Robberies fell from > > 1,514 to 1,003 per 100,000 and then rose by over 63 percent, up to > > 1,635. > > Whoever is correct, there is no published > > support for Lehrer and Lott's claim that the law caused crime > > increases. > > The full article is here: > > http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20030810-103927-3346r.htm > > I read it to see if they really did claim a causal connection between the > gun ban and the crime rate changes. I don't see that they did. Certainly the > paragraph you quote above says nothing about causation. Setting aside, for > the moment, questions about whether the numbers are accurate and fair, the > authors simply don't say that whatever the crime rate changes were occurred > because of the gun ban. > > They *do* explicitly claim that the ban caused no reduction in crimes, but > they never say that it caused an *increase* in crime, as you twice assert > that they do. > > Your credibility as a critic diminishes when you misstate the work you are > criticizing.
I did not misstate their work. They wrote: "Even though guns will leak into the District and Chicago from neighboring areas, at least some minor benefit still should have been observed if gun bans reduce crime. Instead, the opposite was the case. The gun bans appear to have disarmed only law-abiding citizens while leaving criminals free to prey on the populace" The published article was titled "The ban against public safety" The version on Lott's web site is titled "The ban against public safety: D.C. gun laws have increased crime" -- Tim
