safest-means
tlambert | February 10, 2004 A while ago I wrote how Lott had seriously misrepresented NCVS data and given dangerous advice when he claimed that in robberies and assaults passive behaviour "is by far the most likely to result in injury". Lott has now posted a response where he falsifies a table in an attempt to prove his point.
Here's the table Lott posted to support his claim:
Percent Injured after Self Protection Action
Robbery
Assault
Any SP with gun
7.7%
3.6%
Chased, tried to catch O
9.6%
9.0%
Ran/drove away; tried to
4.9%
5.4%
Screamed from pain, fear
22.0%
12.6%
Threatened O without…
tlambert | January 30, 2004 Lott has on op-ed on gun carrying by professional athletes. As usual, he gets his facts about guns and crime wrong. Lott claims that NCVS data shows that guns are the safest means of self-protection:
Take robbery or assault. The Justice Department's National Crime Victimization Survey has shown for decades that providing no self-protection is by far the most likely to result in injury. Even actions other than carrying a weapon, such as screaming or trying to attract attention, are safer than passive behavior.
Let's look at what the National Crime Victimization Survey really shows.…
tlambert | May 13, 2003As well as making the highly misleading claim that women are 2.5 times as likely to be injured if they offer no resistance than resisting with a gun as I discussed yesterday, in The Bias Against Guns Lott claims (page 99):
Carrying a gun is also the safest course of action when one is confronted by a criminal.6
Endnote 6 states:
Gary Kleck and Don Kates (288-290) present the most recent data from the Department of Justice's National Crime Victimization Survey from 1992 to 1998 and also indicate that the risk of serious injury from a criminal attack is…
tlambert | May 12, 2003So, apart from pretending to be one, what expertise does Lott have on women and gun issues? Well, he wrote this NRO article on women and guns. It was widely linked by bloggers, who felt that the key statistic was this:
"The probability of serious injury from a criminal confrontation is 2.5 times greater for women offering no resistance than resisting with a gun."
Lott makes the same claim in More Guns, Less Crime, in The Bias Against Guns and in op-eds and speeches and on radio and TV shows. Along with the "98% brandishing" it is one of his favourite…