Do guns kill people? Or do guns save people?

The national debate on gun control came to Dickinson College last week with the lecture “The Next Great Debate: Perceptions on Gun Control.”

On Monday, April 1, John Lott Jr. visited Dickinson campus, in the third event of the “Next Great Debates” lecture series to discuss the benefits of gun ownership and pro-gun legislation.

Lott, an economist and political commentator, is a former professor and current commentator for Fox News. Hailed as “The Gun Crowd’s Guru” by Newsweek, Lott is a staunch supporter of owning guns and pro-gun legislation.

“These talks are introduced…[to] encourage students to respond to new issue of gun control in our society,” explained David Milstein ’13, who helped organize the events. “We intend to bring three clear, informed and balanced views on the guns so students can hear a broader perspective on issues.”  The events are sponsored the newly formed Public Affairs Committee and the Clarke Forum.

“We chose Lott because he is the foremost expert on the other side of gun control,” said Milstein.

Lott began with asking the question, “Do gun bans make places safer?”  He then laid out statistics that showed the correlation between the passings of stricter gun control laws and the increase in homicide rates.

“As gun rates have stricter regulations, there has been an increase in crime rates and likewise, before such regulations, the crime rates were lower,” stated Lott.

Lott said that the discrepancy exists because the only people who would follow such gun control laws were law-abiding citizens who had guns in check, rather than criminals who ignore such regulations.

“The citizen who obeys the laws set by gun regulations is more likely to have more of an impact to stop those who will use them for violence,” he said. “There are benefits to gun control, but they have many costs…which we do not think of.”

Students enjoyed the lecture.

“He brought up an interesting presentation with points I had never seen presented before,” said Andrew Veselka ’15. “It gave me something to think about.”