New Ammo In The Gun Debate

The U.S. has the highest gun ownership rate in the world and the highest murder rate. Although those facts are enough to convince many observers that guns breed violence, firearms owners and manufacturers have long argued that the opposite is true--that lawful possession of a gun tends to deter crime.

That argument has sparked a hot debate among economists. Most concur with the views of gun critics, contending that greater gun availability means that more weapons fall into the hands of criminals. But others find that increased gun ownership results in less criminal activity. Indeed, More Guns, Less Crime is the title of a controversial book published two years ago by then-University of Chicago economist John R. Lott Jr. (now at Yale University). Lott found that violent crimes dropped significantly in a number of states after laws were passed allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons.