Dr John Lott is an American economist, political critic, andcrime researcher. He has a Master’s degree and Ph.D. from UCLA and has held important positions in economics and law at several prestigious institutions including the Yale Law School.

On this episode of Based, Dr Lott explains that crime ratesin Australia are worse than in the United States and how crime statistics are manipulated and misunderstood both in Australia and overseas.

He discusses the role firearms play in the debate aroundself-defence, the history of firearm control in Australia, and whether we really are safer for it.