AEI resident scholar John R. Lott Jr. demonstrated in More Guns, Less Crime that guns make us safer. In his latest book, The Bias against Guns: Why Almost Everything You’ve Heard about Gun Control Is Wrong, Lott explains how the media and government misinform the public about the risks and benefits of gun ownership. Lott proves that by publishing-almost exclusively-stories discouraging gun ownership, the media actually endangers lives. News items report almost always tragic events caused by guns but almost never stories about the lives saved by the use of a gun.

Lott notes that the imbalance in coverage is caused in part by the definition of what is considered newsworthy. The fact that many crimes are stopped by the use of guns is often left out, and the way that accidental gun deaths of children are reported also creates inaccurate impressions. In addition, polls and government reports are often slanted. Topics addressed by Lott in The Bias against Guns include how guns stop terrorism, the fallacy of "safe storage laws," and why "assault weapons bans" and gun show regulations do not reduce crime. This event will also feature discussion by Paul Waldman, associate director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, and Carl Moody, Department of Economics at the College of William and Mary.