| Revision as of 14:16, 3 October 2002 view sourceKhendon (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users1,712 edits ...claiming...← Previous edit | Revision as of 10:23, 6 February 2003 view source Eloquence (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users17,329 edits summary of fake identity "Mary Rosh" addedNext edit → | ||
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| Lott claims that selective reporting by US media fails to report instances of people defending themeselves (or others) via legal use of guns. For example a school shooting was reportedly ended by students who "tackled" the gun man, but Lott quotes eyewitnesses who say that a girl named Tracy pointed a gun at the killer, who then dropped his weapon ''before'' being tackled. | Lott claims that selective reporting by US media fails to report instances of people defending themeselves (or others) via legal use of guns. For example a school shooting was reportedly ended by students who "tackled" the gun man, but Lott quotes eyewitnesses who say that a girl named Tracy pointed a gun at the killer, who then dropped his weapon ''before'' being tackled. | ||
| == Fake identity == | |||
| In early 2003 John Lott admitted that he had created and used the fake identity "Mary Rosh" to defend his own works in Internet discussion forums. Rosh claimed to be one of Lott's former students: | |||
| : "I had him for a PhD level empirical methods class when he taught at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania back in the early 1990s, well before he gained national attention, and I have to say that he was the best professor that I ever had. You wouldn't know that he was a 'right-wing' ideologue from the class. . . . There were a group of us students who would try to take any class that he taught. Lott finally had to tell us that it was best for us to try and take classes from other professors more to be exposed to other ways of teaching graduate material." | |||
| While Lott refused to take part in such discussions under his real name, he repeatedly used the Rosh identity to defend his methods. The identity was also used for a five star review on Amazon.com, although Lott claims that his son and wife wrote it, and he merely approved it. He states that the name "Mary Rosh" derived from the first two letters of his four sons' first names. | |||
| The fake identity was discovered when ]ger ] noticed that the ] Lott used to reply to an email was the same he had used to take part in discussions under the name "Mary Rosh". | |||
| == External links == | |||
| * | |||
Revision as of 10:23, 6 February 2003
John R. Lott Jr., a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is author of More Guns, Less Crime, which presents statistical evidence claiming that allowing adults to carry concealed weapons has significantly reduced crime in America.
His work is adamantly opposed by gun control groups. Lott has been criticised for analysing only those data which promote his pro-gun agenda, and ignoring the rest. In particular his analysis of crime statistics in those states that have tightened gun ownership laws has been criticised on these grounds.
Lott claims that selective reporting by US media fails to report instances of people defending themeselves (or others) via legal use of guns. For example a school shooting was reportedly ended by students who "tackled" the gun man, but Lott quotes eyewitnesses who say that a girl named Tracy pointed a gun at the killer, who then dropped his weapon before being tackled.
Fake identity
In early 2003 John Lott admitted that he had created and used the fake identity "Mary Rosh" to defend his own works in Internet discussion forums. Rosh claimed to be one of Lott's former students:
- "I had him for a PhD level empirical methods class when he taught at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania back in the early 1990s, well before he gained national attention, and I have to say that he was the best professor that I ever had. You wouldn't know that he was a 'right-wing' ideologue from the class. . . . There were a group of us students who would try to take any class that he taught. Lott finally had to tell us that it was best for us to try and take classes from other professors more to be exposed to other ways of teaching graduate material."
While Lott refused to take part in such discussions under his real name, he repeatedly used the Rosh identity to defend his methods. The identity was also used for a five star review on Amazon.com, although Lott claims that his son and wife wrote it, and he merely approved it. He states that the name "Mary Rosh" derived from the first two letters of his four sons' first names.
The fake identity was discovered when weblogger Julian Sanchez noticed that the IP address Lott used to reply to an email was the same he had used to take part in discussions under the name "Mary Rosh".