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Old 12-17-2012, 02:46 PM   #1
MikeWaters
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Default Harvard professor on gun control

this link is floating around the internet:

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research...use/index.html

Here are some of John Lott's thoughts on Hemenway.

http://johnrlott.tripod.com/labels/Hemenway.html

Just on the face of it, I have problems with Hemenway's last points:

Quote:
8. Criminals who are shot are typically the victims of crime

Using data from a survey of detainees in a Washington D.C. jail, we worked with a prison physician to investigate the circumstances of gunshot wounds to these criminals.
We found that one in four of these detainees had been wounded, in events that appear unrelated to their incarceration. Most were shot when they were victims of robberies, assaults and crossfires. Virtually none report being wounded by a "law-abiding citizen."

May, John P; Hemenway, David. Oen, Roger; Pitts, Khalid R. When criminals are shot: A survey of Washington DC jail detainees. Medscape General Medicine. 2000; June 28. www.medscape.com


9-10. Few criminals are shot by decent law abiding citizens

Using data from surveys of detainees in six jails from around the nation, we worked with a prison physician to determine whether criminals seek hospital medical care when they are shot. Criminals almost always go to the hospital when they are shot. To believe fully the claims of millions of self-defense gun uses each year would mean believing that decent law-abiding citizens shot hundreds of thousands of criminals. But the data from emergency departments belie this claim, unless hundreds of thousands of wounded criminals are afraid to seek medical care. But virtually all criminals who have been shot went to the hospital, and can describe in detail what happened there.

May, John P; Hemenway, David. Oen, Roger; Pitts, Khalid R. Medical Care Solicitation by Criminals with Gunshot Wound Injuries: A Survey of Washington DC Jail Detainees. Journal of Trauma. 2000; 48:130-132.

May, John P; Hemenway, David. Do Criminals Go to the Hospital When They are Shot? Injury Prevention 2002: 8:236-238.
Of course, my criticism is not terribly valid in that I haven't bothered to sit down and find and read these studies. But if in fact they relied on criminals to relate the truth about their gunshot wounds.....I don't find that to be a reliable way to ascertain the truth, on its face. Due to biased recall. It's not socially desirable to relate criminal activities to an interviewer or to a survey. When people are shot and come to the hospital, for example, they almost NEVER report that they were involved in crime. "Well, we were sitting in the apartment at this address, with our stash of cocaine, when four guys barged through the door..." It's more like this: "I was just walking down the street minding my own business, when two guys jumped out of a car and shot me."
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Old 12-17-2012, 03:17 PM   #2
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and in turn, Hemenway's criticism of Lott.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/Hemenway/book.html
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Old 12-17-2012, 07:24 PM   #3
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...e391_blog.html

Quote:
Update: Lott notes that, by his assessment, a majority of the research in referred academic publications supports his point of view. In a 2012 article for the Maryland Law Review, Lott listed 18 studies that found such laws reduced violent crime, ten that said it has no discernable effect and one that found it increased violent crime.
http://www.law.umaryland.edu/academi.../71_4_1205.pdf
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