John Lott

John Lott

John Richard Lott Jr. (born May 8, 1958) is an American economist and political commentator. Lott was formerly employed at various academic institutions including the University of Chicago, Yale University, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Maryland, College Park, and at the American Enterprise Institute conservative think tank. He is currently a Fox News opinion contributor. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from UCLA.

Lott has written for both academic and popular publications. He is a frequent writer of op-eds, has published over 90 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, and has written six books, including More Guns, Less Crime, The Bias Against Guns, and Freedomnomics. His most recent book, co-authored with Grover Norquist, is entitled Debacle: Obama's War on Jobs and Growth and What We Can Do Now to Regain Our Future.

Lott is best known for his role in the gun rights debate, particularly his arguments against restrictions on owning and carrying guns, the ensuing controversy surrounding the data and methodology used in his research, and his use of sockpuppet identities to support his position on various websites.