Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2002 02:21:33 -0500 To: Matthew Gaylor From: Matthew Gaylor Subject: Author [Bellesiles] under fire on accuracy of gun research Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" ; format="flowed" Author under fire on accuracy of gun research Robert Stacy McCain THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 1/1/02 Michael Bellesiles' book "Arming America" won praise from gun-control advocates for "demolishing the myth" behind the individual right to gun ownership, with reviewers calling the book "exciting" and "valuable and thought-provoking." Now Mr. Bellesiles' book, which contended that private gun ownership was uncommon in early America, is being called something else: a fraud. [...] The nature of the charges against Mr. Bellesiles causes some academics to insist on anonymity in discussing what one professor called "the worst historical scandal in memory." James Melton, chairman of the Emory University history department, has asked Mr. Bellesiles to answer his accusers in detail. Mr. Bellesiles must "defend himself and the integrity of his scholarship immediately," Mr. Melton told the Boston Globe in October, adding: "Depending upon his response, the university will respond appropriately." Emory's demand that Mr. Bellesiles' defend his work is ominous, author John Lott says. "The fact that Emory is asking him to respond to these critics is something I don't remember a university asking a professor to do," says Mr. Lott, a scholar with the American Enterprise Institute, whose 1998 book "More Guns, Less Crime" stirred debate over firearms laws. "I imagine Emory would be forced to take some kind of dramatic response, if [the accusations of fraud are] true." [...] ************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-30 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor, (614) 313-5722 ICQ: 106212065 Archived at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/fa/ **************************************************************************