Conservative commentator and Fox guest Ann Coulter cited discredited gun researcher John Lott to falsely claim that concealed carry permits are the “one public policy” that reduces incidents of gun violence. In fact, experts say Lott's findings have little statistical support, and armed civilians have not successfully stopped mass public shootings.

On Hannity, Coulter claimed that if “you want to cut down on public shootings” and “if you care about children dying, if you care about innocent victims, you should be in favor of concealed carry.” She cited research by Lott, claiming his study was the only “thorough examination of public multiple victim shootings” and proves concealed carry permits reduce shootings and casualties.

However, Lott is not a credible source for information on gun violence. He has been caught using fraudulent data in his concealed-carry studies, and his “more guns, less crime” hypothesis, which maintains that gun ownership helps reduce crime, has been characterized by a Stanford Law Review report as “without credible statistical support.” Computer scientist Tim Lambert, discussing the Stanford Law Review report's findings, wrote that “if anything, concealed carry laws lead to more crime.”

Indeed, a Mother Jones investigation could not identify a single mass public shooting in the past 30 years that was ended by an armed civilian, while economist Mark Duggan found that the rate of gun ownership “significantly positively” correlated with incidence of homicide.  

Lott has also been caught modifying his research when his claims are called into dispute, and was the subject of an ethics inquiry after failing to produce evidence that he had actually conducted a 1997 survey. This has not stopped media figures from citing his claims, and he routinely makes media appearances to argue against the enactment of gun violence prevention measures.

Last month, Coulter responded to the mass shooting at a Newtown, CT, elementary school by calling for more concealed carry permits.