. . . Dr. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and a former Justice Department official, told the John Solomon Reports podcast that looking at “non-criminal behavior” by federal law enforcement was concerning.
“Well, back in June 2021, the Biden administration put out its plan for dealing with domestic terrorists. The one that they put out at that time talked about how they were going after criminal activity. And of course, everybody, anybody who’s espousing violence or trying to or committing violence, one wants the government to get a handle on that,” Lott said.
“What Tulsi Gabbard declassified was the rest of the document that was there, and what was shocking to me is that the types of tools and responses that they have been making fore people who are engaged in some type of violence actually applied to non-violent individuals, non-criminal activity that was there,” Lott continued.
Federal law enforcement agencies were advised to examine “domestic terrorism iconography, symbology, and phraseology” as part of their “counterterrorism toolbox.” Such images included symbols from the American Revolution, such as the Gadsden flag and the so-called “Betsy Ross” flag representing the original thirteen colonies. The memo also identified pro-2A messages as indicators of possible domestic terrorism. . . .
Lott said targeting common conservative symbols and images while ignoring liberal symbols and images could be considered bias.
“[When] you go and you look at something like the symbolism that they’re looking for, right, the 2A, somebody writing something like the right to keep and bear arms, the Betsy Ross flag, the Gadsden flag. Everything that you can find there seems to be something that would be associated with conservatives,” Lott continued. “I don’t see anything in there that’s associated with people on the left. There’s nothing about, like, a Black Lives Matter, or something like that, that somebody might say might be, you know, an equivalent thing there that they should be concerned about.” . . .
Dr. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and a former Justice Department official, said the memo’s mandate on probing “non-criminal behavior” was particularly concerning.
“Well, back in June 2021 the Biden administration put out its plan for dealing with domestic terrorists. The one that they put out at that time talked about how they were going after criminal activity. And of course, everybody, anybody who’s espousing violence or trying to or committing violence, one wants the government to get a handle on that,” Lott told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Tuesday.
“What Tulsi Gabbard declassified was the rest of the document that was there, and what was shocking to me is that the types of tools and responses that they have been making for people who are engaged in some type of violence actually applied to non-violent individuals, non-criminal activity that was there,” Lott said. . . .
Dr. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and a former Department of Justice official, expressed concern that law enforcement tactics traditionally reserved for violent extremists were being repurposed to monitor Americans not accused of any crime.
“What Tulsi Gabbard declassified was…shocking,” Lott said on the John Solomon Reports podcast. . . .
El Dr. John Lott, presidente del Centro de Investigación para la Prevención del Crimen y ex funcionario del Departamento de Justicia, dijo que el mandato del memorando sobre la investigación de “comportamientos no criminales” era particularmente preocupante.
“En junio de 2021, la administración Biden presentó su plan para hacer frente a los terroristas domésticos. El que presentaron en ese momento hablaba de cómo iban a perseguir la actividad criminal. Y, por supuesto, todo el mundo, cualquiera que abogue por la violencia o intente o cometa actos violentos, quiere que el gobierno se ocupe de ello”, dijo Lott al podcast John Solomon Reports el martes.
“Lo que Tulsi Gabbard desclasificó fue el resto del documento que estaba allí, y lo que fue impactante para mí es que los tipos de herramientas y respuestas que han estado haciendo para las personas que están involucradas en algún tipo de violencia en realidad se aplicaban a individuos no violentos, actividad no criminal que estaba allí”, dijo Lott. . . .
John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, told “John Solomon Reports” that “back in June 2021, the Biden administration put out its plan for dealing with domestic terrorists. The one that they put out at that time talked about how they were going after criminal activity. And of course, everybody, anybody who’s espousing violence or trying to or committing violence, one wants the government to get a handle on that.”
“What Tulsi Gabbard declassified was the rest of the document that was there,” continued Lott. “What was shocking to me is that the types of tools and responses that they have been making for people who are engaged in some type of violence actually applied to non-violent individuals, non-criminal activity.” . . .
Legal experts agree the memo marks a radical departure from the longstanding standard of requiring a legal predicate for investigation. Dr. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, noted the administration’s shift from pursuing criminal threats to investigating ordinary Americans for non-violent expressions, such as support for the Second Amendment or traditional American symbols.
One disturbing element of the memo was its emphasis on “domestic terrorism iconography,” which included the Gadsden flag and the Betsy Ross flag—both widely used symbols among conservatives. The FBI had previously released internal documents portraying these symbols as markers of potential extremism, despite their historical and patriotic roots. Lott criticized the double standard: “I don’t see anything in there that’s associated with people on the left.” . . .
You blame the abundance of firearms for the cause, but if that were true, NYC and Chicago would be the safest places on Earth. There was a study put out by Professor John Lott years ago that followed every county in the country and concluded that where there were more guns in the hands of good citizens crime went down. The book from this was “More Guns, Less Crime.” Many have tried to disprove it, but could not. . . .
Jonah Peretti: Kenny [Lerer] is a very savvy guy. I would rarely call Kenny naive. But I think in this case, Kenny was a little naive. He thought that Andrew wasn’t a real conservative, that he lived in L.A., he was socially liberal in a lot of ways, and that he was going to basically get on board with the political slant of HuffPost. And Andrew always thought — maybe also a little naively — that HuffPost would be a publication for all different voices. He had, like, John Lott from the American Enterprise Institute and a few other people like that, he was inviting them to blog. And Kenny was like, “Why the fuck are you putting this right-wing thing on?” . . .
Dr. John Lott, president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and a former Justice Department official, said the memo’s mandate on probing “non-criminal behavior” was particularly concerning.
“What Tulsi Gabbard declassified was the rest of the document that was there, and what was shocking to me is that the types of tools and responses that they have been making for people who are engaged in some type of violence actually applied to non-violent individuals, non-criminal activity that was there,” Lott said. . . .
Staff, “New Docs Show How the Biden Admin Targeted Americans,” Ifapray, May 8, 2025.
But with semi-automatic bans being the new hotness among the anti-gun crowd, a piece from 2016 was actually relevant for a change.
It’s by none other than John Lott. Then, writing for the National Review, he offered the following, which is just as relevant today as it was nine years ago:
Gun-control advocates have continually demonstrated their ignorance about how guns operate. How often do we hear them ask, “why do people need a semi-automatic Bushmaster to go out and kill deer?” But the answer is simple: A Bushmaster is a hunting rifle — it has just been made to look like a military weapon.
If, however, the Democrats plan to ban semi-automatic handguns, banning revolvers isn’t going to be far behind. Not that banning revolvers would reduce gun crime, either.
Revolvers get their name from a revolving cylinder that contains bullets in separate chambers. Gun-control advocates will eventually realize that revolvers actually fire bullets at a faster rate than do semi-automatic pistols — semi-automatics have to do a lot more work to load the next bullet in the chamber. Semi-automatics can hold more bullets and it used to be true that they could be reloaded more quickly than revolvers. But while semi-automatics are still easier to reload, technology has advanced to the point where revolvers can be reloaded just as quickly.
In contrast to semi-automatics that can hold a magazine of any size, revolvers are limited to eight to ten bullets (depending on the caliber of the bullets being used). But with training, a mass shooter can fire just as many bullets with a sufficient rapidity that their ability to commit these crimes would be unaffected by the time needed to reload.
Moreover, revolvers have a major advantage over semi-automatics: They don’t jam as frequently. The spring in a magazine can lose strength and therefore its ability to properly push bullets cleanly into the chamber. Large-capacity magazines actually make jamming much more likely, as you need a very strong spring to push the last few bullets into the chamber. Jammed guns actually saved lives in both the Aurora, Colo, movie-theater shooting and the Gabby Giffords shooting in Tucson, Ariz.
Either way, today’s ignorant politicians want to ban all semi-automatic guns. Tomorrow they will push to ban revolvers.
He’s not wrong, either.
Lott goes on to note that mass killers will simply bring multiple guns to the site of their atrocities and switch firearms as needed. A ban on semi-autos won’t actually change much of anything for would-be mass murderers.
Tom Knighton, “As Semi-Auto Bans Gain Ground, Remember What’s Next,” Bearing Arms, May 08, 2025
