{"id":258613,"date":"2026-10-12T15:34:24","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T20:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=258613"},"modified":"2026-10-13T15:48:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T20:48:19","slug":"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\/","title":{"rendered":"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-yoast-seo-estimated-reading-time yoast-reading-time__wrapper\"><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__icon\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-icon=\"clock\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" fill=\"none\" stroke=\"currentColor\" style=\"display:inline-block;vertical-align:-0.1em\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\"><path stroke-linecap=\"round\" stroke-linejoin=\"round\" stroke-width=\"2\" d=\"M12 8v4l3 3m6-3a9 9 0 11-18 0 9 9 0 0118 0z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__spacer\" style=\"display:inline-block;width:1em\"><\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__descriptive-text\">Estimated reading time: <\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__reading-time\">3<\/span><span class=\"yoast-reading-time__time-unit\"> minutes<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. John Lott has spent nearly three decades arguing that the numbers matter in America\u2019s gun debate. Now, the <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/ccrkba-new-york-frees-criminals-then-blames-guns\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"7825\">Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms<\/a> is recognizing that work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">CCRKBA <a href=\"https:\/\/ccrkba.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\">named<\/a> Lott its \u201cGun Rights Defender of the Year\u201d during the 41st annual Gun Rights Policy Conference in Dallas. The organization credited his research with giving Second Amendment advocates valuable data for policy debates, court fights and public outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Talk at 2026 Gun Rights Policy Conference: Effects of Gun Control Policies on Crime &amp; Public Safety\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nX8uoAHk8G0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-nearly-30-years-in-the-debate\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Nearly 30 Years in the Debate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lott is the founder and president of the Montana-based Crime Prevention Research Center. His research first gained widespread attention in 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two years later, Lott published <em>More Guns, Less Crime<\/em>. The book challenged claims that growing firearm ownership and expanded <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/springfield-armory-hellcat-380\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"7828\">concealed carry<\/a> would automatically increase violent crime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His findings quickly made him one of the country\u2019s most visible gun-rights researchers. They also made him a frequent target of gun-control advocates and academics who dispute his conclusions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That debate has never really slowed down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lott and the <a href=\"https:\/\/crimeresearch.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\">Crime Prevention Research Center <\/a>continue publishing research on concealed carry, defensive gun use, mass public shootings, crime trends and media coverage of firearms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s kind of hard to believe it\u2019s been 30 years since I\u2019ve been involved in this effort,\u201d Lott said while accepting the award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also thanked supporters who make the organization\u2019s research possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 id=\"h-giving-the-2a-movement-ammunition\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Giving the 2A Movement Ammunition<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/ccrkba-easier-to-get-a-gun-than-a-burger-your-fries-arent-cooked\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"7827\">CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb<\/a> said Lott had performed additional work over the past year that benefited the broader gun-rights movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Gottlieb added that Lott\u2019s research provides advocates with the \u201cammunition\u201d needed to win political and legal battles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That may be the simplest explanation for the award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Second Amendment debates often become emotional within seconds. Lott\u2019s role has been to bring tables, statistics and research papers into an arena usually dominated by slogans and talking points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">People can debate his conclusions, and they certainly do. However, his influence on the <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/the-best-modern-combat-proven-handguns-shotguns-and-rifles\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"7829\">modern<\/a> gun-rights movement is difficult to deny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>SEE ALSO: <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/sig-p385-questions-part-ii\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\">SIG P385 Questions Part II: SIG Answers Your Questions<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lott has written ten books and more than 100 articles published in peer-reviewed academic journals. He has also held research or teaching positions at several major universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The annual <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/people-book-celebrates-gun-owners-across-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"7826\">Gun Rights Policy Conference brings national Second Amendment<\/a> leaders together with grassroots activists. CCRKBA co-hosts the event with its sister organization, the Second Amendment Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lott has spoken at previous conferences, usually arriving with enough charts, figures and research to keep attendees busy long after the presentation ends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This year, CCRKBA decided to send him home with another title: Gun Rights Defender of the Year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:24px\"><strong><em>*** <a href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"clickTracking\" campaign=\"john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\" title=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buy and Sell on GunsAmerica!<\/a> ***<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. John Lott has spent nearly three decades arguing that the numbers matter in America\u2019s gun debate. Now, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is recognizing that work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":258616,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_specdata_upc":"","_specdata_placement":"manual","footnotes":""},"categories":[4024],"tags":[132,607,122],"featured":[],"hunt365":[],"class_list":["post-258613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-buzz","tag-news","tag-r2kba"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.6 (Yoast SEO v28.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CCRKBA named researcher John Lott its 2026 Gun Rights Defender of the Year during the Gun Rights Policy Conference in Dallas.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/john-lott-ccrkba-gun-rights-defender-of-the-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"John Lott Named CCRKBA\u2019s \u2018Gun Rights Defender of the Year\u2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. John Lott has spent nearly three decades arguing that the numbers matter in America\u2019s gun debate. 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