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In 1994 president Clinton signed the Assault Weapons Ban into law. The enactment of this law represented the grand culmination of nearly fifty years of relentless advocacy and lobbying by Gun Control proponents. In 1994, the future seemed very bright indeed for the Gun Control Movement. The dream of the elimination of private gun ownership in America almost seemed almost within reach. A mere thirteen years later, however, Democratic Presidential candidates would trip over themselves to be seen in hunting outfits while holding shotguns and the idea of a universal prohibition of private firearm ownership in the United States seems almost inconceivable.

What happened during this period to shift such a contentious political issue so far toward the position of Gun Rights Advocates? What happened was quiet but profound intellectual revolution that changed the terms of the debate beyond recognition and by so doing eviscerated the intellectual position of Gun Control advocates. Several of the architects of this intellectual revolution have never owned gun in their lives but they have nevertheless effectively helped to secure the "right to keep and bear arms" for any American who chooses to do so.

Dr. John Lott, formerly of the University of Chicago, published "More Guns, Less Crime" in 1998. This book was as seminal and timely, in its own way, as Milton Friedman's "Free to Choose". "More Guns, Less Crime" is popularly-oriented summary of Dr. Lott's research which he had been promoting to policy makers for many years prior to the publication of the book. The argument made in this book, and backed up an elegant mathematical model and voluminous research data, is that private gun ownership exerts and very large and hitherto unmeasured influence of positive crime deterrence that dwarfs any negative effects of private gun ownership. Dr. Lott's research is based upon complicated behavioral models of crime patterns in jurisdictions with strict gun control laws versus those with widespread gun ownership. The conclusions drawn from Dr. Lott's model were indisputable: the more pervasive gun ownership is the lower the violent crime rate is. To date, no gun control advocacy group has come up with a refutation of Dr. Lott's model.

The ripple effects of Dr. Lott's intellectual revolution began to be felt as eight additional states passed concealed carry laws and some cases Dr. Lott's research was cited in support of these laws. As more states pass conceal and carry laws the empirical evidence for Dr. Lott's theory is becoming overwhelming. Gun Control advocates are now engaged in desperate rear guard efforts to prevent more states from adopting conceal and carry laws but they appear to have no political traction for the rest of their agenda.

While the NRA has an undeniable force in electoral politics they, like any other lobbying group, are forced to operate within the realm of the politically possible. By radically changing the terms of the political debate Dr. Lott, like Milton Friedman, has helped to change the course of history.

Learn more about this author, Cary Dowalt.
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